Research in Applied Psychology strives to adhere to high ethical standards in publishing. Below we list a few important principles and guidelines. Authors are encouraged to refer to the official website of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) (http://www.publicationethics.org/) for more details. COPE provides advice to authors, editors, reviewers and publishers on all aspects of publication ethics and, in particular, how to handle cases of research and publication misconduct.
Institutional approval:
When institutional approval is required, authors should provide accurate information about their research proposals and obtain approval prior to conducting the research. Authors should then conduct the research in accordance with the approved research protocol.
Important issues of publication ethics:
– Simultaneous submission:
Authors have an obligation to make sure their paper is based on original–never before published–research. Intentionally submitting or re-submitting work for duplicate publication is considered a breach of publishing ethics.
The main rule of thumb: articles submitted for publication must be original and must not have been considered for publication by any other publisher. At the time of submission, authors must disclose any details of related papers (also when in a different language), similar papers in press, and translations.
-Plagiarism:
One of the most common types of publication misconduct is plagiarism–when one author deliberately uses another’s work without permission, credit, or acknowledgment. Plagiarism takes different forms, from literal copying to paraphrasing someone else’s work including data, words and phrases, and ideas and concepts. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden.
-Collaboration/authorship:
Naming authors on a scientific paper ensures that the appropriate individuals get credit, and are accountable, for the research. Deliberately misrepresenting a scientist’s relationship to their work is considered to be a form of misconduct that undermines confidence in the reporting of the work itself. The submitting author is required to ensure the commitment of all the co-authors.
-Originality:
Authors should not publish, as original data, data that have been previously published. This does not preclude republishing data when they are accompanied by proper acknowledgment.
-Fraud:
Research fraud is publishing data or conclusions that were not generated by experiments or observations, but by invention or data manipulation. In no circumstances should authors commit a fraud.
-Conflict of interest:
Transparency and objectivity are essential in scientific research and the peer review process. When an investigator, author, editor, or reviewer has a financial/personal interest or belief that could affect his/her objectivity, or inappropriately influence his/her actions, a potential conflict of interest exists. Such relationships are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties. It is the responsibility of the author to disclose in full any conflict of interest.