R E S E A R C H &

P U B L I C A T I O N
E H C
T
I
S

Prof. A. Biju Kumar

Vice-Chairman, CSS,
University of Kerala
Email: bijukumar@keralauniversity.ac.in
9447216157
 Presentation Outline

• Defining Ethics
• Scientific misconduct
• Publication ethics
• Publication misconduct
• Open access journals
• Database and research metrics
• The way forward
Scientific plagiarism in India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_plagiarism_in_India
• “A lack of oversight and a lack of proper training for scientists have led to
the rise of plagiarism and research misconduct in India.
• India does not have a statutory body to deal with scientific misconduct in
academia.
• Cases of plagiarism are often dealt in ad-hoc fashion with different routes
being followed in different cases.
• In most cases, a public and media outcry leads to an investigation either by
institutional authorities or by independent enquiry committees. Plagiarists
have in some cases been suspended, removed or demoted.
• However, no fixed route has been prescribed to monitor such activities.”
• Many cases of ‘manipulating’ research for availing funding or to satisfy
funding agencies (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/manipulating-
research-14144)
• Larger number of cases of publication in predatory journals and data
manipulation
The epidemic of scientific misconduct in India
The unethical practices in research were reported
from national institutions to private universities!
• IIMs
• IITs
• Universities
• CSIR institutions
• ICAR institutions
Misuse of power, fund, research and academics
Prof. B.S. Rajput controversy
The most high-profile and widely publicised controversy in India has been that of Prof.
B. S. Rajput and colleagues in the field of Theoretical Physics. Committee found the
allegations correct and Prof Rajput lost Vice-Chancellorship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_plagiarism_in_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scientific_misconduct_incidents https://retractionwatch.com/
Single window clearance for research! too!

ഗേവഷണ&ിെല ഏകജാലക സംവിധാനം!

 Initiatives by UGC to to revive and sustain research quality

• In 2016, UGC introduced a compulsory course work and open defence

system (to defend viva-voce) for PhD students.
• In 2018, it introduced UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic Research and
Ethics), comprising a curated whitelist of journals for publishing and
availing credit for promotion and career advancement.
• In 2018, it passed a regulation on the Promotion of Academic Integrity and
Prevention of Plagiarism
• In 2019, it issued a public notice inviting proposals for a study on the
quality of PhD theses awarded by Indian universities over the past ten
years.
• In late 2019, UGC introduced a mandatory two-credit course on Research
and Publication Ethics for all researchers from 2020-21.
• Taken together, these initiatives represent a policy to address the
widespread allegations and concerns being raised globally over the quality
of papers published by Indian researchers.
Copying is only one way of misconduct in research!
 Ethics in Research Dis-honesty in Research

Ethics ഗേവഷണ&ിെല ൈനതികത ഗേവഷണ&ിെല േനരുേക1

Ethics – the discipline concerned with

what is morally good and bad, right
and wrong
Ethics. ( 2015). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May
26, 2015, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9106054

11
Ethics……
• The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’
(meaning a person’s character, nature, or disposition)
• Relating to morals, treating of moral questions; morally
correct, honorable… Set of principles of morals… Science of
morals, moral principles, rules of conduct, whole field of
moral science
• Distinction between right and wrong or good and evil, in
relation to actions, volitions, or character of responsible
beings
What is research ethics?
• Research ethics involves:
the application of fundamental ethical principles to research
activities-
which include
• the design and implementation of research,
• respect towards society and others,
• the use of resources and research outputs,
• scientific misconduct and
• the regulation of research.
It is the ethics of the planning, conduct, and reporting of research.
Intellectual honesty (ബൗ#ിക സത)സ*ത)
• We have a moral duty to be honest. This
duty is especially important when we
share ideas that can inform or persuade
others.
• സത#സ$രായിരി)ാ*+ ധാർമിക കടമ ന234്. ഈ കടമ
7േത#കി9ം അറിയി)ാേനാ േ7രി=ി)ാേനാ കഴി?@ ആശയCൾ
പFിGേHാൾ 7ധാനമാണ്.

• Intellectual Honesty combines good

faith with a primary motivation
toward seeking true beliefs.
Intellectual honesty (ബൗ#ിക സത)സ*ത)
• Intellectual honesty is honesty in the acquisition, analysis,
and transmission of ideas A person is being intellectually
honest when he or she, knowing the truth, states that
truth.
• This includes all forms of scholarship,
consequential conversations such as dialogue,
debate, negotiations, product and service
descriptions, various forms of persuasion, and
public communications such as announcements,
speeches, lectures, instruction, presentations,
publications, declarations, briefings, news releases,
policy statements, reports, religious instructions,
social media posts, and journalism including not
only prose and speech, but graphs, photographs,
and other means of expression
Intellectual honesty (ബൗ#ിക സത)സ*ത)
Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem
solving, characterized by an unbiased, honest attitude,
which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways
including:
• Ensuring support for chosen ideologies does not
interfere with the pursuit of truth
• Relevant facts and information are not purposefully
omitted even when such things may contradict one's
hypothesis
• Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not
twisted to give misleading impressions or to support
one view over another
• References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where
possible, and plagiarism is avoided
 RESEARCH INTEGRITY
• Research Integrity means conducting research in
such a way that allows others to have
confidence and trust in the methods and the
findings of the research. It relates both to the
scientific integrity of conducted research and to
the professional integrity of researchers.
• Research integrity may be defined as active
adherence to the ethical principles and
professional standards essential for the
responsible practice of research
 RESEARCH INTEGRITY
• By active adherence we mean adoption of the
principles and practices as a personal credo, not
simply accepting them as impositions by rule
makers
• By ethical principles we mean honesty, the
golden rule, trustworthiness, and high regard
for the scientific record
RESEARCH INTEGRITY
Key elements of Research Integrity include:
ഗേവഷണ സമ4ഗതയുെട 4പധാന ഘടക;ളിൽ
• Honesty ഇവ ഉൾെAടുBു:
• Rigour
• സത#സ$ത
• Transparency and open • കണിശത
communication • സുതാര#തയും തുറ/ ആശയവിനിമയവും
• The care and respect of all • എല6ാ പ8ാളികള:െടയും കരുതലും
participants ബഹുമാനവും
• ഉ@രവാദി@ം
• Accountability
These elements should be present at all ഗേവഷണ@ിEെറ എല6ാ ഘGHളിലും ഈ
stages of research. ഘടകHൾ ഉKായിരിLണം.
Research ethics is a key criterion of
research integrity. ഗേവഷണ ൈനതികതയാN ഗേവഷണ
സമOഗതയുെട Oപധാന മാനദQം.
 Definition of Scientific Misconduct
Violation of the standard codes of
scholarly conduct and ethical
behaviour in professional scientific
research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_misconduct
Scientific misconduct is fabrication,
falsification, or plagiarism in
proposing, performing, or reviewing
research, or in reporting research
results.

• In doctoral research it happens at any stage in research process

• Eg: proposing the topic, writing synopsis, designing work, research process,
writing thesis and publication of results.
20 20
Seven Areas of Scientific Dishonesty
1. Plagiarism

2. Fabrication and falsification

3. Non-publication of data

4. Faulty data-gathering procedures

5. Poor data storage and retention

6. Misleading authorship

7. Sneaky publication practices

21
 Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else's work and
attempting to "pass it off" as your own. This can apply to
anything, from term papers to photographs to songs, even ideas!

Copyright is "a form of protection provided

by the laws to the authors of 'original works
of authorship,' including literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic, and certain other
intellectual works.
This protection is available to both published
and unpublished works.

22 22
• Etymology of the word ‘plagiarism’ - from the Latin, plagiarius
(hijacker or kidnapper) or from the Greek plagios (obliquity, in the
sense that whom presents a skewed moral).

• Plagiarism – “as to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another)
as one's own; to use (another's production) without crediting the
source; to commit literary theft; to present as new and original an
idea or product derived from an existing source” (The Merriam-
Webster Online Dictionary)
• “Plagiarism is when six consecutive words are copied, 7–11 words are
overlapping in set of 30 letters (World Association of Medical Editors)
Types of plagiarists!
• The lazy plagiarist: The lazy plagiarist is generally an academically weak
and otherwise under-motivated student, the type who would happily take
the work of someone else in its entirety, do little more than to change the
name on the paper, and claim it for their own
• The cunning plagiarist: The cunning plagiarist is more sophisticated than
the lazy plagiarist and takes full advantage of these abundant
opportunities. They are quite clear about what plagiarism is, but work hard
to avoid detection. Content is cut and paste from a variety of sources on
the Web and possibly from other papers
• The accidental plagiarist: the accidental plagiarist is not in the least bit
devious. Their transgressions arise typically as a consequence of
inexperience, poor study skills, local academic norms, or some combination
thereof. Such students typically insert slabs of unattributed text in their
essays and when challenged, will be either embarrassed by their sloppy
referencing or genuinely surprised that they have been challenged at all,
claiming ignorance of the system.
Types of Plagiarism
1. Copying:
The most well-known and,
sadly, the most common
type of plagiarism is the
simplest: copying. If you
copy someone else's work
and put your name on it,
you have plagiarized.
2. Patchwork Plagiarism
• Perhaps the second most
common type of
plagiarism.
• Occurs when the
plagiarizer borrows the
"phrases and clauses from
the original source and
weaves them into his own
writing" without putting the
phrases in quotation marks
or citing the author.
Patchwork: An Example
With regard to children, they are totally
insensitive to their parents' shyness. Rare is
the child who labels a parent shy. It is easy
to understand this, since the parents are in
positions of control and authority in their
own homes and may not necessarily show
their shy side to their children. Moreover,
since shyness is viewed as unfavorable by
most children, it may be threatening for
them to think of their parents in that light.
During the formative years, the parent is
idealized as all-knowing and all-powerful --
not dumb, ugly, or weak.
3. Paraphrasing Plagiarism
• Here plagiarizer paraphrases or പരാവർ@നം

summarizes another's work without ശSദാTര രചന

citing the source.

• Even changing the words a little or

using synonyms but retaining the
author's essential thoughts, sentence
structure, and/or style without citing the
source is still considered plagiarism.
 Paraphrasing: A double edged sword

Original Paraphrase
It is not generally recognized that at Few people realize, now that women
the same time when women are are finding jobs in all fields, that a tiny
making their way into every corner of percentage of the country's engineers
our work-world, only 1 percent of the are women.
professional engineers in the nation
are female.
Properly used, paraphrase is a valuable technique. You should use it to simplify or
summarize so that the ideas or information, properly acknowledged, may be woven into
the pattern of your own ideas.
NEVER CLAIM OWNERSHIP!
Fabrication
Fabrication is the invention of data or information.
Fabricating data involves creating a new record of data or
results. Most commonly fabricated documents are informed
consent forms and patient diaries.
Examples
• A researcher/interviewer completing a questionnaire for a fictitious subject
that was never interviewed.
• Creation of a data set for an experiment that was never actually conducted.
• Practice of adding fictitious data to a real data set collected during an actual
experiment for the purpose of providing additional statistical validity.
• insertion of a clinical note into the research record to indicate compliance with
an element of the protocol.
Falsification
• Manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or
changing or omitting/suppressing data or results without
scientific or statistical justification
• Falsification is the alteration of the observed result of a
scientific experiment. Falsification of data includes a spectrum
ranging from fabrication of a small amount of data to the
falsification of entire experiments.
• Falsifying data means altering the existing records. It is the
deliberate distortion or omission of undesired data or results.
Examples
• Alteration of data to render a modification of the variances in the data
• Falsification of dates and experimental procedures in the study notebook
• Misrepresenting the results from statistical analysis
• Misrepresenting the methods of an experiment such as the model used to
conduct the experiment
• The addition of false or misleading statements in the manuscript or
published paper.
• Falsification of research accomplishments by publishing the same research
results in multiple papers (self plagiarism)
• Misrepresentation of the materials or methods of a research study in a
published paper
• Providing false statements about the extent of a research study
• Falsification of telephone call attempts to collect data for a survey study
 Fabrication, falsification, and
plagiarism are the most common
types of research misconduct and
they have been called the “Unholy
trinity of Scientific Writing
• Templating
This is another form of plagiarism which occurs when similar material is
being submitted to a journal where the outline of a previous article is being
closely followed with sometimes similar or identical phrases being used,
thus giving two very similar articles.
• This adds only a meager, if any, weight to the ocean of scientific literature.
Salami-slicing (salami publishing)
“Salami-slicing” is the term used to describe the practice of dividing the
results of a research project into a series of articles to maximize the
number of publications.
• Instead of publishing one hefty work of substantial value, the research
project or the manuscript is split and published to increase the number of
publications and the credit associated with one's name.
https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/653888/Salami-Slicing-factsheet-March-2019.pdf
Unintentional
It occurs when the writer incorrectly
quotes and/or incorrectly cites a
source they are using.
• How is this plagiarism, if the author
didn't mean to do it?
• Incorrectly quotation and incorrect
citation- dishonesty
• The dishonest usage of another's work
• In short, incorrect usage of another's work,
whether it's intentional or not, could be
taken for "real" plagiarism.
Duplicating Publications - You can not
reuse/recycle your own paper for use in
another assignment without explicit permission
from the instructor. If you cite your previous
works, remember to cite yourself! This is self-
plagiarism.

Shot-gunning
Dual or multiple submissions of manuscripts. That
is, the same manuscript is simultaneously
submitted to two or more journals. This ultimately
culminates in “Duplication” or “Redundant”
publication
Scenarios
• I combined the findings of these 8 sources into one paragraph. I don’t have to cite
them, because I created the compilation.
• I submitted the same paper to more than one class. It’s OK that I copied my own
work without citing it because it’s still my idea.
• I copied someone else’s work, but I didn’t use quotation marks because I changed a
few words.
• I removed some data points to make my results look better.
• I didn’t collect enough data from my experiment so I used a computer program to
generate data points.
• My advisor used my data without giving me credit.
• I quoted something but changed one word to strengthen its support of my
argument.
Non-publication of Data
• Sometimes called “cooking data”
• Data not included in results because they don’t support the desired
outcome
• Some data are “bad” data
• Bad data should be recognized while it is being collected or analyzed
• Outlier – unrepresentative score; a score that lies outside of the
normal scores
• How should outliers be handled?

39 39
Faulty Data Gathering
• Collecting data from participants who are not complying with
requirements of the study
• Using faulty equipment
• Treating participants inappropriately
• Recording data incorrectly

40 40
Data Gathering
•Most important and most aggravating.
•Always drop non-compliers.
•Fix broken equipment.
•Treat subjects with respect and dignity.
•Record data accurately.
•Store data in a safe and private place for 3 years.
Poor Data Storage and Retention
• Data should be stored in its original
collected form for at least 3 years after
publication
• Data should be available for examination
• Confidentiality of participants should be
maintained

42 42
 Misleading Authorship
Misleading authorship—who should be an author?
– Technicians do not necessarily become joint authors.
– Authorship should involve only those who contribute directly.
– Discuss authorship before the project!

• Submitting the same paper to different journals without telling the editors
• Not informing a collaborator of your intent to file a patent in order to make sure
that you are the sole inventor
• Not informing a collaborator of your intent to file a patent in order to make sure
that you are the sole inventor
• Including a colleague as an author on a paper in return for a favor even though
the colleague did not make a serious contribution to the paper

43 43
Conflict of interest (COI)

COI in the biomedical research is defined as “a set of

conditions in which professional judgment concerning a
primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of
research) tends to be unduly influenced by a secondary
interest (such as financial gain).”
Similar to other forms of misconduct like fabrication or
falsification, COI can also adversely affect and bias the research
outcomes. Hence, the lack of transparency to editors, reviewers
and readers about the conflicts of interest associated with a study
of article should be considered as an entity of scientific
misconduct.
Effective Methods for
Avoiding Plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism is quite simple. The best method for
avoiding it is to simply be honest; when you've used a
source in your paper, give credit where it's due.
• Acknowledge the author of the original work you've used.
• Keep your notes, draft, own writings and your sources separate
• Don't cut/copy and paste the content from other sources
Harvard University

• In case you are using content from different sources (even your own),
quote your sources properly both 'in text' and also 'in bibliographical
Guidelines

references'.
• Acknowledge your sources explicitly when paraphrasing (change of
words with synonyms, restructuring sentences or paragraphs of text)
both 'in text' and also 'in bibliographical references'.
• Since most of the scholarly content is currently published online, use
anti-plagiarism software to detect similarities if any your manuscript
before submitting to the university.
Proper Quotations
In order to properly quote your sources, you
should consult the style manual that would be
appropriate for the research.
In most cases, your supervisor will tell you which
style manual would be preferred.
In our case follow the university format.

Common formats: Modern Language

Association (MLA) and American Psychological
Association (APA)
MLA Quotations
Indirect: Some researchers note
that "children are totally insensitive
to their parents' shyness"
(Zimbardo 62).
Direct: Zimbardo notes that
“children are totally insensitive to
their parents’ shyness” (62).
Paraphrasing: Some researchers
have observed that children seem
unaware that their parents are
considered bashful (Zimbardo 62).
APA or Chicago Quotations
• Indirect: Some researchers
note that "children are totally
insensitive to their parents'
shyness" (Zimbardo, 1977,
p.62).
• Direct: Zimbardo (1977) notes
that “Children are totally
insensitive to their parents’
shyness” (p. 62).
• Paraphrasing: Some
researchers have observed
that children seem oblivious
to their parents’ bashfulness
(Zimbardo, 1977).
Proper Citations

In order to properly cite your sources, you should

also consult the style manual that would be
appropriate for the research.
The following examples are formatted in MLA, APA,
and Chicago (Turabian is similar to Chicago)
formats.
MLA Citations
• Book
Zimbardo, Philip G. Shyness: What It Is, What To Do About It.
Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, 1977. Print.
• Essay/Chapter in a Book
Swanson, Gunnar. "Graphic Design Education as a Liberal Art:
Design and Knowledge in the University and The 'Real
World.'" The Education of a Graphic Designer. Ed. Steven
Heller. New York: Allworth Press, 1998. 13-24. Print.
• Article
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of
the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa
Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.
• Article from a Database
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-
Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96.
ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.
• Book
Zimbardo, P.G. (1977). Shyness: What it is, what to do
about it. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books.
• Essay/Chapter in a Book
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's
gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing,
transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.),
Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123).
New York: Springer.
• Article
Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New
Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.
• Article from a Database
APA does not require that a citation for an article in
a database document that fact. You can cite an
article you find in a database the same way you’d
cite a regular print article, as in the example
above.
MLA Citations
• Entire Website
The Purdue OWL Family of
Sites. The Writing Lab and
OWL at Purdue and
Purdue U, 2008. Web. 6
September 2012.
• Page on a Website
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili."
eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web.
24 Feb. 2012.
APA Citations
• Website
Lowe, M. (2012). Megan Lowe
@ ULM. January 29, 2012, from
http://www.ulm./edu/~lowe.
• Item Without Author
Merriam-Webster's collegiate
dictionary (10th ed.).(1993).
Springfield, MA: Merriam-
Webster.
Plagiarism detection
• Regulations for the awarding of MPhil/PhD degree (UGC)
• “all schools must begin “using well-developed software” to detect plagiarism
and other forms of “academic theft” and also provide an electronic copy to
the UGC for inclusion in the organization’s Information and Library Network
Centre (INFLIBNET), which is open to the public”.
• “theses not on language subjects also have at least one copy submitted in
English and that research supervisors must also attest to the originality of
the work, including that no plagiarism has taken place”.
• Applicable for all who registered for PhD on or after November 30, 2009
• In 2014 a high-level committee has suggested severe punishments including
salary cuts and even dismissal in the case of a university faculty.
• Websites designed to provide information on plagiarism (Eg:
http://www.plagiarism.org) and softwares to detect plagiarism (e.g.:
Ithenticate, turnitin, Viper, SafeAssign, Crosscheck, etc.,) has made it easier
for reviewers and editorial staff of journals to detect copying.
 Anti-plagiarism software: A Comparison
First public
Software Developer Latest stable version Free software
release
Copyleaks Copyleaks LTD 2012 , freemium
Turnitin iParadigms 1997 ,
Urkund PrioInfo AB , ,
Compilatio Compilatio.net , ,
SeeSources . , ,
Plagium Septet Systems 2006 2009 limited

eTBLAST Virginia Bioinformatics Institute , , free

CopyTracker . , ,
CitePlag . , ,
PlagiarismDetect . , ,
Chimpsky . , ,

Copyscape Indigo Stream Technologies, Ltd. 2004 ,

PlagTracker Devellar 2011 , freemium

Attributor Digimarc , ,
The Plagiarism Checker . , ,
VeriGuide . , ,
Ephorus iParadigms , ,

Searchlight Sentinel Internet Systems, Inc. October 2013 SaaS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_anti-plagiarism_software
 http://copyscape.com/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/antipla
giarismc/

http://www.duplichecker.com/

http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/help-
teachers.php
http://www.plagium.com/

http://www.plagtracker.com/

Viper http://www.scanmyessay.com/

http://plagiarismdetector.net/

For photos and illustrations: http://mashable.com/2012/08/29/plagiarism-

Tin Eye. http://tineye.com online-services/ (For tutorials)
 Turnitin and iThenticate
URKUND: Plagiarism Detection System
URKUND is a completely automated system against plagiarism (Anti-
plagiarism software) and is
being successfully used at universities and colleges all around the
Turnitin (stylized as turnitin) is
world. an Internet-based plagiarism
URKUND's system checks all documents against three central source detection service run by the
areas: American company Turnitin,
a. The Internet LLC, a subsidiary of Advance
b. Published material such as Journals, Books etc. Publications.
c. Previously submitted student material (e.g. memoranda, case iThenticate is a plagiarism detection
studies and examination works) service for the corporate market,
from Turnitin, LLC, which also runs
Plagiarism.org.
URKUND Plagiarism Detection Software (by Ms Prio Infocenter -
Sweden, eGalactic – India Partner) iThenticate is the most trusted
has been selected by INFLIBNET Centre (Inter University Centre of plagiarism checker by the
UGC) under the aegis of Ministry world's top researchers,
of HRD to enhance quality and prevent plagiarism in publishers, and scholars.
research/academic publications. https://www.ithenticate.com/
Currently it is known as Ouriginal https://www.ouriginal.com/
Effective Methods for
Avoiding Plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism is quite simple. The best method for
avoiding it is to simply be honest; when you've used a
source in your paper, give credit where it's due.
• Acknowledge the author of the original work you've used
• Use citations with every reference/idea.
The Society for Scientific Values (SSV)
• An independent body of scientists with the goal of upholding ethics in
the Indian Scientific community and is India's only watchdog group
against research misconduct.
• The SSV does not have legal powers and cannot go ahead until the
university acknowledges it or the scientist accepts misconduct.
• The society has been active in recent past over several cases involving
plagiarism and has observed that when a case of plagiarism is
brought to the notice of the institution, the usual practice of the
institution is to ignore it and not respond to it.
• Even the prestigious institutions try to sweep the misconduct under
the carpet and hesitate to come overboard against their faculty who
is accused of plagiarism. Hence, those who indulge in plagiarism and
go scot free, become bold to perpetuate it.
http://www.scientificvalues.org/
 Should researchers learn research
ethics as part of a ‘compulsory’
component in a research programme
at PhD level irrespective of their field
of study or subject?
If we want to survive as a
nation, if we want to become a
knowledge power as the prime
minister talks of, we need to
transform our systems, starting
with education. Otherwise we
cannot become an ethical
society.
Prof. Kasturi Lal Chopra (SSV)
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a
forum for editors of peer-reviewed journals to
discuss issues related to the integrity of the
scientific record. It supports and encourages
editors to report, catalogue and instigate
investigations into ethical problems in the
publication process.
• The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a
nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to
define best practice in the ethics of scholarly
publishing and to assist editors and publishers to
achieve this.
What is WAME?

• Established in 1995, WAME (pronounced “whammy”) is a 501(c)(3)

nonprofit voluntary association of editors of peer-reviewed medical
journals from countries throughout the world who seek to foster
international cooperation among and education of medical journal
editors.
• Membership in WAME is free and all decision-making editors of
peer-reviewed medical journals are eligible to join. Membership is
also available to selected scholars in journal editorial policy and peer
review.
What is WAME?
WAME has the following goals:
• to facilitate worldwide cooperation and communication among
editors of peer-reviewed medical journals;
• to improve editorial standards, to promote professionalism in
medical editing through education, self-criticism and self-
regulation;
• to encourage research on the principles and practice of medical
editing.

https://wame.org/aboutus
Bibliographic database and
citation indices
Bibliographic database
• a database of bibliographic records.
• an organized digital collection of references to published
literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference
proceedings, reports, government and legal publications,
patents, books, etc
• generally contain very rich subject descriptions in the form of
keywords, subject classification terms, or abstracts.
• contain bibliographic records with analytical content. (in contrast to library
catalogues, which carry description of items)
• Information that about print and electronic journal articles or
articles in periodicals can generally be found in bibliographic
databases.
• Examples of information types found in bibliographic databases
generally include title, author, abstract; and may also include
links to full-text content.
• Both general and subject specific databases available
• evolve into digital libraries, providing the full-text of the indexed
contents.
• Others converge with non-bibliographic scholarly databases to
create more complete disciplinary search engine systems, such
as Biologicall Abstracts
• Databases are simply collections of data, organized into
files (often called tables) that contain records (e.g. a row of
data about a specific individual).
• Records may be further delimited into specific fields (may
be classified on the basis of several different criteria (e.g.
last name, first name, SS#, street address, city, state, zip,
etc.).
• The files in the database can be searched (queried)
through search interfaces that facilitate construction of
queries, or directly by using specialized languages (e.g.
SQL).
• Database providers are companies that provide access to
information in groups of databases, generally for a fee. One
example of a major database provider is Dialog.
• Database search interfaces link the user to the search engine
that search the databases. They facilitate searching by
allowing the use of natural language terms, by mapping user-
generated search terms to appropriate subject headings
(indexed databases), and provide user-friendly tools such as
menus, check boxes, buttons, and check lists to define search
parameters, eliminating much typing of terms in appropriate
search syntax. A number of databases provide interfaces that
are accessible via the WWW.
Common Databases
• Scopus
• Scopus is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and
citations for academic journal articles. It covers nearly 22,000
titles from over 5,000 publishers, of which 20,000 are peer-
reviewed journals in the scientific, technical, medical, and social
sciences.
• It is owned by Elsevier and is available online by subscription.
Searches in Scopus also incorporate searches of patent
databases.
• Scopus also offers author profiles which cover affiliations, number of
publications and their bibliographic data, references, and details on the
number of citations each published document has received. It has alerting
features that allows registered users to track changes to a profile and a
facility to calculate authors' h-index.
• Scopus can be integrated with ORCID.
• ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a non-proprietary
alphanumeric code to uniquely identify scientific and other academic
authors.
• content-related entities on digital networks by digital object identifiers
(DOIs). A digital object identifier (DOI) is a character string (a "digital
identifier") used to uniquely identify an object, such as an electronic
document.
Information and Library Network Centre (INFLIBNET)

• an autonomous inter-university centre of the University Grants

Commission (UGC) located at Gujarat University Campus,
Ahmedabad.
• It is directed towards modernization of libraries and information
centers for information transfer and access, to support
scholarship, learning and academic pursuits by establishing a
national network of libraries and information centres in
universities, institutions of higher learning and R & D institutions
in India.
• basically a co-operative endeavour in resource development,
sharing and its utilization at national level.
• Since May 1996 it is an independent autonomous Inter-
University Centre under UGC, and it is set out to be a major
player in promoting scholarly communication among
academicians and researchers in India.
• The INFLIBNET Library is also maintaining a National Archive for
the print version of e-journals subscribed under UGC-Infonet E-
Journals Consortium in its “E-Journal Gateway and Archival
Library”. Academicians can make use of this facility.
Objectives:
• Ø To promote and establish communication facilitates to improve
capability in information transfer and access, that provide support
to scholarship, learning, research and academic pursuits through
cooperation and involvement of agencies concerned.
• Ø To establish information and library network - a computer
communication network for linking libraries and information
centres in universities, deemed to be universities, colleges, UGC
information centres, institutions of national importance and R&D
institutions, etc. avoiding duplication of efforts in acquiring
resources.
• Development of union databases is one of the major activities of the centre.
Following are the databases developed and all these databases are updated on
regular basis.
• Ø Books Database: Received around 80 Lakh records from more than 100
universities and has around 20 lakh unique records processed from 70 universities
and remaining are under process. These records representing holdings of
participant libraries under the programme covering both old as well as current
books.
• Ø Theses Database: Has more than 1.5 lakh records of doctoral theses submitted to
various Indian universities till date. Efforts are in progress to include abstracts in this
database.
• Ø Serials Holdings Database: It has more than 14,250 unique serial titles having
over 54,000 holdings of various universities in the country.
• Ø Current Serials Database: Current serials(around 12,000) database is
created to provide access to journals currently subscribed by the
university libraries. Efforts are in progress to link this database with e-
Journals consortium.
• Ø Experts Database: Provides useful data relating to the name(s) of the
experts in different disciplines. This database has more than 15,000
records, and is growing steadily.
• Ø Research Projects: It gives information about ongoing and completed
projects funded by government agencies and it has over 10,000 records.
• Ø Experts Database(Science & Technology): It has more than 20,000
experts profiles in the area of Science and Technology and it is funded
project of NISSAT and database can be accessed from the URL
http://nissat.inflibnet.ac.in.
• Databases can be accessed from URL: http://www.inflibnet.ac.in.
Shodhganga
• TheShodhganga@INFLIBNET Centre provides a platform for
research students to deposit their Ph.D. theses and make it
available to the entire scholarly community in open access.
• The repository has the ability to capture, index, store,
disseminate and preserve Electronic Theses and
Dissertations (ETDs) submitted by the researchers.
• "Shodhganga" is the name coined to denote digital repository of
Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertations set-up by the
INFLIBNET Centre.
• The word "Shodh" originates from Sanskrit and stands for
research and discovery. The "Ganga" is the holiest, largest and
longest of all rivers in Indian subcontinent.
• The Ganga is the symbol of India's age-long culture and
civilisation, everchanging, ever-flowing, ever-loved and revered
by its people, and has held India's heart captive and drawn
uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history.
• Shodhganga stands for the reservoir of Indian intellectual
output stored in a repository hosted and maintained by the
INFLIBNET Centre.
ShodhGangotri
• research scholars / research supervisors in universities are
requested to deposit electronic version of approved synopsis
submitted by research scholars to the universities for registering
themselves for the Ph.D programme.
• The repository on one hand, would reveal the trends and directions
of research being conducted in Indian universities, on the other
hand it would avoid duplication of research.
• Synopsis in “ShodhGangotri” would later be mapped to full-text
theses in "ShodhGanga". As such, once the full-text thesis is
submitted for a synopsis, a link to the full-text theses would be
provided from ShodhGangotri to "ShodhGanga"
https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/
Peer review process
• Peer review is the system used to assess the quality of a
manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in
the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for
originality, validity and significance to help editors determine
whether a manuscript should be published in their journal.
• When a manuscript is submitted to a journal, it is assessed to
see if it meets the criteria for submission. If it does, the
editorial team will select potential peer reviewers within the
field of research to peer-review the manuscript and make
recommendations.
Three main types of peer review
• Single-blind: the reviewers know the names of the authors,
but the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript
unless the reviewer chooses to sign their report.
• Double-blind: the reviewers do not know the names of the
authors, and the authors do not know who reviewed their
manuscript.
• Open peer: authors know who the reviewers are, and the
reviewers know who the authors are. If the manuscript is
accepted, the named reviewer reports are published
alongside the article.
• Why do peer review?
• Peer review is an integral part of scientific publishing that
confirms the validity of the manuscript. Peer reviewers are
experts who volunteer their time to help improve the
manuscripts they review. By undergoing peer review,
manuscripts should become:
• More robust - peer reviewers may point out gaps in a paper that
require more explanation or additional experiments.
• Easier to read - if parts of your paper are difficult to understand,
reviewers can suggest changes.
• More useful - peer reviewers also consider the importance of
your paper to others in your field.
 CITATION INDICES
• A citation index is a kind of bibliographic database, an
index of citations between publications, allowing the
user to easily establish which later documents cite which
earlier documents.
• In 1960, Eugene Garfield's Institute for Scientific
Information (ISI) introduced the first citation index for
papers published in academic journals, first the Science
Citation Index (SCI), and later the Social Sciences Citation
Index (SSCI) and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index
(AHCI).
Citation impact can be measured in various ways.

• An obvious measure is citation count, which quantifies both

the usage and impact of the cited work.[ This is called citation
analysis or bibliometrics. Among the measures that have
emerged from citation analysis are the citation counts for:
• an individual article (how often it was cited);
• an author (total citations, or average citation count per
article);
• a journal (average citation count for the articles in the
journal).
• The best-known measures include the h-index and the g-
index.
• The first automated citation indexing was done by CiteSeer in
1997. Other sources for such data include Google Scholar and
Elsevier's Scopus.
• General-purpose academic citation indexes include:
• ISI (now part of Thomson Reuters) publishes the ISI citation indexes in print
and compact disc. They are now generally accessed through the Web under
the name Web of Science, which is in turn part of the group of databases in
the Web of Knowledge.
• Elsevier publishes Scopus, available online only, which similarly combines
subject searching with citation browsing and tracking in the sciences and social
sciences.
• Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full
text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats
and disciplines.
• Indian Citation Index is an online citation data which
covers peer reviewed journals published from India. It
covers major subject areas such as scientific, technical,
medical, and social sciences and includes arts and
humanities. The citation database is the first of its kind in
India.
• Each of these offers an index of citations between
publications and a mechanism to establish which
documents cite which other documents. They differ
widely in cost: the ISI databases and Scopus are available
by subscription (generally to libraries).
Impact Factor
• A journal impact factor is the average number of times that articles
published in a specific journal in the two previous years (eg 1998-99)
were cited in a particular year (ie 2000).’
• al is the number of citations, received in that year, of articles
published in that journal during the two preceding years, divided by
the total number of "citable items" published in that journal during
the two preceding years:

For example, Nature had an impact factor of 41.577 in 2017

How can I find out IF of a journal?
Journal Citation Reports (JCR) offers a systematic, objective means to critically evaluate the world's
leading journals, with quantifiable, statistical information based on citation data:

• ‘The Thomson Reuters search engine is now known as the Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List.

• You can also check the list of journals in the 2019 release of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

Five things to know about impact factors

• Not all journals have impact factors. They must be indexed in Web of Science to have an impact factor

• A journal has only one impact factor, but it may be listed in more than one category

• A journal impact factor should not be looked at in isolation, but in comparison to other journals in the
same category

• Impact factors vary across disciplines

• IF of a particular journal is NOT the same throughout and it varies from year to year based on analysis.

https://mjl.clarivate.com/search-results
Look whether it is in UGC-CARE LIST
https://ugccare.unipune.ac.in/
What is the "UGC-CARE List" of
Journals?
The UGC-CARE Reference List of
Quality Journals is now divided into
TWO groups, instead of the original
FOUR groups to simplify the search
process. These are NOT hierarchic or
ranked groups.

UGC-CARE List Group I: Journals

found qualified through UGC-CARE
protocols

UGC-CARE List Group II: Journals

indexed in globally recognised
databases
Register to
search!
UGC Approved List of Journals has been
replaced by UGC-CARE list w.e.f. 14.06.2019
 • Web of Science: ALL inclusive in
UGC-CARE
• Scopus: Few journals removed
based on complaints received
List of journals removed from the Group II indexed in Scopus
database
The SERIOUS threat of PREDATORY journals
• Predatory publishing, sometimes called write-only publishing or deceptive
publishing, is an exploitive academic publishing business model that involves
charging publication fees to authors without checking articles for quality and
legitimacy and without providing the other editorial and publishing services that
legitimate academic journals provide, whether open access or not.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_publishing)

How are predatory journals different than Open Access journals?

• Open Access journals may solicit authors to publish for a fee, but maintain high
standards for peer review and editing.
• The goal of Open Access publishing is to disseminate research to a larger audience
by removing paywalls.
• Open Access journals can have Impact Factors and can create a citation advantage
for authors
How can you spot a predatory journal?
1. Do you or your colleagues know the journal? Do you
recognize the editorial board? Check the contracts of all
editorial board members and their credentials.
2. Can you easily contact the publisher?
3. Do they speak about the fees and review process in
the webpage? (some PJs often create their OWN impact Jeffrey Beall
factor and give special offer of publishing the paper in a https://beallslist.weebly.com/
single day or single week!)
https://predatoryjournals.com/journals/
4. Is the journal clear about their peer review process?
5. Check with the other publications of the same group
and their archives to find out the quality and quantity in
your field of research.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crDKooW_2kU
• Check if the journal is a member of DOAJ,
COPE, OASPA or STM
• Does the contact information match the
advertised nationality of the journal? Can
their address be verified? Do emails arrive
during the correct working hours for that
region?
• Is the journal referenced in the editors
professional institutional profile, LinkedIn
page or Research Gate?
• India is “one of the biggest global hubs” for
predatory publishing. Thanks to UGC, there
is a curb on such journals being accepted.
But a researcher in India should be aware of
what a PJ is!
• Consortium for Academic Research and
Ethics (CARE)
https://pr
edatoryjou
rnals.com/
journals/
https://www.fisheriesjournal.com/ https://predatoryjournals.com/journals/
• The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the
productivity and citation impact of the published body of work of
a scientist or scholar.
• The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers
and the number of citations that they have received in other
publications.
• The index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a
scholarly journal as well as a group of scientists, such as a
department or university or country.
• The index was suggested in 2005 by Jorge E. Hirsch, a physicist at
UCSD, as a tool for determining theoretical physicists' relative
quality and is sometimes called the Hirsch index or Hirsch
number.
• A scientist has index h if h of his/her Np papers have at least h
citations each, and the other (Np − h) papers have no more than h
citations each.
• In other words, a scholar with an index of h has published h
papers, each of which has been cited in other papers at least h
times.
• Thus, the h-index reflects both the number of publications and
the number of citations per publication.
• The index is designed to improve upon simpler measures such as
the total number of citations or publications.
• The index works properly only for comparing scientists working in
the same field; citation conventions differ widely among different
fields.
A Better Citation Metric
• h-Index (Hirsch Index)
• An h-Index of 11 means a person (or dept.) has 11 articles cited at
least 11 times.
• Easily calculated from Web of Science
http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/webofscience.html
• Hirsch intended the h-index to address the main disadvantages of
other bibliometric indicators, such as total number of papers or
total number of citations.
• Total number of papers does not account for the quality of
scientific publications, while total number of citations can be
disproportionately affected by participation in a single
publication of major influence (for instance, methodological
papers proposing successful new techniques, methods or
approximations, which can generate a large number of citations),
or having many publications with few citations each.
• The h-index is intended to measure simultaneously the quality
and quantity of scientific output.
Critique of h-index
• Rewards longevity, but not least-publishable-unit or sheer
quantity.
• Recent and old work rewarded equally
• Does not reward highly cited papers
• Many variants (g-index, m-index, etc. proposed to weight
age, recent work, & highly cited papers, # of coauthors)
• Relatively insensitive to manipulation.
Variants of h-index

•g-index = g number of papers that received g2

citations (rewards highly cited papers

•m-index = h-index / no. of years a researcher has

published (normalizes for longevity)
• The g-index is an index for quantifying scientific productivity based on
publication record. It was suggested in 2006 by Leo Egghe (the name ‘g’ is
from two gs in Egghe).
• Just as with the h-index, the g-index is a number which is the same for
two different quantities:
• g is (1) the number of highly cited articles, such that each of them has
brought (2) on average g citations.
• In other words, this means that in order to have a g-index
of n an author that produces n articles should have, on
average, n citations for each of them. Unlike the h-index,
the g-index depends on the full citation count of very highly
cited papers.
• Roughly, h is the number of papers of a quality threshold
that rises as h rises; g allows citations from higher-cited
papers to be used to bolster lower-cited papers in meeting
this threshold.
•Bibliometrics is statistical analysis of
written publications, such as books or
articles Bibliometric methods are
frequently used in the field of library and
information science, including
scientometrics.
Ethical Principles
• Honesty
• Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly report data,
results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not
fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues,
research sponsors, or the public.
• Objectivity
• Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data
interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert
testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or
required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or
financial interests that may affect research.
• Integrity
• Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for
consistency of thought and action.
• Carefulness
• Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your
own work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research
activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence
with agencies or journals.
• Openness
• Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new
ideas.
• Transparency
• Disclose methods, materials, assumptions, analyses, and other information
needed to evaluate your research.
• Accountability
• Take responsibility for your part in research and be prepared to give
an account (i.e. an explanation or justification) of what you did on a
research project and why.
• Intellectual Property
• Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property.
Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without
permission. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all
contributions to research. Never plagiarize.
• Confidentiality
• Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants
submitted for publication, personnel records, trade or military
secrets, and patient records.
• Responsible Publication
• Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just
your own career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication.
• Responsible Mentoring
• Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote their welfare and
allow them to make their own decisions.
• Respect for Colleagues
• Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.
• Social Responsibility
• Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through
research, public education, and advocacy.
• Non-Discrimination
• Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex,
race, ethnicity, or other factors not related to scientific competence and
integrity.
• Competence
• Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise
through lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote
competence in science as a whole.
• Legality
• Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.
• Animal Care
• Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do
not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.
• Human Subjects protection
• When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks
and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take
special precautions with vulnerable populations; and strive to distribute
the benefits and burdens of research fairly.
Adapted from Shamoo A and Resnik D. 2015. Responsible Conduct of Research, 3rd ed. (New
York: Oxford University Press)
Research Misconduct Prevention
Self-policing with Quality Research Practices

• Good science practices minimize the risk of misconduct. For

example:
• Strict adherence to the scientific method
• Clear, detailed record keeping
• Meaningful and clear delineation of collaboration
• Shared understanding of authorship roles and responsibilities
• Attentive mentoring for newer members of the research
environment
Books
Thank you….Best
wishes