Editorship policies are one of the most important aspects of the process of publishing scientific articles, aiming to ensure integrity, credibility, and ethics in scientific research. These policies encompass several important aspects that must be considered by researchers, writers, and editors. In this article, we will review some of these key aspects.
Originality and Plagiarism Prevention
Plagiarism or unacknowledged copying or attempting to mislead originality of the author, whether of ideas, texts, or results, is one of the most prominent ethical violations in scientific research. Plagiarism can be defined as “the theft or misappropriation of intellectual property and the copying of large written texts from another work without giving appropriate and clear acknowledgment.” Manuscripts of this kind will not be considered for publication in a Nature Portfolio journal. In addition to reusing texts verbatim, caution must be taken to ensure appropriate recognition and citation when paraphrasing and summarizing others’ work. “Text recycling” or reusing parts of previously published text by the researcher themselves is a form of self-plagiarism. Caution should also be exercised in this regard. When reusing text, whether from the researcher’s own publication or from others’ publications, appropriate acknowledgment and citation must be provided to avoid creating a misleading impression about the reader’s unique contribution.
Duplicate Publication
Duplicate publication occurs when the author reuses large parts of their previously published work without providing appropriate references. This can range from publishing an identical paper in several journals to adding a small amount of new data to a previously published paper.
Editors of Nature Portfolio journals evaluate all these cases based on their individual merits. When plagiarism becomes apparent after publication, we may correct, retract, or modify the original publication depending on the degree of plagiarism and the context within the published article and its impact on the integrity of the published study as a whole. Nature Portfolio is part of Similarity Check, a service that uses software tools to examine submitted manuscripts for text overlap.
Proper Acknowledgment of Others’ Work
When discussing published work by others, writers and researchers should provide an appropriate description of the previous work’s contribution. Intellectual contributions and technical developments should be acknowledged accordingly with proper citation.
Nature Portfolio Journals’ Policies on Duplicate Publication
The material submitted to a Nature Portfolio journal must be original and not published or submitted for publication elsewhere at the same time.
Authors submitting contributions to a Nature Portfolio journal who have related material under consideration or in press elsewhere must upload a distinct version with a clear label at the time of submission, drawing the editors’ attention to it in their cover letter. Authors must disclose any such information while their contributions are being considered by Nature Portfolio – for example, if they have submitted a related manuscript elsewhere that was not written at the time of submitting the original Nature Portfolio manuscript.
If part of the contribution the author wishes to submit to a Nature Portfolio journal has appeared or will appear elsewhere, the author must specify the details in the cover letter attached to the Nature Portfolio submission. Consideration by Nature Portfolio may be possible if the main result or conclusion or implications are not clear from the other work, or if there are other factors, for example, if the other work has been published in a language other than English.
Nature Portfolio will consider contributions that contain material that has previously formed part of a doctoral dissertation or other academic thesis published in accordance with the requirements of the granting institution.
Supports
Nature Portfolio journals allow for pre-publication on recognized community preprint servers for peer review before official submission to the journal. More information about our preprint policies can be found here.
Nature Portfolio journals permit the publication of meeting abstracts prior to the submission of the full contribution. Such abstracts should be included with the Nature Portfolio journal submission and referenced in the cover letter accompanying the manuscript.
If there is any doubt, authors should seek guidance from the editor handling their contribution.
If the author of the contribution is reusing form or forms published elsewhere, or they are copyright protected, the author must provide documentation demonstrating that the previous publisher or copyright holder has granted permission for the form to be republished.
Nature Portfolio Journals’ Editorial Policies on Plagiarism
There are tools for detecting article originality, but promoting ethical values is still essential. Nature. Proven plagiarism, July 7, 2010. Scientific plagiarism – a serious issue like fraud – has not received the attention it deserves. Nature Medicine. Plagiarism specialist’s guide, July 2009. Combating plagiarism becomes an easier battle. Nature Physics. The truth will out, July 2009. It highlights the shared responsibility of authors for scientific misconduct and guest authorship and deliberate or negligent citation plagiarism, emphasizing the need for accurate data about author contribution. Nature Photonics. Combating plagiarism, May 2009. Plagiarism is on the rise, thanks to the internet. Universities and journals need to take action. Nature. Eliminating fakes, November 3, 2005.
Fraud and Duplication
When it comes to research misconduct, ignoring it and pretending it doesn’t exist is the worst possible plan. Nature Chemistry. They did something bad, May 2011. A commitment to promoting best practices in research ethics and education in research ethics. Nature Cell Biology. Combating scientific misconduct, January 2011. Scientific misconduct may be more prevalent than most researchers would like to admit. Solutions must be comprehensive and varied. Nature. Solutions, not scapegoats, June 19, 2008. Promoting the support of electronic lab notebooks for all involved. Nature. Share your lab notes, May 3, 2007. Laboratory records have remained unchanged for centuries, but modern experiments are putting enormous pressure on the old ways. Nature News Feature. Electronic lab notebooks: new paper, July 7, 2005. The true extent of plagiarism is unknown, but the increasing number of suspected cases is forcing editors to take action. Nature special report. Confronting fraudsters, May 19, 2005.
Duplicate Publication
Clarifying journal policies on overlapping or simultaneous submissions and the prohibition of publication. Nature Neuroscience. Navigating relevant submission and publication issues, July 2014. Duplicate publication undermines science. Nature Photonics. Quality over quantity, September 2011. Fragmenting a coherent body of research into as many publications as possible. Nature Materials. The cost of salami slicing, January 2005.
Source: https://www.nature.com/nature-research/editorial-policies/plagiarism
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