May 2012
21/5/2012 9.52am by Natalie Ridgeway
Last month, Nature News blog reported on an emminent chemist who was investigated for 'self-plagiarism' or duplicate publication. Apparently a number of paragraphs were almost identical in a number of papers he published. The most recent paper, published in Journal of the American Chemical Association, has since been retracted with the statement: "This article was removed by the publisher due to possible copyright concerns.
18/5/2012 3.56pm by Natalie Ridgeway
An article in Nature discusses the proposed libel reform law that was included in last week's Queen's Speech. This legislation directly addresses the concerns of researchers and scientific groups. You can read the full article here.
7/5/2012 9.28am by Ginny Barbour
There has been much discussion recently on how journals handle risky or "dual use" research - ie research that has the potential to be used for harm. A Nature Editorial (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7396/full/485005a.html) now discusses where things stand with regard to a pair of papers submitted to Science and Nature of papers reporting mammalian transmissibility of avian flu as a result of artificial genetic manipulation.
1/5/2012 10.07am by Natalie Ridgeway
Recent articles in the Scientist and Nature discuss publication ethics in China and point to a recent declaration by editors of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) to follow guidelines issued by CAST in 2009. This declaration is one part of increasing awareness of the importance of publication ethics and the need for journals within China to address the issue.