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COMMENT A word about ethics The ACS Ethical Guidelines, developed by die editors of the publications of the American Chemical Society, appear in the February issue of ES&Tand on our Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/instruct/ethic.htrnl. Most recendy revised in January 1994, they are endorsed by the Society's Committee on Publications. They are important, and all editors, reviewers, and autiiors should read them periodically. Especially for the benefit of readers and contributors who are new to our journal or are just embarking on a career of scientific publishing, I mention some of the issues most often encountered by die editors of ES&T. Our more senior colleagues should have little reason to be reminded of the subject. One of the most common "violations" of our ethical guidelines by audiors relates to the question of prior publication. Items B.7 and B.8 in the guidelines indicate mat prior publication is not appropriate except under very limited circumstances, for example, as a preliminary communication, or as an abstract from a conference. Under no circumstances should an autiior submit a paper for publication in ES&rthat has already been published elsewhere or contains data, figures, extensive text, etc., already published elsewhere, especially in a copyrighted publication. [U.S. copyright laws do allow limited use of prior information under prescribed circumstances. However, if old data are used, for example, in some reinterpreted form, the editors should be so notified when die manuscript is submitted, and the article itself, old data notwithstanding, must present essentially new and important findings and understanding.] Another problem we sometimes encounter is the question of authorship. Item B.ll describes some of the guidelines tiiat should be used by principal authors in deciding who should be a coauthor of a paper. The principal criterion is that an author should have made "significant scientific contributions." We expect the principal autiiors to decide on those who fit this criterion rather than leaving it to us to act as referees in any battles that may ensue. Our most serious issue wim regard to the ethics of reviewers relates to item C.l, die essential part of which is, that "every scientist has an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing." We at ES&T would suggest that this should read, a fair share of "high-quality" reviewing. All of fhe iiems within this section of fhe guidelines are important, and taken as a whole, they make this most important point: Peer review is a major foundation of scientific research, and it is the etiiical obligation of all scientists to do it well, confidentially, and in a timely and unbiased fashion. Good reviewing takes time—we grant that—and all of us are busy nowadays. But a good review is as important as a good paper in raising the level of science in our society. Conversely, a review that is superficial, biased, or inaccurate stands a chance of doing a disservice to both authors and readers. The editors also call your attention to section D, dealing with publication outside the scientific literature. Item D.3 is often the most contentious, especially in this age of intense research competition. However, we caution scientists, especially those who are young and just starting out to resist the temptation to publish in the popular press until their work has been reviewed by their peers. Finally, we are aware of the guidelines that pertain to Editors (Section A). We pledge to you that we will do our very best to fulfill the high standards laid out in this section.
William H. Glaze, Editor (
[email protected]) © 1999 American Chemical Society
MARCH 1, 1999 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 1 0 5 A
