Falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism: The unholy trinity of scientific writing

摘要

One of the greatest, and sadly all too common, challenges facing a contemporary medical journal editor is the adjudication of ethical integrity issues. I had originally presumed that this would be just an occasional role, but it transpires that these problems are quite widespread, ranging from unconscious and unwitting naivete to the conscious and willful betrayal of scientific trust. As a journal, we have no significant powers of investigation, and determining, often years after publication, what is truth and what is fiction can be impossibly hard. The International Journal of Radiation Oncology ? Biology ? Physics (the Red Journal) editorial board wishes to lay down an unambiguous, bright line that distinguishes the acceptable from the unacceptable so that no author can, in retrospect, say they were not warned. In medical research, we hold great responsibility and trust, and thus aspire to a conduct of unassailable honesty and integrity in its execution. If not, we breach not only our own ethos but ultimately and importantly medicine's most fundamental tenet, improving the lives and well-being of our patients. Scientific progress is founded on scientific honesty.