Editor’s Comments: the Better Angels of Our Nature—ethics and Integrity in the Publishing Process

Our profession has no formal audit function. More precisely, our research and publishing activities are not monitored by a formal audit process. Rather, our work rests on a foundation of individual professionalism and responsibility. The result is that ethics, not audits, serve as the primary assurance of integrity and fairness in our research process and the veracity of the products that emerge from it. As chair of the Ethics Education Committee of the Academy, I spend considerable time talking with journal editors, division chairs, and other Academy leaders about the challenges involved in communicating and upholding professional ethical standards. The most common theme emerging from these conversations involves research and publication ethics. The most common explanation from violators includes some form of “I didn’t know.” My comments here seek to shine light on ethical challenges that arise in the research and publishing process and to present solutions to them. I do so on two fronts. Formally, I present information from the Academy’s Code of Ethics relevant to research and publishing. Informally, I present anecdotal evidence from journal editors that highlights the ethical challenges that sometimes arise as this work reaches the journal submission and publication stage. Through these formal and informal illustrations, readers might better understand the challenges we face in our research and publishing activities and how to minimize ethical problems related to them.