The ethics pipeline to academic publishing
| Date | 14 March 2016 |
| Pages | 24-28 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-11-2015-0040 |
| Published date | 14 March 2016 |
| Author | Tricia Bertram Gallant |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance |
The ethics pipeline to
academic publishing
Tricia Bertram Gallant
Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego,
California, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to respond to Curno’s piece on the Challenges to ethical publishing in the
digital era.
Design/methodology/approach – In this response, the author argues that a focus on “publication
ethics” may perpetuate the problem of unethical conduct because such a focus ignores the inuences of
the educational ethics pipeline.
Findings – As a result, the author issues two calls for action: we must cease operating in our ethical
silos and educational leaders must publicly recognize the problem of unethical conduct and fully
commit to addressing it.
Originality/value – This response challenges the notions of ethical silos and the inaction by
educational institutions to properly train ethical professionals, authors and researchers.
Keywords Culture, Ethics, Ethics education
Paper type Viewpoint
Observations about the impact of technology on ethics have been made for some time
now. Kidder (1995), citing the Chernobyl disaster as evidence, noted the magnifying
impact that technology can have on ethical decision-making. And in 2008, I noted that
changing digital age conceptions of information as public (rather than private) and
knowledge as communally (rather than individually) constructed were inuencing
notions of academic ethics. In “Challenges to Ethical Publishing in the Digital Age”,
Mirjam J. Curno focuses on the ways in which technology has exacerbated the
complexity of ethics in the eld of academic publishing. In particular, Curno notes that
journal editors now have an expanding and intentional role to play in fettering out
unethical publishing practices and implementing practices to ensure the integrity of
scholarly literature.
Curno is right to emphasize the intentional role that leadership (i.e. journal editors)
must play in ensuring integrity in academic publishing. However, her focus on
“publication ethics” may be perpetuating the problem of unethical conduct rather than
resolving it. If we truly want to resolve the problem of unethical publishing, then we
must understand that neither its causes nor its solutions are unique.
The causes of unethical conduct
It has been well documented in social science research that even good people will make
bad decisions when under stress or pressure, when they are tired or when it benets
them just a little bit. Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, has perhaps provided the most
interesting studies of late to demonstrate this fact. We know that people are more likely
to cheat if they can cheat just enough to gain some benet without sacricing their sense
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
JICES
14,1
24
Received 5 November 2015
Revised 5 November 2015
Accepted 7 November 2015
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.14 No. 1, 2016
pp.24-28
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-11-2015-0040
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