Publication Ethics
Publication ethics are generally agreed upon rules of conduct when publishing results of scientific research or other scholarly work. In other way of saying publication ethics is a standard that protects intellectual property, confirm originality of the research work and forbids the re-publication of another's work without proper credit and plagiarism (1).In maintaining publication ethics, all the players in scientific publication, but principally the authors, peer-reviewers, readers and editors should shoulder their roles and responsibilities and take all possible measures against publication malpractices.Besides abiding to the journal’s reporting styles and requirements, authors must ensure the originality of their work, refrain from duplicate/redundant publication and disclose conflict of interests as these are main sources of publication misconducts (2). Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant and end-to end contribution to development of the reported study. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged. The ICMJE (3) clearly stipulates that authorship must be based on the following 4 criteria:1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND2) Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.Besides scientifically critiquing the manuscript, reviewers are expected to sniff for potential publication misconducts.Readers of scientific publication also play key role to minimize publication misconduct. When they feel that the article they read has possible publication malpractice, readers are expected to report to the editor of the journal. Editors are in the center of all the players of scientific publication. Besides their duty to improve the quality and integrity of the journal to the needs of authors and readers, editors are obliged to act like police in safeguarding publication ethics. As editors are the ones wo make the final decision on a manuscript and lead the investigation when there is potential publication malpractice, we recommend editors to utilize the detailed guidelines of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (4).