The whole scientific enterprise is the subject of both legal and ethical considerations. The scientific work is highly sensitive to any violation of high ethical standards of science; because of that, science is protected by internationally accepted rules of ethical conduct of science (Good Scientific Practice) (1) and copyright laws (2,3). These internationally valid benchmarks for quality assurance provide safeguards against scientific dishonesty and fraud.
Because of numerous possibilities of scientific dishonesty, in any kind of scientific communications various legal and ethical principles are of great concern.
Professional ethics. The different phases of scientific process may be affected by dishonesty. So, the false information on previously performed research may be given in first of them - named the application phase. In the planning stage, the outright plagiarism, e.g, appropriation of another person's ideas, data, or analysis, may be seen. Fabrication or falsification of data may occur in the production phase.
Research is not complete until it has been reported. Integrity in publication depends on objectivity and avoiding misrepresentation. Therefore, in the reporting phase, dishonesty comprises distorted presentation or omission of data, failure to mention side effects and distortion of conclusions. The publication phase, which should follow the previous one, may have the problems such as who is to be included in the list of authors, simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to two or more journals, failure to cite references of earlier authors, redundant or duplicate publications, failure to disclaim the conflict of interest. Because of their importance for documenting priority and performance, the publications may be the object of many conflicts and controversies.
Every primary research journal requires originality and because of that the editor(s) would refuse publication if he/she were aware of prior publication. Normally the consent of the editors would be granted only if publication was in a non primary journal. Obviously, parts of the paper (tables and illustrations) could be republished in a review article. Republication would almost always be permitted in a Collected Reprints volume of a particular institution, in a Selected Papers volume on a particular scientist. In all such instances, however, appropriate permission should be asked for both ethical and legal reasons.These issues are best explained, expanded and revised to address questions of the publication ethics in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals (3).
The editors of general medical journals (The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - ICMJE) have recently revised the section on publication ethics in the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to biomedical journals". The Committee encourages investigators to use the revised ICMJE requirements on publication ethics to guide the negotiation of research contracts. These contracts should give the researchers a substantial say in trial design, access to raw data analysis and interpretation, and the right to publish. The revised requirements assure the authors a truly independent role in the study that bears their name. The authors should not enter agreements that interfere with their control over the decision to publish the papers they write (3,4).
The authorship means both accountability and independence. A submitted manuscript is the intellectual property of its authors, not the study of sponsor, so the sponsor may not have sole control of the data or withhold publication. Such arrangements not only erode the fabric of intellectual inquiry that has fostered so much high-quality clinical research, but also make medical journal party to potential misrepresentation. In this way the published manuscript may not reveal the extent to which the authors were powerless to control the conduct of a study that bears their names (4).
The final or the evaluation phase includes potential problems of scientist about security of his raw data in a form which allows others to test the results. On the other hand, evaluators (reviewers) are obliged to adhere to the principles of professional ethics, i.e., impartiality, independence, confidentiality, respect of allotted time for reviewing, politeness etc. (5,6). In this phase of scientific process we also have cases where persons who have evaluated the article with a view of publication (peer review process), appropriated ideas or data for use in his own research (plagiarism, piracy). These issues of fraud are the subject of legal regulations (law), since the plagiarism is a lie, and piracy is a theft. As such, they are sanctioned by the penal code (fraud, falsification) or by the civil law (plagiarism) (7,8).
Legal aspects. Apart from above-mentioned outright fraud, existing legal regulations do not cover all forms of possible misconduct in science. The scientific idea or conception alone of how a problem may be researched is not properly protected. What is protected is the written presentation of idea. In this moment, the legal right(s) of author(s) should be transferred to the publisher(s) for reproducing and selling this written intellectual property. Upon acceptance of the paper, the authors will be asked to transfer the copyright to the publisher. This transfer serves to ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.
Copyright (ownership) is the exclusive right of an author or his heirs to multiply copies of a written or printed composition, or a work of art. In the science publishing, the ethical side of the question is even more pronounced, because originality in science has a deeper meaning than it does in other field. A short story, for example, can be reprinted many times without violating ethical principles. On the contrary, a primary research paper can be published in a primary journal only once. Dual publication can be legal if the appropriate copyright release has been obtained; otherwise, it is universally considered to be a cardinal sin against the ethics of science.
The listing of authors' names (authorship) is of considerable not only ethical, but also legal importance. Every listed author must take intellectual responsibility for the paper and for the validity of the science being reported. Copyright protects the authors of paper and each person who has collaborated in the work, so each person is a co-owner of the copyright, with equal rights. Copyright is divisible. The owner of the copyright may grant one person a nonexclusive right to reproduce the work and another the right to prepare the derivative works based on the copyright paper.
Transfers of the copyright must be made in written form by the owner. If an author has transferred the complete copyright of his work to a publisher, he also must obtain permission from the publisher for the use of his own materials.
The publishing company and authors whose work is contained in its journals are protected and they must have the legal basis for acquiring copyright. In this way the publisher acts in his own interest and on behalf of all authors for preventing unauthorized potential misuse of published work. Because of that, most publishers now require that each author contributing to a journal assign copyright to the publisher (a document usually titled "Copyright transfer form"), either at the time the manuscript is submitted or when is accepted for publication.
All copyright laws, and all rules and regulations pertaining to copyright, hold right for electronic publication also, including material posted on the Internet. Since the technology is changing so rapidly and providing so many new ways to publish and distribute data, the field of electronic copyright is also in flux (2).
In conclusion, the scientific ethics and copyright law are of fundamental importance and every scientist must be acutely sensitive to them, having the responsibility to maintain the integrity of scientific publication.
REFERENCES
1. Milošević D,Vučković-Dekić Lj. Quality assurance in science - a pan-European initiative (in Serbian). In: Vučković-Dekić Lj, Milenković P, Šobić V, eds. Ethics of scientific research in biomedicine. Belgrade:Sprint 2002, p. 13-24.
2. Day AR. Ethics, Rights, and permissions. In: Day AR, ed. How to write and publish a scientific paper (5th Ed.) Phoenix:Oryx Press 1998, p. 193-9.
3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Updated October 2001 (Available at: www.icmje.org.).
4. Davidoff F, DeAngelis DC, Drazen JM, Hoy J, Hojgaard L, Horton R et al. Sponsorship, Authorship, and Accountability. JAMA 2001;286:1232-4.
5. Bogdanović G, Vučković-Dekić Lj. The publication ethics (in Serbian). In: Vučković-Dekić Lj, Milenković P, Šobić V, eds. Ethics of scientific research in biomedicine. Belgrade:Sprint 2002, p. 61-74.
6. Vučković-Dekić Lj. Peer review system - professional ethics. Arch Oncol 2002;10: (in press).
7. Brydensholt HH. The legal basis for the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty. Sci Eng Ethics 2000;6:11-24.
8. Vučković-Dekić Lj, Radulović S, Stanojević-Bakić N, Jelić S, Borojević N, Stojanović N, Đurković-Đaković O, Jovović Đ, Milenković P. Good Scientific Practice - Ethical codex of science (in Serbian). In: Vučković-Dekić Lj, Milenković P, Šobić V, eds. Ethics of scientific research in biomedicine. Belgrade:Sprint 2002, p. 161-73.