PHI-SEC-201 (Academic Writing & Research Ethics): Unit 5: Research and Publication Ethics

Semester: III | Credits: 3 | Contact Hours: 45 | Full Marks: 100

Table of Contents

1. Ethical Guidelines in Research
2. Publication Ethics: Falsification
3. Publication Ethics: Fabrication
4. Publication Ethics: Plagiarism

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Ethical Guidelines in Research

**Research Ethics** are the principles that guide researchers in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). Ethical guidelines ensure the integrity of the research process and protect participants.

Core Ethical Principles

• **Honesty:** Truthful reporting of data, results, and procedures.
• **Integrity:** Keeping promises and striving for consistency of thought and action.
• **Objectivity:** Avoiding bias in experimental design, data analysis, interpretation, and publication.
• **Confidentiality:** Protecting confidential communications, such as papers submitted for publication, grant applications, and sensitive information from research participants.
• **Respect for Intellectual Property:** Giving proper credit where it is due (avoiding plagiarism).

Publication Ethics: Falsification

**Falsification** is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.

• **Example (Empirical):** Deleting outlier data points to make a correlation look stronger than it is.
• **Example (Philosophical):** Misquoting or selectively editing a source text (e.g., Kant) to make it appear to support a thesis it actually contradicts.
• **Ethical Violation:** It violates the principle of **Honesty** and **Integrity** because it actively deceives the academic community about the evidence.

Publication Ethics: Fabrication

**Fabrication** is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.

• **Example (Empirical):** Creating survey responses that were never collected.
• **Example (Philosophical):** Citing a book or passage that does not exist, or inventing a hypothetical experiment that was never conducted and reporting it as if it were.
• **Ethical Violation:** This is the most serious breach of **Honesty**, as it involves manufacturing the entire foundation of the research.

Publication Ethics: Plagiarism

**Plagiarism** is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. It is intellectual theft.

• **Direct Plagiarism:** Copying word-for-word without citation and quotation marks.
• **Self-Plagiarism:** Reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without disclosure.
• **Mosaic Plagiarism:** Borrowing phrases or ideas from a source without using quotation marks, or changing a few words while maintaining the original sentence structure.
• **Ethical Violation:** It violates **Respect for Intellectual Property** and is fundamentally dishonest. Proper citation (Unit III) is the defense against plagiarism.

**Digital Skills & Practical Exam:** The practical exam will test your ability to use MS Word to demonstrate digital skills related to the syllabus topics. This includes using MS Word tools to insert citations/bibliographies (Unit III) and possibly demonstrating how to avoid formatting that could lead to plagiarism (e.g., proper quotation blocks, footnotes/endnotes).

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