The Publish or Perish Debate: It's Still a Matter of Ethics

By Dr. Guna Selvaduray, San Jose State University

During the Spring 1998 semester, one of the issues that was being debated on the San Jose State University campus was whether students who do a term paper for one class should be permitted to submit the same paper to meet the requirements of another class. This was discussed by the faculty senate as well as the student body association. As might be expected, the student body felt that since the term paper written for one class was the work product of a particular student, that student should have the freedom to use it as he/she wishes, including submitting it to another class. The faculty senate, however, disagreed.

At issue here are broader concepts, including "ethics in publishing" and "academic integrity." All journals that I am familiar with require certification from the authors that the work being submitted for publication is original and has neither been published in another journal, nor submitted for consideration to another journal simultaneously.

Journal Requirements

There are many reasons why journals place such requirements on authors, the prime one being to make sure that the reputation of the journal is maintained by publishing only original work.

Another reason is to prevent publishing articles that have already been published elsewhere, thus increasing the costs without making any worthwhile contribution to knowledge. There is also a legal aspect. Journals usually copyright their publications. Therefore, when the same paper appears in another journal, the issue of copyright infringement may, and often does, arise.

Besides the legal issue, there are also ethical and moral issues involved. Assuming that a publication brings some form of renumeration to author, even if that compensation is only in the form of copies, a question comes to mind: Is it ethical to be paid twice for the same work product? A term paper that has been submitted for the requirements of one class will be graded and credited. Submitting the same paper to another class is a form of "double dipping." I believe that the same can be said of journal papers.

The era of "publish or perish" has led some people to believe that there is a need to publish, and that their work product is to be measured in terms of the number of papers published rather than the originality of the contents of each of the papers—and thus the quality of the papers.

What really matters is not the number of papers published, but rather how frequently the information contained in a individual's papers is used by others in their works. This is measured by the frequency with which one's work is cited by others. Needless to say, works of importance and significance will be cited by others, whereas works that do not contribute to the advancement of knowledge are seldom noted.

Perhaps some authors believe that by submitting what is really the same paper to different journals they will be able to reach a broader readership. While this might have been true at one time in today's information age where a multitude of databases exist, this argument is no longer valid. Publication in one journal will practically assure that the article will be cited in at least one of the databases, if not more.

Another topic that many students have difficulty understanding is the need for appropriate referencing. The criterion that we encourage students to apply is as follows: Every sentence and piece of information in the paper is either their original work or the work of somebody else.

Where Credit Is Due

If the information was somebody else's, then that individual must be accorded the appropriate credit for his or her contribution. This criterion applies for data as well, including simple data such as melting points. Citing a melting point figure without referencing a source implies that the author measured this temperature. Proper referencing also makes it possible for the reader to pursue a topic of interest further, or to cross check the data reported if there are any doubts.

Integrity and ethical consideration to publishing, especially in technical literature, are critical. The most important factor is the extent to which the reader can rely on what the author writes.

If the author is willing to "stretch the truth" for recognition—or some other form of reward—then the reliability of what the author has written is also suspect.

Dr. Selvaduray is a Chip Scale Review Editorial Advisor and Professor of Material Sciences at San Jose State University. Readers may contact him at: gunas@email.sjus.edu