In the past decade, India has made rapid strides in contributing scholarly content to global research output and currently accounts for about 88 per cent of scholarly publications from South Asia. Although there has been a visible spurt in the quantity of scholarly publications from India, the average quality of research output remains low. Instances of research misconduct, including data fabrication, falsification and plagiarism are aplenty. In such a scenario, there was a need for the Indian research community to focus on publishing ethics in its stride towards global recognition in research and innovation.
Introducing the booklet, Nitasha Devasar, President, Association of Publishers in India said, “Publishing Ethics concerns us all: as readers, learners, researchers and teachers we engage with the ethics of quoting, copying, authorship and collaborative writing. Do we know what ethical publishing behaviour looks like? This booklet will go a long way in answering this question for all stakeholders in the research and education ecosystem.”
Researchers and their readers will benefit from the booklet which covers dos and don’ts of the research lifecycle; basics of authorship, data management and permissions; and issues related to copyright and common misconduct.
The booklet will also be beneficial to the wider academic community in highlighting the tenets of ethical research. It will support research and teaching institutions in shaping a sound research environment which will be at par with international standards.
