Why Is Ethics Important In Writing

But some of the letters submitted to Lung India also contained copy–pasted material. One case report was submitted from the USA, which was already published and available on the hospital website. The review articles were routinely scanned for plagiarism. Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are wrong, against the rules, and can result in harsh punishments.

• You should probably interview different sources, or at least use different quotes from the same interviews.
• Marcovitch H. Misconduct by researchers and authors.
• It’s also a good idea to mention in the text the name of the person whose writing has been taken.
• Writers should ensure their work is an accurate portrayal of the truth.
• Thus, see to it that you always cite recent data no more than two years old, and from authoritative sources, to add credibility to your piece.

Including statistics in blog posts improves consumer trust and makes the post more link-worthy. Facts and figures promptly convince the most skeptical of readers and drive the point home. It proves you have done your research and homework, and know what you’re talking about. Years ago, I read that if you want to re-sell an article you wrote, in order for the article to be considered original, it has to be 10 percent different from the old one. As a journalist, you want to avoid even the appearance of bias. So even if your motives are pure, including a client of yours as a source is a no-go.

Tip #4: Dont Include Too Much Material Taken From Other Sources

Place sufficient attribution while using ideas of others. Allot sufficient time for writing even if it is a protocol of a study. This is a small manuscript and usually not screened for plagiarism.

Above all, as is the case with every profession, ensure you learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them. Remember, your content is meant to drive engagement, which means a healthy debate is actually good.

Basic Reading And Writing

Print, photocopy, or scan the relevant pages of every source you are using . When taking notes by hand , list the bibliographic information for each source you use.

Reputed journals consider plagiarism as a highly unethical practice and they strongly depreciate such behaviors. Concern about plagiarism in the international community has led to the development of guidelines by Committee On Publication Ethics . Plagiarism is difficult to detect and poses significant threat to the health of scientific literature. Mostly, the plagiarism is suspected by knowledgeable reviewers and their expertise in a particular field helps them catch subtle defects easily. Editorial staff uses electronic plagiarism-checks to detect plagiarism. The suspicious areas indicated by such tools are then compared carefully by placing both articles in parallel. Abstract similarity is a useful method to detect replication, but comparison of full text article is more helpful.

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Manuscript will be sent back for modifications with a communication to author regarding position of journal and disapproval of plagiarism. The author should explain with valid reasons for the mistake, send desired data and assure that no further mistake will be made by him or co-authors in the future.

Before submitting an article, make sure that you have prepared all the files, figures and references according to the journal’s instructions. Scientific misconduct is now beginning to be considered similar to other criminal offences and often committed by the same offender. In a meta-analysis by Fanelli et al., it was found that medical researchers reported misconduct more frequently than respondents in other fields.

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Conversely, it does apply to the business side of things. In the workplace, having ethics may be frowned upon because business is looked at doing what is right for the bottom line and not doing what is right for the company.

Giving credit to those sources as you go is the expectation. It is expected that you will use sources ethically–note whose words and ideas you are using, exactly where you use them.

Even if you wrote a balanced article on an abortion topic and it came out that you, say, run a pro-choice blog — the objectivity of the publication would be called into question. Ethical writing means doing what is right and fair. Some common phrases used reflect public trust, equal opportunity employer, core values, honest advertising, full disclosure, fair trade and social responsibility. This isn’t always an option, though, as publishers are not always happy to take an unconventional route.

We use your LinkedIn profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. You can change your ad preferences anytime. An explanation from author will be demanded. In case of unsatisfactory reply or failure to respond, the head of authors’ institute will be informed. The author/co-authors will be barred from publication in Lung India for a period of 2 years.

Is Your Writing Ethical In The Workplace?

One must be aware of the fact that using published photos or images without written permission is also considered as plagiarism. Easy availability of private computers has led to increase in tendency to use of copy and paste method of writing by young authors. The need of adequate referencing and apprehension of plagiarism raises the important issue about what one requires to cite. In general, any statement that contains a fact that is not universally known or contains factual details should be referenced. In academic writing, the “Quote Sandwich” approachis useful for incorporating other writers’ voices into your essays. It gives meaning and context to a quote, and helps you avoid plagiarism. This 3-step approach offers your readers a deeper understanding of what the quote is and how it relates to your essay’s goals.

This article by Helen Kara originally appeared on the LSE Impact of Social Sciences blog as “A simple guide to ethical co-authorship” and is reposted under the Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0). Fabrication of data or duplication of article is obviously the most serious form of misconduct. Currently, we consider this as an issue of main concern.

And even if you did interview one or two pro-lifers, you may not want to give them as much play in the piece. Sincere efforts of esteemed reviewers and editorial team are acknowledged for providing examples of plagiarism in the submitted manuscripts. An author submitted a manuscript which was regrettably copied word to word from a recently published article of the reviewer. Another original article was submitted as part of a study which was already published. Number of patients in the published article was 100.

Documenting where all of your ideas, information, quotations, and so on come from is an important step in avoiding plagiarism. You can write a fair and accurate article on any topic. But even so, we’re talking about the appearance of bias.

In the end, ethics is all about making choices that may not always feel good or benefit you. Regardless of individual values, ethical principles in the workplace set common workplace values.

We, as authors, must be transparent in what we write to encourage readers to believe in us and build their trust. To paraphrase means to express the meaning of someone else’s written or spoken words using different words in order to achieve greater clarity. It is a way to highlight the ideas you are presenting in your work by offering supportive sources. Proper paraphrasing takes the ideas from the original source and fits them carefully into your writing by emphasizing the relevant points. Paraphrased passages still require citations because the ideas are from another source. Then there’s the plagiarism that is unintentional. But ethical writing goes beyond that and includes things like not exaggerating a claim or leaving out important information that is contrary to your opinion.