ETHICAL ISSUES IN GEOSCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

A variety of topics of interest to professionals involved in geoscience publication are discussed continually by editors and publishers in Europe and North America. However, the editorial and publishing community, as in all specialties, rarely has the opportunity to address and discuss issues of concern to the wider audience of geoscientists in their roles as scientist–authors and peer reviewers.

Although the participants at editorial meetings typically discuss a range of topics from the mechanics of production through to the need to protect the integrity of the science, one topic always arises—ethics.

Ethical issues in geoscientific publishing may arise at each stage of a scientific manuscript. These issues may include plagiarism, fraud, “shingling” or “salami” publishing stemming from “publish or perish” pressures, conflicts of interest (both perceived and actual), confidentiality, and even timeliness.

The purpose of this presentation is to assist the geoscientific community-at-large to be cognizant of ethical issues and to address problems they may encounter as authors, as peer reviewers, and as editors or members of editorial boards.