Ethical and Legal Issues in Publication and Dissemination of Scholarly Knowledge: A Summary of the Published Evidence

Abstract

Research publication and dissemination of scholarly knowledge in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are among the most influential roles of many academic scholars in both industrialised and developing nations, but such experience and skills are rarely taught, transferred and shared in the real world. Dealing with issues of research misconduct might be challenging as well as learning opportunities for new academics while conducting research and scholarship teaching and publication in HEIs. In this review paper, I will discuss some concepts of research misconduct, highlighting some relevant ethical and legal concerns in publication. This paper concludes that continued education and support on ethical research to graduates and scholars might help to prevent research misconduct related to publications and dissemination through developing appropriate strategies in practice.

Evaluation by Citation: Trends in Publication Behavior, Evaluation Criteria, and the Strive for High Impact Publications

“…‘From what’ and ‘for what’ one wished to be redeemed and, let us not forget, ‘could be’ redeemed, depended upon one’s image of the world. (Weber 1970b ) Scientific misconduct has been increasing, however until recently awareness of these practices appears to be limited (Regmi 2011 ). 1 Recent cases of scientific misconduct, such as the Stapel affaire (fabrication of data, see Levelt Committee et al 2012 ), and the Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg plagiarism affair, have created some awareness amongst both scholars and the general public.…”

Plagiarism, Replication of Published Material without Citation and the Policy of the European Management Review

“…As noted above, not all reproduction of text will be considered unacceptable reproduction (see also, Bretag and Mahmud, ). Leaving aside accidental incidents of replication of material that may not be blameworthy (Regmi, ), a long‐standing practice for many academics is the creation of a summary of an article of academic record into an abridged article of the same material for a journal directed to practitioners (Albers, ). In the context of increasing consideration of impact of research and EURAM 's objective of being a community of engaged scholars, there is no reason to believe that such reproduction is undesirable.…”

Ethical and legal observations on contract cheating services as an agreement

“…patients) (Mazur, 1989); editors and reviewers (Wells andFarthing, 2008 as quoted in Regmi, 2011)); unmerited academic credits (Draper et al, 2017); devalued diplomas (Dickerson, 2007); loss of professional credibility (Billings, 2004); defrauding future employers (Crittenden et al, 2009;Dickerson, 2007); career disruption (Regmi, 2011); deprivation of fair competition (Billings, 2004;Magnus et al, 2002); and jeopardising public safety and community confidence in higher education (Bertram-Gallant, 2016;White, 2016). These outcomes are not exhaustive and may vary depending on the type of infringer, either student or academic.…”

“…In order to inhibit the misbehaviour this theory suggests that alleged offenders must understand that they will be caught and their misbehaviour will attract penalties (Fida et al, 2016;McCabe and Treviño, 1993). This is to say that in the case of an ethics failure, there should be an appropriate establishment and enforcement of university rules and laws (Jones and McLellan, 2000 as quoted in Regmi, 2011) as it interconnects with professionalism (Bruhn et al, 2002). However, daily practices evidence that the university is not alone in the fight against contract cheating.…”

“…Ethics refers to behaviour which in the presence of malpractice forms the basis of legislation (Regmi, 2011). In the same vein, ethics encounters values unregulated by law (Jones, 2008;Riss, 2008 as quoted in Regmi, 2011), but related to legal principles applied by the courts which derive from ethical norms. However, there are cases when legal norms and their implementation are in conflict with ethical norms.…”