RESEARCH AND

PUBLICATION
ETHICS

Editors

V.K. Ahuja
Kankana Baishya

National Law University

and Judicial Academy, Assam
2024
 RESEARCH AND
PUBLICATION ETHICS

Editors
V. K. Ahuja
Kankana Baishya

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

Hajo Road, Amingaon, Guwahati – 781031

2024
Title Verso Page

Title: Research and Publication Ethics

Editors: Prof. (Dr.) V. K. Ahuja

Vice-Chancellor, NLUJA, Assam
Dr. Kankana Baishya
Assistant Librarian, NLUJA, Assam

© National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

January, 2024

Published by: Knowledge Resource Centre (Library)

National Law University
and Judicial Academy, Assam
Hajo Road, Amingaon,
District- Kamrup (Rural), Guwahati – 781031
Website: http://www.nluassam.ac.in

ISBN : 978-81-954276-9-7

The book is free edition for personal use only.

ii
 PREFACE

The book “Research and Publication Ethics” is published by

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam with the
sole objective to help researchers for the responsible conduct of
research.

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam was

established by the National Law University and Judicial Academy,
Assam Act, 2009 (Act No. XXV of 2009) as the fourteenth National
Law University of the country in Guwahati, the capital city of
Assam. National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam is
committed to inculcate academic excellence for preparing leaders
of law who shape the country by their knowledge, wisdom,
discovery, and creativity. Further, the University is committed to
cultivate an inclusive environment that celebrates plurality and
leverages on the creative potential of diversity. The University
strives for a distinctive niche in the academic firmament of the
country as a forbearer of creative ideation and leadership
development.

University Grants Commission in its 543 rd meeting held on

9th August 2019 approved Two-Credit Course for awareness about
publication ethics and publication misconducts entitled
“Research and Publication Ethics (RPE)” to be made compulsory
for all Ph.D. students for pre-registration coursework. Therefore,
the book aims to achieve the objectives of University Grants
Commission and intends to provide the concepts of Research and
Publication Ethics in a more comprehensive way. It is expected to
gain more insights on the Academic integrity in the realm of new
technological influxes.

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is indeed a great pleasure to acknowledge the valuable

contributions of the learned authors. The editors place on record
sincere appreciation to Prof. (Dr.) R. N. Sharma, Visiting Professor
of Law and Prof. (Dr.) Debasis Poddar, Professor of Law of the
University for their academic patronage in publishing the book.
Our deep sense of gratitude is due to Mr. Gunajit Roy Choudhury,
Registrar, and Dr. Nandarani Choudhury, Assistant Registrar
(Academic), of this University, for extending their administrative
patronage toward publication of this book. Last yet not least, Mr.
Satyajit Deb, Systems Operator of this University, deserves
acknowledgement in getting this book published in professional
format.

DISCLAIMER

The authors carry whole and sole liability for all statements
written in their respective chapters. Both editors hereby remain
indemnified and cannot be held jointly and severally liable
anyway.

iv
 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Badan Barman is Assistant Professor in the

Department of Library and Information Science at Gauhati
University, Assam. Prior to his present assignment, he served as
Assistant Librarian and Academic Consultant at Krishna Kanta
Handiqui State Open University. Dr. Barman has 18 books and
31 articles to his credit. He was the recipient of the E-Northeast
Award in 2011, 2014, and 2015 and the KALA National Award for
Young LIS Professionals. He was an Indian Council of Social
Science Research’s Centrally Administered Doctoral Fellow. He is
the founder of the LIS Links (www.lislinks.com), OAJSE
(www.oajse.com), UGC NET Guide (www.netugc.com), LIS Study
(www.lisstudy.com), and Assam Archive (www.assamarchive.com)
portals. He completed three minor and one major research project.

Miss Barasha Sarma is Librarian (I/C) of West Guwahati

Commerce College, Baripara, Guwahati. Earlier she worked as a
Librarian of Cambridge Public School, Guwahati. She has several
book chapters in edited books to her credit published by state and
national publishers. Her areas of interest are Library Management,
E-resource management, Digitization, Bibliometrics etc.

Prof. (Dr.) C.P. Gupta is Dean & Director, Vidyasthali Law

College, affiliated to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Law University (ALU),
Jaipur. He is a renowned Professor of Law with an experience of
more than 20 years of teaching and administration. Prof. Gupta
was also a Post Doctor Fellow (PDF) from ICSSR, New Delhi and
has presented more than 70 papers in National & International
Seminars/Conferences of repute. In addition, he has to his credit
more than 82 Articles/Case Analysis etc. published in Journals
related to Scopus, UGC Care, UGC approved, Peer Reviewed etc.

v
 Prof. (Dr.) Debasis Poddar is Professor of Law, National
Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. Before joining here,
he served premier institutions of legal education landscape;
including two other National Law Universities in Rajasthan and
Jharkhand respectively. Alumnus of National Law School of India
University, Bangalore, Prof. Poddar has cross-disciplinary
publications to his credit. His research interests include yet are
not limited to legal research methodology; among others. With
several prior publications in relevant knowledge domain, he is co-
editor of this book. Also, he has contributed chapter in this book.

Dr. Deepjyoti Kalita is Assistant Professor in the

Department of Library and Information Science, Cotton
University. Prior to that he was working as a Junior Research
Fellow in the Scientific Information Resource Division of Indira
Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Chennai. He did
his Ph.D. from Gauhati University on the development of a
knowledge Graph for the traditional dance practices of the Rabha
tribes of Assam. He has research interest in the domain of
Scientometrics, knowledge management and use of Semantic web
technologies in Modern Information Retrieval practices. His ongoing
projects can be followed at- https://github.com/Dkalita-CU

Mr. Dibyajyoti Patgiri is Librarian of Madhya Kamrup

College, Barpeta and simultaneously serving as a guest lecturer
in the Library and Information Science Department at USTM.
Previously he worked as librarian (I/C) of Chayyagon College and
as library coordinator of Assam Sanskrit College. He has
published research papers in UGC care listed journals and book
Chapters with local, national and international publishers. His
areas of interest are preservation and conservation, e- resource
management, digitization and bibliometrics etc.

Dr. Govind Singh Rajpurohit is Associate Professor in the

Department of Law, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Presently

vi
working as Principal, University Law College Centre-II, University
of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He is a Former Head & Dean,
Department of Law, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He is a
member of Statutory Body & General Council of National Law
University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Dr. Rajpurohit has authored four
books, co-authored/edited six books and have 65 research papers
published in various National and International Journals. Nine (9)
candidates have been successfully awarded Ph.D. Degree under
his guidance.

Dr. Gautam Sharma is Deputy Librarian at Tezpur

University, Assam. Before joining Tezpur University he served as
Assistant Librarian at Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open
University (KKHSOU) and Gauhati University. He holds the
Doctorate degree of Library and Information Science. He has 16
years of professional experience in the libraries of higher
education institute and has 12 publications to his credit including
journals, edited books and conference volumes.

Dr. Kankana Baishya is Assistant Librarian at National

Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. She cleared UGC-
NET in 2010 and holds her Ph.D. from Gauhati University on
‘Indian Institutional Repository: A Study’. She has more than 15
years of experience as LIS professional with premier institutions.
She is the Founder Secretary of the Women Librarians’
Association of Assam, University Coordinator for INFLIBNET
Centre and holds positions of the executive committee members
of various professional associations. Her research paper received
the best paper award at the professional summit held at National
Law University, Delhi. Her scholarly work comprises of 16 papers
and 5 edited books.

Dr. Miteshkumar Pandya is Scientist-C (LS) at INFLIBNET

Centre. He joined the Centre as a Scientist - B (LS) in 2014. Prior
to joining the centre, he was working with Indira Gandhi Institute

vii
of Development Research, Mumbai from January 2010 to
February 2014. He has completed his B. Com from Gujarat
University, MLISc from Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad and Ph.D
from Sardar Patel University Vallabh Vidyanagar. Currently, he is
shouldering the responsibility of Book/Thesis Database and a
core member of Database Management and R & D Group at
INFLIBENT Centre. He specializes in the area of linked data,
thesaurus, ontology, library automation, reference management
systems, content management systems, research report writings,
research data management, etc. Pandya has several research
papers in National and International Journals to his credit.

Dr. Monika Mishra is the H.O.D in Apex School of Law,

Apex University, Jaipur. She has a teaching experience of more
than 14 yrs. in various Universities and affiliated Law Colleges.
She has several years of experience as an examiner, evaluator and
paper setter in the Government Universities as well as Private
Universities. She has published fifteen (15) research papers in
renowned Law Journals. She has attended more than fifteen (15)
International & National Conferences/Seminars as well as
presented her papers in few of these conferences/Seminars. She
has been supervising LL.M Dissertations and Ph.D. theses for
more ten years as a registered Research Supervisor/Guide in the
Apex University, Jaipur.

Dr. Mukut Sarmah is Associate Professor and Head in the

Department of Library and Information Science at Assam
University, a Central University, Silchar, Assam. He has been
teaching in the department since 2009, and has accumulated over
twenty-five years of experience in the field of Library and
Information Science (LIS). He obtained his Ph.D. from Gauhati
University on the topic focusing on the Problems and Prospects of
IT Applications in Academic Libraries in Assam. Prior to his
assignment, Dr. Sarmah served as the Librarian (Senior Grade) at
Pandu College, Guwahati, Guest Faculty in DLISc at Gauhati and

viii
had brief stints at IIT-Guwahati. He completed two research
projects (Minor – 1 and Major – 1) sponsored by the University
Grants Commission (UGC) and supervised seven Ph.D. scholars
and five MPhil scholars. He has actively participated and
presented research papers in numerous national and
international seminars, conferences, and workshops. His global
engagements include attending conferences at the University of
Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the National Taiwan Normal University,
Taiwan. Dr. Sarmah has a research profile of three books and 80
prolific scholarly research papers published in national and
international journal. His areas of interest encompass IT
applications in libraries, information retrieval, bibliometric
analysis, e-publishing, and digital libraries.

Prof. (Dr.) N.L. Gurjar is retired Professor & Dean, Faculty

of Law, Vivekanand Global University, Jaipur. Presently Dr.
Gurjar working as Director of Alankar Girls P.G. College, Jaipur,
Counselor and Consultant in Vardhman Mahaveer Open
University Regional Centre, Jaipur. He has 58 research papers
published in various National and International Journals.

Mrs. Purna Bose is the Sr. Solutions Engineer at premier

plagiarism detection service Turnitin. Her experience as a Sr.
Project Manager, delivering learning projects across organizations
like IBM and Cognizant has helped develop an appreciation of how
technology can be leveraged for our overall benefits. Her
interactions with educators in higher education have enabled a
keen understanding of the challenges & opportunities of the
education sector in South Asia and how best technology can help
with those.

Prof. (Dr.) R. N. Sharma is Visiting Professor at National

Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. After retiring from
Head and Dean, J.N. Vyas University, Jodhpur he served as Dean,
School of Law, Mewar University, Gangrar, Chittoregarh,

ix
Rajasthan. He occupied the post of Vice Chancellor at IASE
Deemed University, Sardarshahr and also served as Co- Director
at B. M. Law College, Jodhpur. He has also worked as Professor
and Dean, School of Law, IMS Unison University, Dehradun. He
has authored more than nine books. He has more than 45
published research papers in various national and international
journals. More than 22 scholars have been awarded Ph. D. under
his supervision. He has also served as President Board of Sports,
J.N. Vyas University, Director, UGC Academic Staff College,
Director, Five Year Law Course at J.N. Vyas University, Chief
Coordinator, Legal Cell, J.N. Vyas University, and Member,
Syndicate (BOM), Member, Academic Council, and Member of
Senate. He has been honoured by Vidya Sagar Award in 2014 by
International Institute of Oriental Heritage for outstanding
contribution to the cause of Higher Education.

Dr. Richa Baghel is Assistant Professor in Management

Studies at Sri Sri University, India. Her expertise lies in
Management, Business Organisation, and a unique blend of
Business Ethics encompassing Corporate Governance, Corporate
Social Responsibility, and the profound insights of Vedic studies.
She served as a member of advisory board Masters International
R & D (MIRDEC) and has a number of scholarly publications.

Dr. Sutapa Chakraborty is Assistant Professor of

Philosophy under West Bengal Education Service at Acharya
Brojendranath Seal (previously Victoria) College, Cooch Behar.
She previously served as an Assistant Professor in the Department
of Philosophy of Chandrapur College, Chandrapur, under
Burdwan University. She was a topper in Philosophy both in her
Graduation and Post-Graduation and consequently her academic
career is graced with a certificate of Gold medal in Philosophy. Dr.
Chakraborty takes an earnest interest in contents and concepts
related to Life and Humanity in general and Philosophy in
particular. Her professional areas of concern are Contemporary

x
Western Epistemology, Metaphysics, Analytic Philosophy,
Philosophy of Mind, Phenomenology, traditional Nyaya, Samkhya
and Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of India.

Dr. Tamal Kumar Guha is Librarian of IIT Guwahati since

June 2013. He is also Principle Investigator of North East Regional
Centre of National Digital Library of India. Dr. Guha has been
associated in the Library profession for 30 years and is actively
engaged in various national initiatives at different capacities, as
well as, published bunch of articles in different journals and
conference proceedings. He completed his Master Degree in
Sociology from Kalyani University and Master of Library &
Information Science from North Eastern Hill University as Gold
Medallist. He also completed Ph. D. in Library & Information
Science from North Eastern Hill University. Dr. Guha started his
career as a professional hand in Ram Krishna Mission, Shillong
and subsequently joined as Librarian of Patkai Christian College,
Nagaland, in 1994. He moved to IIT Guwahati in 1998 as Assistant
Librarian. Before joining as first Librarian of IIT Guwahati, he
served as first Librarian of Sikkim University (from 2011 to 2013).
In 2006, Dr. Guha completed his Fulbright fellowship from
Syracuse University, New York, USA. In 2014 he was selected as
an Erasmus Mundus Scholar in the field of Communication and
Information Sciences and worked in School of Information &
Library Studies, University College Dublin.

Dr. Tonmay Sabhapandit is the Head Librarian at the

Knowledge Management Centre (KMC), National Institute of
Design, Assam. He did his Ph.D. from Gauhati University on
“Growth and Development of University Libraries of Assam in the
context of Ranganathan’s Fifth Law of Library Science in IT
Environment”. He holds an active lifetime membership in several
professional associations. He has been in various positions at
libraries of various prestigious colleges and universities of Assam
for more than 15 years. He has attended several seminars, and

xi
conferences at international, National, regional, and state levels
and published papers in different journals, preceding published.

Prof. (Dr.) V. K. Ahuja is Senior Professor at the Faculty of

Law, University of Delhi, India and is presently serving as the
Vice-Chancellor of National Law University and Judicial Academy,
Assam. Prof. Ahuja has authored five books, co-authored/edited
nine books and written numerous papers in various national and
international journals. He was appointed as a member of the UGC
Committee to frame guidelines for introduction of courses on Law
for holistic and multidisciplinary education in 2022. He served as
a member of the Board of Studies/Academic Council/Executive
Council of several Central and State Universities. In 2003, he
received the first prize as an exemplary teacher in the Fifth South
Asian Teaching Session on International Humanitarian Law and
Refugee Law organized jointly by the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR).

xii
 CON TEN TS

1. Research and Publication Ethics: Some Reflections

V. K. Ahuja ------------------------------------------------------------- 1

2. Research and Publication Ethics: A Philosophical

Perspective
R. N. Sharma----------------------------------------------------------- 30

3. Research and Publication Misconduct:

Misjoinders and Nonjoinders
Debasis Poddar------------------------------------------------------ 75

4. Academic Misconduct and the Societal Role

Tamal Kumar Guha--------------------------------------- 119

5. Ethical and Publication Norms for Protection of

Intellectual Research: Changing Dimensions and
Challenges
G. S. Rajpurohit and N. L. Gurjar------------------------------
127
6. The Relation Between Intellectual Honesty and
Research Integrity as the Fundamental Principles of
Research
C. P. Gupta and Monika Mishra------------------------------- 151

7. The Role and Relevance of Philosophy in Research

Sutapa Chakraborty--------------------------------------------- 174

8. Ethical Teaching and Learning

Richa Baghel ---------------------------------------------------------- 199

9. Decoding Self-Archiving Rights: How Sherpa/

Romeo Shapes Research Dissemination
Mukut Sarmah---------------------------------------------
215

xiii
10. Guidelines and Tools engaged in Publication Ethics
Gautam Sharma------------------------------------------------------ 228

11. Beyond Copyright Walls: An Introduction to

Creative Commons, Copyleft, and Open Educational
Resources
250
Badan Barman-------------------------------------------------------

12. Plagiarism Detection Software (PDS): An Overview

Kankana Baishya--------------------------------------------------- 281

13. Academic Integrity, Plagiarism and the Impact of AI

in Education
Purna Bose ------------------------------------------------------------ 296

14. JabRef: A Reference Management Tool

Miteshkumar Pandya---------------------------------------------- 304

15. Reference Management Tool: A Boon for Managing

Research References
Tonmay Sabhapandit---------------------------------------------- 324

16. Shortcuts to Knowledge: Understanding

Abstracting, Indexing, and Citation Indexes as
Pillars of Research Navigation
Badan Barman-------------------------------------------- 347

17. Research Metrics: Trends and Opportunities

Deepjyoti Kalita ----------------------------------------------------- 362

18. Research Metrics for Research Value: Its

Applicability and Downsides
Barasha Sarma and Dibyajyoti Patgiri--------------------- 384

xiv
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

Chapter -1

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS: SOME

REFLECTIONS

V. K. Ahuja

“Knowledge creation and research are critical in growing and

sustaining a large and vibrant economy, uplifting society,
and continuously inspiring a nation to achieve even greater
heights”.
-NEP 2020

I. Introduction

Research and publications are sine qua non for the

development of any institution of higher education. Research is
also important for the progressive development of the society as
it is responsible for the advancement of knowledge, problem
solving, innovation, and critical thinking. “Research” may be
defined as the diligent and systematic enquiry or investigation
into a subject in order to discover facts or principles.1 According
to Daniel Seng Kiat Boon, “research” requires a person to discern
new and unstated information.2 Joseph M. Moxley writes that
“research refers to a systematic investigation carried out to
discover new knowledge, expand existing knowledge, solve

 Vice Chancellor, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam.

1 See the judgement of Federal Court of Australia in De Garis v. Neville Jeffress Pidler Pty

Ltd., (1990) 18 IPR 291.

2 Daniel Seng Kiat Boon, “Reviewing the Defence of Fair Dealing for Research or Private

Study”, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 1996, p. 159.

1
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

practical problems and develop new products, apps and

services”.3

The Department of Education and Training, Western

Sydney University defines research in the following manner:

“Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge

and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative
way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and
understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis
of previous research to the extent that it leads to new and
creative outcomes”.4

Research, thus, is known as the systematic and organised

method of finding solutions to the identified questions. It is
called organised for the reason that there is a planned structure
or method, which is used to reach at the conclusion. It is
systematic in the sense that it is a process which is “broken up
into clear steps that lead to conclusions”.5 Depending upon the
situation, the research may confirm the outcome at which you
have arrived where you are still looking for some sort of reliability
about your outcome. Further, research may also support your
point of view or the line of argument. At the same time, however,
research may also discover your mistakes and assist you to
change the direction in which you were proceeding. The research
may also guide you about the method by which you should

3 Joseph M. Moxley, “Research” at https://writingcommons.org/section/research/

last visited on 07 October 2023.
4 See
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/research/researchers/preparing_a_grant_applic
ation/dest_definition_of_research#:~:text=Research%20is%20defined%20as%20the,
to%20new%20and%20creative%20outcomes.
5 See https://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/development/research.html visited on 20
July 2023.

2
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

proceed, so that you could find answers/solutions to the

problems.

Research, therefore, plays an important role to find

answers/solutions to the problems already identified. On the
basis of the research so done, public policies may be framed by
the government for the benefits of the society.

II. Research Ethics

It is extremely important for the researcher to conduct

research ethically and in the most honest manner. Ethics may
be defined as a set of moral principles that govern the behaviour
of a person or the conduct of an activity. According to Legal
Information Institute of Cornell Law School, the term "ethics" is
derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means character,
and from the Latin word “mores” which means customs.6 Ethics
may be defined as “a system of moral principles and a branch of
philosophy which defines what is good for individuals and
society”.7 Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School also
defines “ethics” in a similar manner as to mean “what is good for
the individual and for society and establishes the nature of
duties that people owe themselves and one another”. Ethics may
be said to have come from, inter alia, “God and religion; human
conscience and intuition; and a rational moral cost-benefit
analysis of actions and their effects”.8

6 See https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/ethics (accessed on August 8, 2023). See also

Ethics Guide available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml
(accessed on August 7, 2023), which states that the term “ethics” is derived from the
Greek word “ethos”, which can mean “custom, habit, character or disposition”.
7 See Ethics Guide available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml
(accessed on August 7, 2023).
8 Ibid.

3
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

Research ethics can be described as a set of moral

principles that a researcher should follow to conduct research in
a responsible manner. Research ethics guide researchers about
right and wrong during their research. According to the World
Health Organization (WHO), “research ethics govern the
standards of conduct for researchers.” Further, ethical principles
must be adhered to “in order to protect the dignity, rights and
welfare of research participants”.9 Though the views were
expressed by WHO in relation to “ensuring ethical standards and
procedures for research with human beings”, the same are
applicable for other empirical research also. Research ethics,
therefore, are important for integrity, truth, knowledge, trust,
objectivity, values, societal good, and the orderly development of
the society.

As the policy makers, researchers, students and others

may follow one’s research, any data manipulation, plagiarism,
incorrect or unsupported data, or any other unethical act may
ultimately dent the image of the researcher and harm the society.

It is seen that teachers in the university do several research

projects. Some of them are major projects, which require
collection of data from various sources and from various places
of the country. For example, a researcher may do a major project
on tribal related issues for which he/she may cover a particular
state or the entire country. The researcher may not be in a
position to go to every place to collect data, so he/she takes
assistance from various people including students from those
places by guiding them or sharing questionnaire with them. It

9 World Health Organization, “Ensuring Ethical Standards and Procedures for Research
with Human Beings”, available at https://www.who.int/activities/ensuring-ethical-
standards-and-procedures-for-research-with-human-beings (accessed on August 8,
2023).

4
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

may be qualitative or quantitative research. Many a times, it is

seen that the persons so appointed to collect the data from the
field do not go there or do not visit all the places which they were
supposed to visit. They pick a trend and follow it uniformly and
produce data or simply by their own understanding they prepare
data on presumption. Now if such kind of a data is used, what
will be the quality of such research? The Principal Co-ordinator,
therefore, is under an obligation to ensure that the data has been
collected directly from the sources and has not been doctored.
One should remember that the research findings of such projects
may be used by policy makers as many of the projects are
government funded projects. The policy makers may depend
upon the findings and frame their policies for the public good. If
the research has not been conducted in an ethical manner, and
the data has been doctored, the findings are likely to be incorrect,
which will ultimately result into bad policies, and the entire
objective of that research will be defeated. Not only that, distorted
research will do more harm, than good. It is, therefore, the duty
of everyone involved in the research to ensure that the research
has been conducted ethically using correct data.

The aforesaid acts are also known as research fraud, which

mainly consists of two things – (i) fabrication and (ii) falsification.
Fabrication means to make up research data and results and to
report them. In other words, it involves reporting of “false or
madeup data, results, or research outputs”.10

Falsification, on the other hand, refers to the manipulation

of data and other materials, including images, to achieve the

10 See Enago Academy, Research & Publications Ethics, p. 29, available at chrome-
extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.enago.co.kr/academy/
wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Research_Ethics.pub_V2.pdf, last visited on 07 October
2023.

5
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

desired results.11 Falsification may be said to involve

“misrepresentation of the research by changing data or results
or by tampering with equipment, research methods, or
materials”.12 Thus, any type of tampering with data, equipment,
material, etc. to dilute their authenticity is termed as
falsification.

Now a days, lot of computer applications are available by

which any material/images can be manipulated with so much of
clarity that it becomes extremely difficult to detect the
manipulation. These are extreme examples of gross academic
misconduct and also a fraud on the society. The readers feel
cheated and betrayed by the researcher when they get to know
that the research was manipulated to get the desired results.

It is also seen in many cases that researchers quote data

from various sources without applying their mind, though they
cite references. They do not take the trouble of finding out
whether the data is reliable or not. A good researcher is one who
is alert in quoting the data and where he is of the opinion that
the data may be incorrect, he verifies it first and then takes a
decision whether to quote it or not. By referring to any data,
which may be incorrect, the researcher may not escape the
responsibility by stating that he has acknowledged the source,
and therefore, he is not liable for its incorrectness.

Similarly, when we quote some great personality after

reading an article, we need to cross check, whether that

11 See Elsevier, Ethics in Research and Publication (June, 2017), p. 13.

12 See Enago Academy, Research & Publications Ethics, p. 29, available at chrome-
extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.enago.co.kr/academ
y/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Research_Ethics.pub_V2.pdf, last visited on 07
October 2023.

6
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

quotation is correct or not. This can be explained with the help

of an illustration. The author has come across an interesting
incident. While writing a Book on “Krishna and Mediation”, the
author found an article on internet, in which the author of that
article gave following quotation of Buddha:

“Mediation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves

ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold
you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

After reading the quote, the author thought for a minute as

to whether the quote was correct? On cross checking, it was
found that the word ‘meditation’ was replaced by the word
‘mediation’ twice in the quote which was used in the article. It
is really shocking that author of that article did not pay attention
to read the quote carefully and used that in his article. The article
is available on the internet. Anyone, who will read that article
will consider that quotation of Buddha to be correct, which, in
fact, is wrong. Now, any person quoting Buddha from this article
will make the same mistake which the author of that article
made. Therefore, one has to be careful before quoting something.
It is extremely important that the authors should quote from
authentic sources. Where there is a doubt, it is advisable not to
quote that data, or quote it after cross verifying from other
independent sources. However, where author feels that
unverified data is required to be quoted, it should be quoted
carefully indicating that the data could not be verified.

One should never quote something from other sources as

one’s own. Borrowing from other sources without due
acknowledgment is academic dishonesty. It is known as
plagiarism, which has been discussed later in detail. It may also
result in copyright infringement, which may lead to civil and

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

criminal liabilities. Further, if borrowed material is factually or

legally incorrect, the mistake will be attributed to the borrower
of that data or content because the borrower has shown
himself/herself as the author of that content.

Academic misconduct may also be done with respect to

authorship of the work. Generally speaking, author is a person
who produces some original research work using his intellect. It
may not be a new work altogether; and may be based on existing
works. The author, however, should acknowledge the various
sources in his work, which he referred.

It has been seen in several cases that researcher/student

prepares the research work and gets it published with his
supervisor/teacher. The researcher feels that his work will be
published easily, if uses the name of his teacher. The teacher
also feels that the number of his publications will increase
without doing anything. This is an unethical and unacceptable
practice. Both the teacher and the researcher/ student are
responsible for such practice.

It has also been seen that a project submitted by a student

has been published by his teacher in his/her name. There was
another case where a professor filed a patent application on the
basis of Ph.D. thesis of his student. These are cases of academic
misconduct. One needs to remember that teachers are bound to
guide the students and researchers as it is a part of their duties.
Merely by guiding, they do not become the owner of such work.
The authorship as well as ownership of those works always
remain with the students or researchers, as the case may be.

There is nothing wrong for the teachers to have

publications with scholars/students. Both of them may work

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

together under a pre-conceived plan and go for joint publication.

However, it is not ethical where scholar/student does the
research and the teacher allows his/her name to be added as co-
author. The most unfortunate part is that in most of the cases,
out of respect, the scholar/student puts teacher’s name on the
top. This act is highly unethical and amounts to
misappropriation of student’s work by the teacher.

It is also noteworthy that where a research is conducted by

a group of people, it should be published in the name of all of
them. At the time of publication of that research, omitting the
names of those who conducted the research or adding the names
of those who were not a part of that research is also considered
as unethical. This kind of practice may give rise to legal disputes
and must be avoided in all probabilities. Commercial sponsors
should also acknowledge the professional writers writing for
them or doing research for them.

The researcher or any other person associated with the

research is required to be impartial. Such persons should not
have any competing interest. Competing interest may exist in
terms of financial relationships, such as stock ownership,
employment, grants, patents, consultancies, etc. or personal
relationships, such as the interest of any relative of the
researcher, etc.13

Western Sydney University highlights the need to conduct

research in ethical manner as it involves “trust” at various level.
According to University, “the research enterprise is a deeply
social activity and is embedded in trust – trust among
researchers and the emerging researchers they supervise; trust
between researchers and those who support their endeavour by

13 See Elsevier, Ethics in Research and Publication (June, 2017), pp. 7-8.

9
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

participating in research, and trust between researchers and the

community which values their creation of new knowledge and
hopes that there will be benefits for all arising from the research
effort”.14

III. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Research

Artificial intelligence is playing extremely important role

in all walks of life, be it medical, transportation, aviation,
defence, space, entertainment, education, research and
development, communication, or any other thing. About the
potential of artificial intelligence, Prof. Stephen Hawking once
said that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell
the end of the human race”. Further, “it would take off on its
own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate” and
“humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t
compete, and would be superseded”.15

The term “Artificial Intelligence” is not a new one. It was

coined way back in 1956 by John McCarthy.16 “Artificial
intelligence” in general terms may be stated to be “the ability of
machines to do things that people would say require
intelligence”.17 It normally refers to the “ability of machines to

14 See https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/research/research_ethics_and_integrity
15 Rory Cellan-Jones, “Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end
mankind”, BBC News, December 2, 2014, available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540 (last visited on October 07,
2023).
16 Fredy Sá nchez Merino, “Artificial Intelligence and a New Cornerstone for Authorship”,
WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers, 2018, p. 28.
17 Philip C. Jackson, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 1 (Dover Publications, Inc.,
1985).

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning,

problem-solving, and decision-making”.18

As already stated, artificial intelligence has also made its

presence felt in the field of research. For example, Chat GPT is
capable of writing letters, poetry, story, reports on a given topic,
etc. It can write assignments and projects for students. It can
also assist scholars in their research works. There are two ways
of using artificial intelligence in research: firstly, you can take
assistance from artificial intelligence in doing your research,
where you use AI as a tool; and secondly, you get your research
done by artificial intelligence, where your own contribution is nil
or negligible. In the first case, there is not much issues, as you
have only taken assistance from AI, whereas your own
contribution is significant. Using AI as a tool may be all right, as
we use computer programs as tools. However, in the second
situation, it is unethical where researcher uses AI to produce the
work and thereafter publishes that work in his/her name.19 If
this practice continues, it will be a death knell for the real
research.

In addition to above, the AI produced research may be bad

for some more reasons. For example, AI system may not be fair
as the data fed to it may be toxic and biased. Further, the AI
system might have been developed in such a manner as to
produce desired result, ignoring the social realities. Justice D.Y.
Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India was also critical of the AI on
certain aspects. Justice Chandrachud expressed his serious
concerns about the artificial intelligence in the following manner:

18 Sanjivini Raina, “Artificial Intelligence through the Prism of Intellectual Property

Laws” in V.K. Ahuja and Archa Vashishtha, Intellectual Property Rights: Contemporary
Developments 133-41 (Thomson Reuters, 2020).
19 For more details on artificial intelligence, see V. K. Ahuja, “Artificial Intelligence and
Copyright: Issues and Challenges” ILI Law Review (Winter 2020).

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

“A significant impact of AI is its potential to amplify

discrimination and undermine the right to fair treatment.
Many AI systems have been shown to exhibit biased
decision making based on data inputs that reflect societal
prejudices. For example, AI recruitment tools deployed by
firms favoured men over women because the tools were
trained on profile of successful employees who, for
gendered reasons, happened to be predominantly male. In
this, data driven systems can perpetuate biases and
marginalise the social control mechanisms that govern
human behaviour."20

In such a scenario, if the research is conducted through

AI, without any human intervention, it may be biased, which will
do more harm than good to the society. It is also possible for the
AI system to automatically produce a work which is similar in
nature to the original work which was provided to it for training
purposes. This may also result in copyright infringement and
dent the image of researcher making him to face the
consequences at the institution and outside. Therefore, it is
highly desirable and ethical that the researcher should collect
data himself rather than relying on the AI system. The
institutions are also required to adopt stringent rules to prohibit
the use of AI like Chat GPT by the researchers in conducting
research works.

20 Sheryl Sebastian, “CJI DY Chandrachud Cautions About Artificial Intelligence; Says It

Can Make Biased Decisions Based On Societal Prejudices” 23 July 2023, available at
https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/cji-dy-chandrachud-cautions-about-artificial-
intelligence-says-it-can-make-biased-decisions-based-on-societal-prejudices-
233417

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

IV. Duplicate Publication

It is also seen in some of the cases that the researcher

publishes his/her work in more than one journal. This practice
of duplicate publication is unethical as it is deemed to be a
“breach of publishing ethics”.21 According to International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors, one of the major reasons
of calling duplicate publication as unethical is that it may result
into "inadvertent double-counting or inappropriate weighting of
the results of a single study, which distorts the available
evidence".22 It is, therefore, highly desirable that the researcher
should not submit his work for publication at multiple places.

In case of translation, however, it is ethical for the author

of the original work to make it public that it is a translation of
his earlier published work. Under Copyright Act, 1957, the right
to translation lies with the author/ owner of the work. Therefore,
there is nothing wrong in translating one’s own work in different
languages. But, if it is a work of joint authorship, translation
should be done only when all the co-authors agree to it, as all of
them would be the authors/copyright owners of that work.

V. Prevention of Plagiarism

Plagiarism happens to be one of the biggest evils in the

research and publications. It is one of the most common forms
of the academic misconduct. Plagiarism means using the work
of another person without acknowledging his work or giving him
any credit. Plagiarism does not mean copying verbatim from the
work of another person. It may also happen when the work of
others has been used by paraphrasing the same. Sometimes,

21 See also Elsevier, Ethics in Research and Publication (June, 2017), p. 11.
22 Ibid.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

researchers paraphrase the work of others and use it in their

own works without acknowledgement. The reason for doing so is
that if they will acknowledge the work of others, the people may
get to know that their works are completely based on the work of
others, without any intellectual input from them. This is
completely an unethical practice and amounts to academic
misconduct. Plagiarism, therefore, includes not only literal
copying and substantial copying, but also paraphrasing and
text-recycling, as discussed later.23

In order to prevent plagiarism and promote academic

integrity, the University Grants Commission brought out
Regulations in 2018.

A. UGC Regulations on Prevention of Plagiarism, 2018

University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic

Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational
Institutions) Regulations, 2018 were notified on 23 July 2018.
The Regulations were strongly required to raise the standard of
research and publication in India. These Regulations should
have come much before. Nevertheless, “better late than never”.24

The term “Research Integrity” has not been defined in the

Regulations. It, however, defines the term “Academic Integrity”
to mean “the intellectual honesty in proposing, performing and
reporting any activity, which leads to the creation of intellectual
property”. Again, the term “intellectual property” has not been
defined under the Regulations. Intellectual property, however,
includes copyright, industrial design, trade mark, geographical

23 See also Elsevier, Ethics in Research and Publication (June, 2017), p. 10.
24 For more information, see V.K. Ahuja, “Academic Integrity, Plagiarism and Copyright
Issues”, published in 5(1), Contemporary Law Review, 2021, pp. 23-35.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

indication, patent, plant varieties, semiconductor integrated

circuits layout-design, and confidential information. Research
integrity is to be read into academic integrity only.

The Regulations define the term plagiarism as “the

practice of taking someone else’s work or idea and passing them
as one’s own”.25 Plagiarism has been explained later in this
article. The Regulations are applicable to “the students, faculty,
researchers and staff of all Higher Educational Institutions” who
claim(s) to be “the creator of the work under consideration”.

The term “faculty” includes regular, ad-hoc, temporary,

contractual, visiting, guest, etc. It refers to a person who, in any
capacity as explained above, is teaching and/or guiding students
who are enrolled in HEIs. The Regulations, therefore, applies to
all faculties irrespective of the nature of their engagements.
Similarly, “staff” means non-teaching staff whether s/he is
employed on regular, temporary, contractual, outsourced or on
any other basis.

“Student” means a person pursuing a programme “in any

mode of study (full time or part time or distance mode)”. It is
interesting to note that Regulations did not include online mode.
Many HEIs are offering programmes in online mode. The online
programmes of many HEIs including the B.Sc. (Data Science) of
IIT Madras are very popular, and a good number of students are
enrolled for such programmes. Not only that, many students are
enrolled with foreign educational institutions which are offering
online programmes. Though it was desirable to include online
programmes also, the Regulations remain applicable to them, as
full time or part time programmes.

25 Rule 2(l), UGC Regulations of 2018.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

The 2018 Regulations were adopted with three objectives:

(i) to create awareness about conducting responsible research;
promote academic integrity; and prevent misconduct; (ii) to
establish institutional mechanism to promote academic integrity
and deterrence from plagiarism; and (iii) “to develop systems to
detect plagiarism and to set up mechanisms to prevent
plagiarism” and punish author for committing the act of
plagiarism.

The Regulations expect HEIs to establish the mechanism

“to enhance awareness about responsible conduct of research
and academic activities, to promote academic integrity and to
prevent plagiarism”.26

HEIs are obligated to instruct its author that while

producing their works, they have to make proper attribution,
seek permission of the author of work, wherever required, and
acknowledge the sources. HEIs are also obligated to conduct
sensitization and awareness programs for its authors on
responsible conduct of research works, academic integrity and
ethics. The authors of the HEIs are to be trained for using
plagiarism detection tools.27

Rule 6 of the Regulations obligates HEIs to curb

plagiarism; and for that purpose, it lays down certain obligations
for them to perform. Technology based mechanism involving
appropriate software is to be used and made available by the
HEIs to its authors. The students are to give undertaking that
their works are free from plagiarism and the supervisors are also
required to submit a certificate in this regard.

26 Rule 4.
27 Rule 5.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

While making similarity checks for plagiarism, the

Regulations provide for certain exclusions. These are – (i) “all
quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or
attribution”; (ii) “all references, bibliography, table of content,
preface and acknowledgment”; (iii) “all generic terms, laws,
standard symbols and standard equations”.28

All quoted works are excluded from plagiarism, provided

they have been reproduced with permission or attribution. This
raises a pertinent question. If a research work is full of quoted
work where the author has used them with permission or
attribution, will such work pass the test of originality or quality.
In strict sense, it cannot be termed as an act of academic
dishonesty, as the author used those works with permission
and/or attribution. The Regulations do not prescribe any limit
for the quoted works to be used in author’s research work. On
the contrary, in copyright law, fair dealing with an existing work
is allowed for the purpose of research. Even though the
Copyright Act, 1957 also does not lay down any word limit, it
uses the expression fair dealing.

The Regulations further provides that the research work

of the author is required to be based on original ideas, which has
to include “abstract, summary, hypothesis, observations, results,
conclusions and recommendations only and shall not have any
similarities”. It is noteworthy that not all research works have
abstract to recommendations as required by Regulations. This
format is not being followed by all researchers. Though the term
“research work” has nowhere been defined in the Regulations, it
is not confined only to thesis and dissertations. Further, there is
a contradiction between rule 7 and rule 8. Rule 7 as quoted
aforesaid provides that research work “shall not have any

28 Rule 7.

17
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

similarity”. In rule 8, however, it permits similarity upto 10%,

which have been stated to be minor similarities.

In addition, rule 7 requires research work to be based on

original ideas, as aforesaid. It is important to mention the law of
copyright in this regard. The Copyright Act, 1957 does not
require the work to be based on original ideas. In order to make
copyright subsist in a work, the ideas may be old but the
expression should be original, i.e. should not have been copied
from others. By excluding 14 consecutive words, which are
common knowledge or coincidental terms, rule 7 provides a great
relief to the authors of a research work.

Rule 8 lays down levels of plagiarism and rule 12 lays

down the penalties for such plagiarism. Plagiarism has been
quantified into four levels:

(i) “Level 0: Similarities upto 10%

(ii) Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%
(iii) Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%
(iv) Level 3: Similarities above 60%”.

Level 0 is termed as minor similarities, which is allowed

in a research work for all without attracting any penalty. This is
quite logical. For Level 1 (10% to 40% similarities), the student
is required to submit a revised script of thesis/ dissertation
within 6 months; and others are required to withdraw the
manuscript of academic and research publication.

For Level 2 (40% to 60% similarities), the student is to be

debarred from submitting the revised thesis/ dissertation for a
period of one year; and others – (i) shall be asked to withdraw
manuscript of academic and research publication, (ii) shall be

18
 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

denied a right to one annual increment, and (iii) shall not be

allowed to supervise any new student/scholar of Master’s,
M.Phil., and Ph.D. Programme for 2 years.

For Level 3 (similarities above 60%), the registration of

such student for that programme is to be cancelled. Other
authors shall not only be asked to withdraw manuscript of
academic and research publication, but also be denied a right to
2 successive annual increments. In addition, the supervisorship
of new student or scholar for Master’s, M.Phil., and Ph.D.
Programme is to be denied for 3 years.

For repeated plagiarism, there is provision for higher

penalty including putting degree or credit of student in abeyance.
For other authors, there are provisions for disciplinary action
including suspension/termination in the Regulations.
These penalties may be imposed by Institutional Academic
Integrity Panel (IAIP) on the recommendations of Departmental
Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP).

The DAIP is to be constituted at Department level. It will

consist of (i) Head of the Department as Chairperson; (ii) one
senior academician from outside the department; and (iii) one
person who is well versed with anti-plagiarism tools. The
mandate of DAIP is to assess plagiarism and recommend
penalties to IAIP, if applicable.29

The IAIP shall consist of (i) PVC/Dean/Senior

Academician of the HEI as Chairperson, (ii) one senior
academician, (iii) one member form outside the HEI, and (iv) one
person who is well versed with anti-plagiarism tools.30

29 Rule 10.
30 Rule 11.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

The DAIP and IAIP shall follow “the principles of natural

justice while deciding about the allegation of plagiarism” against
the author of the script. It is mandatory to follow the principles
of natural justice in all such cases where penalty is imposed on
someone. The principles of natural justice are - (i) both parties to
the case should be given an opportunity of being heard; (ii) there
should be no bias in favour of any party; and (iii) a reasoned
decision should be given. Thus, an audience is to be given to the
author of a script in an impartial manner which will be followed
by a reasoned order.

B. UGC Notification on Self-Plagiarism, 2020

Self-plagiarism was also an important issue to be

addressed. The authors were recycling their works and claiming
them to be new works. Not only that, some of them were found
to be publishing two articles in the same issue of a volume of a
particular journal. There was a flood of predatory journals which
were claimed as international peer-reviewed journals. These
journals were charging fee somewhere between Rs. 500/- to Rs.
3000/- depending upon the circumstances. Shockingly, they
were also publishing the woks in back date. Many faculty
members who did not have adequate number of publications
during their assessment period for promotion purposes, were
getting their old works published after minor modifications in
these journals. This became a flourishing business for the people
who were publishing these journals. The authors got a new and
easy platform on which they could publish their old works with
just a title change or with some addition, deletion, modification,
paraphrasing, etc. The students were also publishing their old
articles in these journals for fulfilling the requirement of
publications before submission of Ph.D. thesis. The act of self-

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

plagiarism was being seen as an act of academic dishonesty.

Since there was no rule to prevent this practice, the universities
were taking their own decisions as to whether to accept or reject
those publications. Unfortunately, even the UGC Regulations of
2018 did not address the issue of self-plagiarism.

To address the issue of self-plagiarism, the UGC brought

out a public notice in this regard on 20 April 2020. This
notification is basically complementing the 2018 Regulations.

The 2020 notification states that if someone reproduces

his/her own work which was previously published, either in
whole or in part, without proper citations and acknowledgement
and claims that work as new work or original work for any
academic advantage, his/her claim will not be accepted, as that
work shall be considered as self-plagiarised (text-recycled). No
academic advantage will be provided for such work.

The notification explains self-plagiarism/ Text-recycling

in an inclusive manner. It includes;

1. republication of an earlier published paper;

2. publication of a smaller or excerpted work from a
previously published longer work. The purpose here is to
show more number of publications;
3. reusing data which has already been used in a previously
published work;
4. publishing new works by breaking longer study;
5. publishing one's own earlier published work by
paraphrasing the same.

The aforesaid works will be considered as self-plagiarised

works only when the same are produced “without due and full

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

citation” of the original works. In other words, it is not prohibited

to refer one’s own previously published work in the new work
provided due and full citation is provided. One’s own previously
published work is considered as existing work like the work of
any other person and the same can be used in new works in the
same manner as the other existing work is used. This means that
sources of the earlier published works which have been used in
new work, are to be duly acknowledged.

It was a general practice that students, scholars, and

faculty members were converting their large study into several
pieces and claiming them to be new works. This was being done
to increase their number of publications; for example, converting
Ph.D. thesis into several articles by making small variations here
and there. This is popularly known as “slicing of research work”.
This practice is now being seen as an act of self-plagiarism. It is
no more allowed to slice your research work into several papers.

The notification further makes it clear that “Self-citations”

will not add any “new number/s to the individual's citation index
or h-index in global academia”. Therefore, it is prohibited to
increase citation index/h-index by producing more self-
plagiarised works.

The notification also advises the Vice Chancellors of the

universities, Screening Committees, Selection Committees,
IQACs and other experts to ensure that in the case of selections,
promotions, award of research degrees, credit allotment, the
works submitted by the applicants for evaluation are not self-
plagiarised.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

VI. Plagiarism vis-a-vis Copyright Infringement

In academic parlance, the term “plagiarism” is used.

However, there is no reference of plagiarism in the Copyright Act,
1957. The Act rather uses the expression “infringement” of
copyright. It is noteworthy that plagiarism and infringement of
copyright are not the one and the same thing. They have different
connotations.

Infringement of copyright takes place in those works only

in which copyright subsists. Infringement happens when
someone uses the copyrighted work of others without
permission. Fair dealing with copyrighted work for private use is
allowed provided the sources have been acknowledged.
Copyright infringement does not take place in those works which
have fallen into public domain. Once a work falls into public
domain, anyone can use it freely. However, such person cannot
claim that work to be his/her own work. If such person does so,
it will amount to infringement of author’s moral rights as
provided in section 57 of the Copyright Act.

If a person uses the work which has fallen into public

domain without acknowledging the source, such person shall be
said to have plagiarized the work. It can be explained with the
example of the work of Guru Rabindranath Tagore, in which
copyright has expired. Tagore’s work is in public domain now. If
someone reproduces the work of Tagore in his work without
acknowledgement, then it will amount to an act of plagiarism.
Further reproduction of Tagore’s work in the name of some other
person shall violate Tagore’s moral rights under the Copyright
Act. There will be no copyright infringement in such case as the
copyright term in the work has come to an end.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

It is therefore, important that one should acknowledge the

sources while using the works of others irrespective of the fact
whether copyright subsists in those works or not.

As already discussed, the Regulations define the term

plagiarism to mean “the practice of taking someone else’s work
or idea and passing them as one’s own”.31 The term plagiarism is
defined in a broader context under the UGC Regulations. It refers
to taking by some person the work or idea of some other person
and then to pass its own as his/her work or idea.

It is important to discuss the role of anti-plagiarism

software in this regard. Such software have their own limitations.
These software may detect plagiarism in the copied work but may
not be able to detect plagiarism in those works which are based
on the ideas of other person(s). It is therefore important that the
research work produced by the author should be distinct from
those of others in the sense that the work /ideas of others are
not copied.

It is noteworthy that Copyright Act, 1957 prohibits

reproduction of the copyrighted work of others in one’s own
work. Reproduction does not mean copy but taking substantial
portion of the work of others and claiming that to be his/her own
work. The term “reproduction” was explained in British Northrop
v. Texteam Blackburn,32 in the following words:

“there must be a high degree of similarity before one thing

can be said to be reproduction of another; but minor or
trivial differences will not prevent one work from being a
reproduction of another. It may be that reproduction has

31 Rule 2(l), UGC Regulations of 2018.

32 (1974) RPC 57.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

much the same meaning as copy, and that it suffices for

a reproduction if it makes a substantial use of the features
of the original work in which copyright subsists”.33

In order to decide whether a person has taken a

substantial portion of the work of others or not, emphasis is to
be made on the “quality than the quantity of what he has
taken”.34 In other words, substantial does not refers to the “bulk
or the length of the extracts” as a “short extract may be a vital
part of the work”.35 The court, in FE Engineering & Consultancy
Pvt. & Another v. LG Cable Ltd. & Another,36 stated that the
“quality and substantiality are the two touchstones on the basis
of which such allegations are to be tested”.37

It is also noteworthy that Copyright Act, 1957 protects

only expressions not ideas. In Donoghue v. Allied Newspaper
Ltd.,38 Farwell J. stated that “[I]f the idea, however brilliant and
however clever it may be, is nothing more than an idea, and is
not put into any form of words, or any form of expression …, then
there is no such thing as copyright at all. It is not, until it is
reduced into writing, … that you get any right to copyright at all,
and the copyright exists in the particular form of language in
which … the information or the idea is conveyed to those who
are intended to read it or to look at it”.39

33 Id., p. 72.
34 See the observations of Lord Reid in Ladbroke v. William Hill (1964) 1 WLR 273 at p.
276.
35 Johnslone v. Bernard Jones Publications Ltd. Beauehamp (1938) 1 Ch. 599.
36 2002 (25) PTC 577 (Del).
37 Id., p. 582.
38 (1937) 3 Ch. D. 503.
39 In Cherian P. Joseph v. Prabhakaran, AIR 1967 Ker 234, the court stated that there was

no copyright infringement if someone developed his/her work by taking essential idea

from some other person’s work. See also Harnam Pictures N.V. v. Osborn (1967) 1 WLR
723; (1967) 2 All ER 324, in which the court stated that there was “no copyright in ideas,
schemes or systems or method and the copyright was confined only to the subject”.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

It is allowed to develop the ideas of others in one’s own

work, provided the work has been developed independently
without copying from the work of others. The Delhi High Court
stated that the copyright vested in “original expression of idea
and not in idea itself”. What is protected under the copyright law
is the way or manner of presentation of an idea, not the idea per
se.40

It is important to note that similarity may occur between

two works, not because of plagiarism or infringement of
copyright, but because of the fact that two persons while working
independently have used common source of materials and in the
process of doing so they arrived at the similar results. In such a
situation, despite the fact that the two works were found to be
similar, strictly speaking, it cannot be said that they were
plagiarized or that one author infringed the work of another.

Fair dealing with a work for the purpose of research is

allowed under the Copyright Act, 1957.41 There is no definition
of the term “fair dealing” in the Copyright Act. In absence of any
word limit under the fair dealing provision, the author should
not think that he/she is free to quote as much as is possible with
acknowledgement. Lord Denning made some important
observations in this regard in Hubbard v. Vosper.42 The judge
stated that “you must consider first the number and extent of
the quotations and extracts. Are they altogether too many and
too long to be fair? Then you must consider the use made of
them. … If they are used to convey the same information as the
author, for a rival purpose, they may be unfair. Next, you must

40 Institute for Inner Studies & Others v. Charlotte Anderson & Others, 2014 (57) PTC 228

(Del), p. 285.
41 Section 52(1)(a), Copyright Act, 1957.
42 (1972) 2 Q.B. 84 (C.A.).

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

consider the proportions. To take long extracts and attach short

comments may be unfair. But short extracts and long comments
may be fair. Other consideration may come to mind. But, after
all is said and done, it must be a matter of impression”.43

The UGC Regulations as well as the Copyright Act, 1957

is silent on the quantum of the material which can be used by
one in his/her research work. It is against the research ethics to
quote heavily from other sources. Excessive and unreasonably
long quotations must be avoided by the researcher. It is a matter
of concern that a work with excessive quotations may not be
detected by anti-plagiarism software as the quotations are put in
the inverted coma. It is to be noted that such a practice is not
only against the research ethics but may also result in copyright
infringement. It is therefore, strongly recommended that the
author of a work should be sensitive towards ethics and honesty
while producing his work.

VII. Conclusion

The UGC Regulations of 2018 and the Public Notice of

2020 on Self-plagiarism are just a beginning towards the
conduct of responsible research. Research without ethics had
become a menace for the higher education before these
regulations. The standard of our research deteriorated in
absence of these regulations. The predatory journals were
making their fortune by publishing all sorts of trash without
caring for plagiarism. They were publishing online/offline
journals in the back dates depending upon the requirement of
scholars or teachers.

43 Id., at 94. For more details and case laws on fair dealing and infringement of copyright,
see V.K. Ahuja, Intellectual Property Rights in India (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2015).

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

These Regulations will definitely make an impact on the

research in India. There must be laws and policies to prevent all
types of research fraud, irrespective of the fact whether the
research is conducted for academic, social or commercial
purposes. Many universities and organizations abroad have
adopted their research codes or guidelines to conduct research.44
In India, the important thing is to have a positive mindset for
conducting research with honesty and integrity. We need to
develop an environment where research is seen as a serious
affair. It is not just copy-paste or compilation from various
sources without any mental application. It is also not about
paraphrasing or playing with the words to avoid plagiarism. It is
the one which is conducted seriously and in the most ethical
manner, giving credits to the persons whose works have been
referred to by the author in his/her work.

The qualitative research will not only improve the profile

of the author, but also that of the institution to which the author
belongs. It is advisable to have lesser number of publications
which are qualitative, rather than having bulk publications
which are sub-standard. One should remember that the quality
of the publications of the author has a direct impact on his/her
image as a scholar. If an author publishes sub-standard works,
nobody will take his works seriously and his image will be that
of producing sub-standard works only. On the other hand,
qualitative works of the author will be recognized by others and
the author will get recognition in the academic circle.

Though term papers, course work, assignments, essays,

and project reports have been excluded from the definition of

44 See Enago Academy, Research & Publications Ethics, p. 10, available at chrome
extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.enago.co.kr/academ
y/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Research_Ethics.pub_V2.pdf, last visited on 07
October 2023.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

script in the Regulation, it does not mean that author should

produce plagiarised work. The culture to produce ethical
academic work should start from UG courses. Not only that, in
schools, the students should be sensitized about the ill effects of
plagiarism. They should be encouraged about plagiarism free
writings. Even at the primary schools also, the students should
be taught that it is wrong and unethical to produce the work of
someone in one’s own name in the school magazine, etc. For
children, it is good to write small piece which may not be so
qualitative rather than copying the work of others.

Sensitization is the need of hour and it should begin from

school level rather than at HEI’s level. The focus should be
shifted from bulk sub-standard writings to qualitative writings
which may comparatively be less in number. Academic theft
should be a matter of past and all efforts should be made to
improve academic honesty. If we are serious about making India
a developed country, we need to improve our teaching, learning
and research. At present, only few HEIs are doing well and
known for their academics and research globally. This is not
encouraging. We need to improve the image of our country with
respect to performance of our academic institutions, and this can
be done only when we indulge in qualitative research along with
good teaching-learning techniques.

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Chapter - 2

RESEA RCH AND PUBLICA TION ETHICS: A

PHILOSOPHICA L PERSP E CTIV E
R. N. Sharma*

With the dawn of civilization, the human being has been

very conscious about loving the wisdom and their popularity
among fellow persons. Whatever work he has undertaken, he
wants that my work should be duly recognized by the society as it
is the product of his wisdom, so that he can get name and fame.
With the pace of development human being has started following
the pursuit of their elder’s actions or their preachings. Though
their intention was not to popularize their forefathers but to keep
them remembered by the society and recognize their literary work.
This craziness increased with passage of time in the form of
Sruties and later on Smrities. This is evident from the fact that we
have number of Smrities in the name of Manu and Others. If we
analyse ancient Indian Jurisprudence, we can safely say that our
fore-fathers were aware of the fact that literary work undertaken
by someone should get due recognition and should always be used
after due recognition. This has got the status of morality that time.
Later on this became practice and become ethical norms of that
time

With the advent of right oriented western jurisprudence,

persons became more conscious about their right. With change in
attitude the term “due recognition” was substituted by the word
“violation of ethical norms”. Later on the word violation of ethical
norms was further substituted by the term violation of right and
ultimately substituted by the term violation of copy right for which

* Visiting Professor of Law, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, former
Vice-Chancellor, IASE (Deemed) University, Sardarshahr, former Dean & Head, Faculty of
Law, JN Vyas University, Jodhpur and former Dean IMS Unison University, Dehradun.

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one can approach the competent authority for initiating action

against the violator.

If we go through God ordained Vedas, they talk about the

action or behaviour of human being should be according to
Dharma. According to Vedas the dharma preaches us how one
should lead his life and the way of life which one should follow.
The actions/behaviour of persons should be for the betterment of
human being and society as a whole, which is possible only when
one leads the life accordingly to Dharma.

The concept of dharma preaches us to act in righteous

manner. During those days people were expected to perform their
duties towards themselves and towards society. The norms set for
observation by every person were based on ethics, that is do not
do that which you do not expect from others. Slowly and gradually
these social norms were codified by the sages and learned persons
like, Manu, and has been kept as record in the name of Smrities.
The Smrities codified by Manu deals with every aspect of life and
are being followed today with some changes as per present day
requirement.

According to Indian Philosophy and Traditions the basic

nature of man is religious and spiritual, goodness and welfare,
universality and fraternity, spiritual integrity, moral uprightness,
benevolence, unselfishness under all circumstances.

Four Mahāvākyas of the Vedas which expresses the

spiritual character of man are:

Prajn͂anām Brahman. (The intelligence is Divine),

Ayamātmā Brahman (The soul is Divine),
Aham Brahmāsmi (I am Divine) and
Tattvamṃasi.

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During those days following the principles of Dharma was

considered as moral value

Vaiseshika Sutra claims that: “Yato-bhyudayanihsreyasa-

siddhihsa harmah” that which leads to the attainment of
Abhyudaya (prosperity in this world) and Nihsreyasa (total
cessation of pain and attainment of eternal bliss hereafter) is
Dharma.

Dharma was not for developing intelligence; it was for

developing character. When compared with all knowledge, good
conduct was considered to be superior; because Dharma was
based on acharas. During those days it was a saying that when man
abides by acharadharma, his life is prolonged.

According to Vyasa: “With my arms raised, I am

lamenting, yet no one listens to me. (O human beings) Dharma
accomplishes both, earning of wealth and fulfilling of desires.
Then, why do you not abide by Dharma”.
To understand true nature of ancient Indian culture & way
of life we have to understand the philosophical aspect of India.

The Indian concept of philosophy: Indian philosophies

share many concepts in it, such as dharma, karma, samsara,
dukkha, renunciation, meditation, with almost all of them
focusing on the ultimate goal of liberation of the individual from
dukkha and samsara through diverse range of spiritual practices
(moksha, nirvana).

Samkhya: Kapila is the oldest of the orthodox

philosophical systems. It postulates that everything in reality
stems from purusha (self, soul or mind) and prakriti (matter,
creative agency, energy). Purusha cannot be modified or changed
while prakriti brings change in all objects.

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The concept of justice and justice delivery system during

those days was also founded on righteousness. The norms of
morality to be followed by everyone were also reduced in to
writing. During those days the writings of any person were used
in their name and that way due recognition was given to the
author. Honesty is the best policy was followed in letter and spirit
during those days.

We can observe that all the ancient Indian codes are

popular by the name of the giver. Giver is respected as an author.
The principle behind giving recognition was to acknowledge their
work and to perpetuate their name and fame.

Western philosophers developed their own philosophy.

According to them the word philosophy literally means love of
wisdom; it is derived from two Greek words i.e. 'phileo' (love) and
'Sophia' (wisdom). The eternal quest for truth 'lends the origin of
philosophy. A love of wisdom is the essence for any philosophical
investigation.

Etymologically, the term "philosophy" means, "love of

wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people
undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths
about themselves, the world in which they live, and their
relationships to the world and to each other.

Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call

himself a philosopher. According to him Philosophy is concerned
with views about how the world works and, as an academic
subject focuses primarily on reality, knowledge and existence. It
also enables to gain knowledge of the subject undertaken for the
study.

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I. Philosophy as A Subject Has Been Given Meaning and

Content by Various Philosophers

According to Dr. Radha Krishan an Indian philosopher

“Philosophy is the science of knowledge and is a logical enquiry
into the Nature of Reality.”

According to Plato “Philosophy aims at a knowledge of the

eternal nature of things.”

Alfred Weber defines it as “Philosophy is a search for

comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at universal
explanation of the nature of things.”

Yet another philosopher Raymont describes it as

“an increasing effort to discover the general truth that lies behind
the particular facts to discern also the reality that lie behind
appearance.”

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental

problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge,
values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is the rational
attempt to formulate, understand, and answer fundamental
questions.

After discussing various definitions given by the

philosophers we will dwell upon the nature of
philosophy: Philosophy is a set of views or beliefs about life and
the universe, which are often held uncritically. Philosophy is a
rational attempt to look at the world as a whole.

Philosophy is the logical analysis of language and the

clarification of the meaning of words and concepts.

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Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our

most deeply held conceptions and beliefs. These two senses of
philosophy- “having” and “doing”- cannot be treated entirely
independent of each other, for if we did not have a philosophy in
the formal, personal sense, then we could not do a philosophy in
the critical, reflective sense. Having a philosophy, however, is not
sufficient for doing philosophy.

Philosophy is a group of problems that philosophers always

try to find out answers. Philosophy presses its inquiry into the
deepest problems of human existence. “What is truth?” “What is
the distinction between right and wrong?” What is life and why
am I here? Why is there anything at all?

The study of Philosophy enables us to think carefully and

clearly about important issues.

The major branches of philosophy are epistemology

(knowledge & truth), metaphysics (reality & being), logic
(argumentation & reason), axiology (aesthetics & ethics), and
political philosophy (the state & government). Ethics investigates
moral principles and what constitutes right conduct.

In studying Philosophy, we learn to take a step towards

thinking and to explore the deeper, bigger question which
underpins our thought. Philosophy sharpens our analytical
abilities, enabling us to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in
any position. It hones your ability to construct and articulate
cogent arguments of our own. It prompts us to work across
disciplinary boundaries and to think flexibly and creatively about
problems which do not present immediate solutions. Philosophy
also develops our ability to think and work independently.

To understand the philosophical perspective of any subject

one has to understand the basis of that subject. Historically we

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can say that Philosophy is based on 1. Logic, 2. Metaphysics, 3.

Epistemology, 4. Value theory

1. Logic: Logic is the systematic study of the rules for the

correct use of these with supporting reasons. The rules can be
used to distinguish good arguments from bad ones. Most of the
great philosophers from Aristotle to the present have been
convinced that logic permeates all other branches of philosophy.

2. Metaphysics: It is the traditional branch of Philosophy.

Aristotle call it as “first philosophy”, as it relates to universal
principles based on “comprehensive thinking about the nature of
things” the study or theory of reality. Metaphysics is the branch
of philosophy that offer a comprehensive view of all that exists. It
is concerned with such problems as the relation of mind to matter,
the nature of change, the meaning of “freedom,” the existence of
God, and the belief in personal immortality.

3. Epistemology: It is the branch of philosophy that

studies the sources, nature, and validity of knowledge, the
sources of knowledge and the question of origins. What is the
nature of knowledge? How do we distinguish truth from error?
This is the question of the tests of truth, of verification.

4. Value Theory: It is the branch of philosophy that

studies values into ethics, aesthetics, and social and political
philosophy. In terms ethics concerns itself with the question of
morality. What is right and what is wrong in human relations?

Aesthetics concerns the theory of art and beauty.

Questions of art and beauty are considered to be part of the realm
of values because many philosophical problems in aesthetics
involve critical judgments. Therefore, if we cannot perceive beauty
in objects that others find beautiful, it may be wise to withhold

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judgment until we are capable ourselves of making a competent

analysis of the aesthetic experience.

Social and political philosophy investigates value

judgments concerning society, the state, and the individual’s
relation to these institutions. The following questions reflect the
concerns of social and political philosophy: Why should
individuals live in society? What social ideals of liberty, rights,
justice, equality and responsibility are desirable? Why should
anyone obey any government?

Before we discuss the principle of ethics, we have to

understand that ethics is generally considered as practical aspect
of principles of morality. Therefore, we will first discuss what we
mean by the term morality.

Morality refers to a code of conduct that deals with humans

in relation to others to promote what is good and right. Morality
in terms of religion is determined by the relation between human
being and supernatural being. Morality in terms of nature is
determined by the relation between human being and nature.
Morality in terms of individuality is determined by the relation the
individual has to him or herself. Morality in terms of society is
determined by the relation between human being and society. It is
said that the morality has its origin in objectivities as it is given by
a supernatural being, and is part of the nature independently of
human beings. It has its origin in the theory of ‘natural law’ and
‘objectivism’. Morality is based on religion, but it is not always true.
Sometimes we see that non-religious people also follow the principles
of morality.

A moral theory is nothing but a set of moral principles

specifying the conditions which makes an action morally right or
wrong, or which in turn is based on moral reasoning. The moral

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rules guide the person that his actions will decide what consequences
you are going to face.

A person can be said to be morally good when his actions

reflect courageousness. An action is right or wrong can be gauged
by the motive, character, or intention of the actor. The barometer
for gauging action of a man can be called as moral theories. These
are Consequence-based theories propounded by Mill and
Bentham, Deontological theories propounded by Kant and Virtue-
based theories advocated by Anscombe the British philosopher.

We usually think, preach, talk and act according to

principles of morality because we feel good and are hopeful that
we will find the truth and ultimately, we are likely to get success
in terms of social good. Since a good will always remain good
therefore, everything else should trace its justification to this. The
good will is the source of value, and without it, nothing would have
any real worth.

Now we will discuss what we mean by the term ethics.

Ethics: The word ethics has been derived from the Greek
word “ethos”, which means “way of living”, ethics is a branch of
philosophy that is concerned with human conduct, more
specifically the behaviour of individuals in society.

Descriptive ethics consider the conduct of individuals, or

personal morality; the conduct of groups, or social morality; (what
ought to be). “We ought to keep our promises” and “you ought to
be honorable” It is also centered on the analysis and meaning of
the terms and language used in ethical discourse and the kind of
reasoning used to justify ethical statements. It does not propound
any moral principle or goal but consists entirely of philosophical
analysis. What is the meaning of “good?” and can ethical
judgments be justified? are typical problems for meta ethics.

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The principles which guide us to make a positive impact

through our actions, play an important role in our lives is ethics.

Funk and Wagnalls Standard Comprehensive International

Dictionary, defines ethics as: “The study and philosophy of human
conduct, with emphasis on the determination of right and wrong:
one of the normative sciences.”

Virtue can be denoted by high moral standards whereas

ethics is a guiding force to go for positive oriented actions.

Therefore, we can say that virtue is genera and ethics is its

species. Virtue is a trait or quality that is considered morally
good. It encompasses parts of ethics and morals as it is an
assessment of a person's morals.

II. The Importance of Ethics

Ethics is the study of moral principles that guide human

behavior, its critical aspect of personal and professional lives.
Following ethical standards ensures that individuals act in a
responsible and accountable manner, promoting trust, respect,
and fairness. It has become more important to prioritise ethics in
this fast changing world: as it promotes trust and credibility which
is the foundation of successful relationship and paves the way for
building long-term partnerships. Ethical behavior promotes
credibility, as individuals and organizations that act in
accordance with moral principles can be perceived as reliable,
honest, and dependable. Ethics also promote respect and
fairness. Which entails respect for others' rights and dignity and
treat everyone with fairness and impartiality, regardless of their
race, gender, religion, or socio-economic status. Ethical behavior
also promotes transparency and accountability, as individuals
and organizations are held responsible for their actions and

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decisions. Ethical behavior promotes feelings of social

responsibility as it benefits the community and the environment,
minimize harm and maximize benefits, thus promotes sustainable
practices, and social causes.

In conclusion, the importance of ethics cannot be

overstated. Upholding ethical principles promotes trust, respect,
fairness, and social responsibility, which are essential for building
strong relationships, achieving success, and creating a better
world. As individuals and organizations navigate the challenges of
today's world, it is crucial to prioritize ethics and make decisions
that align with moral principles.

We should also understand the philosophical aspect of

ethics to get better knowledge & intricacies of principles of ethics.
The philosophy of ethics "involves systematizing, defending, and
endorsing conceptions of good and bad action." Ethics, like
aesthetics, is concerned with considerations of worth in the area
of natural science.

Ethics and morals are both used to describe what people

understand to be "right" or "wrong" to do/believe (or not); they
help people live with one another in relative peace so long as these
unspoken rules are obeyed. For example, most people around the
world agree that intentionally killing another person (i.e., murder)
is wrong, regardless of whether or not they have a specific law
against it: it is against people's morals to murder. For centuries,
ethical and moral philosophers have tried to determine what
exactly is right or wrong. Some of the major names in moral
philosophy are:

William Paley (1743-1805) was a priest and British

philosopher. He worked throughout his life to prove the existence
of God. He can be said to be the founder of the ethical theory of
Utilitarianism. According to him what makes something "good" is

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how much its outcome (end) is able to maximize positive things

(happiness, well-being, etc.).

Thomas Aquinas (1224 - 1274) was a priest of the Roman

Catholic Church whose combined theology (religious systems of
thought) with virtue ethics. He wrote that "evil consists in
discordance from their rule or measure... either by their exceeding
the measure or by their falling short of it... moral virtue observes
the mean." Aquinas also believed that the true ideas of what is
"good" and what is "bad" stem from knowledge of God. While
human laws exist and can be justified through reason, there are
eternal, divine laws that govern the universe and ethics. Human
ideas of ethics are only valid as we are products of God's work and
can know God.

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) was a contemporary of

William Paley. Kant argued that the means and end both must be
good. In Kantian philosophy, there are definitive rules that can be
applied to all, regardless of religious or cultural beliefs.

Aristotle (384 B.C. - 322 B.C.) believed in what is known as

virtue ethics. In virtue ethics, characteristics are labeled in terms
of deficiencies, excesses, and a "golden mean" between the two
where virtue lies. The virtuous golden mean is between the vices
of excess and vices of deficiency.

Virtue: Virtue refers to having high moral standards. For

Aristotle, however, it is more specifically about fulfilling one's
purpose in life by being of use in the right ways at the right times.
In Aristotle's view, there was no set of books to read or lectures to
attend to learn to become a good person and learn to respond in
ways that are virtuous. Eventually, one who emulates the virtuous
person in all situations will develop habits of virtue. With these
habits, one can more or less ensure that they will respond correctly
and as a virtuous person in any new situation also.

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Virtue ethics are a branch of philosophy called teleology,

which is different from deontology. Teleology concerns itself with
the intrinsic purpose or aim (Greek: telos). Deontology is focused
on the means and mindset of the person who is doing the action,
specifically with the relationship between a person and their
duties/obligations. In virtue ethics, one understands and becomes
virtuous by finding the golden mean between vices of excess and
deficiency. This is, in Aristotle's view, the purpose of human beings.
Virtue ethics is the oldest ethical theory in the world, with origins
in Ancient Greece. It defines good actions as ones that display
embody virtuous character traits, like courage, loyalty, or wisdom.
Virtue ethics focuses on the importance of developing the habits of
mind and character to engage and resolve ethical dilemmas while
embracing, not forsaking, ethical principles.

The Golden Mean

Aristotle believed that to become virtuous, one must find the

Golden Mean, or the virtue. This can be done through direct
experience and through emulating moral exemplars. Over time,
acting in virtuous ways becomes a habit and one is more likely to
align with the Golden Mean. Ethics makes an act morally right or
wrong based on conduct, makes a person good or bad based on
value. We can draw correct conclusion about what we ought to do
or what kind of person we ought to be. It is based on
theoretical/conceptual questions and practical question about
moral reasoning.

Characteristics of Ethical Issues: Moral issues are generally

controversial and remains open-ended. It is very difficult to arrive
at some consensus on such issues. Sometimes this disagreement
may be radical and fundamental and sometimes it may be
difference of degree only.

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Ethics in philosophy refers to those standards that impose

reasonable obligations to refrain individual from offenses including
fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of
honesty, compassion, and loyalty.

Philosophical ethical theories are attempts to provide a

clear, unified account of what our ethical obligations are. The four
fundamental principles of ethics are autonomy, non-maleficence,
beneficence, and justice.

Ethical principles are the foundation of the guidelines which

helps to clarify the issues involved in the situation. These are
autonomy, justice, beneficence, non- maleficence, and fidelity.

Therefore, a good researcher has to follow ethical principles,

like beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice,
informed consent, truth-telling, and confidentiality, ethical culture
by adopting the principles of honesty, trustworthiness, and a
commitment to do the right thing, even when difficult or unpopular,
work with full integrity, honesty, fairness, leadership, integrity,
compassion, respect, responsibility, loyalty, law-abiding,
transparency, and environmental concerns.

value integrity moral principles Honesty

honour
ETHICS Right

choice conscience responsibility Fairness

The ethical principles in research and publication enables

to protect the dignity, rights and welfare of researchers. Therefore,

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it is necessary to ensure that the appropriate ethical standards

are followed. It can be possible only when the researcher is of
good character, is competent enough and works in
collaboration by following the principles of logicity,
reasonableness and pragmatism.

Keeping in view the above principles of ethics we can have

following kinds/dimensions of ethics.

Normative or Prescriptive Ethics.

Descriptive Ethics.
Meta-ethics.
Applied Ethics.

If any researchers come across any kind of difficulty and

feels uncomfortable may be because of a conflict of interest
he/she has to recheck the facts, prepare a list of options available
and test these options on the yardsticks stated above & finally
adopt the choice which is more conducive and near to the
principles of ethics.

Sources of ethics

The principles of ethics can be traced by looking into the

following factors:

Religion which can be said to be the ethical inspiration,

Culture, Law and legal system Corresponds to Basic Human
Needs, Credibility in the Public, Credibility with the Employees,
Better Decision Making and Economic system including
Profitability.

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Theories of Ethics

There are three ethical main theories-deontological,

consequentialist and virtue ethics—and propose a mixed
approach for developing a framework in the design and
development of research evaluation.

The theories of ethics play a leading role in ascribing &

describing the nature of ethics. While adjudging the ethical norms
for professionals the guiding factor for determining the ethical
standards may be principles of Mission, Truth, Lawfulness,
Integrity, Stewardship, Excellence and Diversity.

Any unethical behaviour relating to publication is called

publication misconduct. Misconduct makes all the efforts, time
and money spent on research in vain and leads to detrimental
effects with a high possibility of not repairable damages in the
research world.

Instead of asking what is the right action here and now,

virtue ethics asks what kind of person should one be in order to
get it right all the time. Whereas deontology and consequentialism
are based on rules that try to give us the right action, virtue ethics
makes central use of the concept of character.

Deontology is focused on the means and mindset of the person

who is doing the action, specifically with the relationship between
a person and their duties/obligations. In virtue ethics, one
understands and becomes virtuous by finding the golden mean
between vices of excess and deficiency.

Consequentialism and virtue ethics: Consequentialist theories

posit that consequences of action should be the primary focus of
our thinking about ethics, virtue ethics insists that it is the

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character rather than the consequences of actions that should be

the focal point.

Deontology is usually contrasted with consequentialism

Consequentialists maintain that the right action is determined
solely by its consequences, deontologists deny this and hold that
the right action is not determined solely by its consequences. One
has to assess which will be better deontology or consequentialism
Deontology allows individuals to act on a broader scale than a
more demanding theory such as consequentialism (e.g. there is
always something “better” that one could be doing).

Publication ethics

Publication ethics are the guidelines that are developed to

ensure world-class scientific publications, public's faith in
research, and proper credit for authors' original ideas and work.

Publication is the most common contemporary form of

research outcome dissemination. Researcher remains owner of
published work. Researcher publish his work in form of Article,
book or book chapters, conference proceeding.

Research findings are made known to public at large by

means of Publication. Therefore, the publishers have to follow the
publication ethics (the code of conduct & regulatory mechanism)
to establish and maintain higher standards and academic
integrity. Therefore, if the code of conduct for publication ethics
are violated it threaten the integrity of the research publication
process.

Publication ethics encompass the rules of conduct which

are agreed upon while publishing results of research or other
scholarly work so that intellectual property is protected and
forbids the re-publication of other's work without proper credit.

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Accordingly, the publication ethics covers all those norms which

entail such protection. E.g. informed Consent, Data
Confidentiality, Data Manipulation and Research Fraud, Self-
Citation, ghost, authors dispute, fake affiliations, conflicts of
interest, dual submissions, duplicate publication, plagiarism,
salami slicing, fabrication and falsification. It also affects the
academic community, journal editors, peer reviewers along with
the authors.

The present-day norms for publication have their genesis

from ancient Indian literature. We can safely say that legal garb
has been put on moral and ethical norms which were in vogue in
ancient India.

The philosophical aspect of publication ethics can be

visualised by understanding the old norms and the present-day
social norms.

The norms which were previously a model code has taken

shape of legal duty with the advent of right oriented
jurisprudence. This can be attributed because of the fact that we
have followed the principles of justice based on the positive laws
codified /enacted by the state or its instrumentality. This legal
duty in this materialistic world has become so crucial that if any
one violates these norms, he can be taken to task in the form of
punishment.

Ethically published work becomes a sound base of

knowledge. It helps in adequate rationalization, accelerate
scientific progress, ‘Show ethical path to followers’, help in image
building of researcher, adds value to the work, helps in conferring
mutual respect & in ensuring public trust in research.

At the same time the publication of research in peer-reviewed

journal not only validates the research and boosts confidence of the

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authors but also gives national and international recognition to an

author it also helps in grant for research, for career advancement in
the department, university, and institution where researcher work.

Therefore, it is expected that all associated individuals and

organisations, including editors, reviewers, authors, editorial
officials, and publisher, should adhere to rigorous ethical
guidelines throughout the publishing process.

The roots of scholarly, scientific publishing can be traced to

1665, when Henry Oldenburg of the British Royal Society
established the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society. The aim of the journal was to create a public record of
original contribution to knowledge and also to encourage scientists
to “speak” directly to others.

III. Ethics-Related Organizations and Their Role

A good research starts from hypothesis, selection of

appropriate study design, study execution, data collection,
analysis, and publication. Therefore, the conduct of the research
study requires that ethical norms are required to be adhered to in
the process of publication.

Therefore, any publication which is based on the

conclusion drawn from the data which has been manipulated is
considered a research fraud or scientific misconduct.

The organizations involved with publication ethics are:

i) International Committee of Medical Journals Editors

(ICMJE): The ICMJE was established in 1978, in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada, by a group of medical journal
editors. ICMJE developed recommendations which are
primarily for authors who want to submit their work in

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ICMJE member journals. These recommendations discuss

the role and responsibilities of the authors, contributors,
reviewers, and editors. Steps of manuscript preparation,
submission, and editorial is- sues related to publication in
medical journals are also discussed and drafted. The
uniform requirements for manuscript submitted to
biomedical journals, which most of the journals are
following were drafted by ICMJE.

ii) World Association of Medical Editors (WAME): The WAME is

a nonprofit voluntary association, which was established in
1995 by a group of members of the ICMJE. The goal was to
improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in
medical editing, and encourage research on the principals
and practice of medical editing. The role of WAME is to
facilitate worldwide cooperation and communication among
editors of peer-reviewed medical journal. Membership in
WAME is free and all decision-making editors of peer-
reviewed journals are eligible to join.

iii) Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): COPE a

registered charity organisation for journal editors and
publishers. History of COPE Began in 1997 as an informal
forum for editors in the UK to discuss ethical issues related
to research and publication in biomedical journal
publishing in established as a limited company and a UK-
registered charity. Currently more than 8000 members,
from 75 countries from all academic disciplines are
covered. It provides advice (not regulation) on all aspects of
publication ethics, Provides support and resources for good
publication practice (guidance documents, flowcharts),
Advises on how to handle cases of research and publication
misconduct (forums), Educates editors on identifying
research and publication misconduct and their
responsibilities (seminars, talks, e-learning modules) Also

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associate members: Individuals or companies who are not

eligible to be Full Members (i.e. are not journal editors or
publishers) but who are interested in publication ethics
and are working in or associated with the publication of
peer-reviewed scholarly journals.

The purpose of COPE is to find the practical ways to deal

with the misconduct cases also and to develop codes of conduct
for good publication practice. It also generates the funding for
the research based on the issues related to publication
misconduct.

COPE Guidance documents cover Code of conduct and

best practice guidelines for journal editors, Code of conduct for
journal publishers, Guidelines for the board of directors of
learned society journals, Ethical guidance for peer reviewers,
Guidance on co-operation between research institutions and
journals Guidelines for retracting articles Sample letters for
handling common problems Discussion documents (eg,
anonymous whistle blowing) A series of flowcharts etc.

Most common forms of misconduct for which COPE has

formulated policy are:

i) “Authorship disputes Plagiarism Redundant (duplicate)

publication Reviewer misconduct Ghosts and guests
Conflicts of interest Fabricated/falsified data General
suspected ethical concerns.
ii) Regarding Authorship disputes: COPE advises that have a
written policy on what constitutes authorship Request
signed statements of contribution from all named authors,
Request signed agreement from those named under
acknowledgments.

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iii) Regarding Plagiarism: COPE advises that include a

definition of plagiarism and your policy on it in information
for authors Consider obliging authors to read your policy and
tick a box to confirm that prior to submission Consider
judicial use of plagiarism-detection software.
iv) Regarding Redundant (duplicate) publication, text recycling
the COPE advises that include a statement in information
for authors that material should not have been published
elsewhere plagiarism of the text has been checked by the use
of plagiarism-detection software.
v) Regarding Reviewer misconduct COPE advises that issue
clear advice to reviewers on what is expected of them. Refer
to COPE ethical guidelines for peer reviewers.
vi) Regarding Conflicts of interest COPE advises that have a
clear policy on conflicts of interest (for editors, authors, and
reviewers) Ask all authors to declare potential conflicts of
interest, and consider publishing them
vii) Regarding Fabricated/falsified data COPE advises that have
a clear policy on the enhancement, cutting/pasting, or
obscuring of images if likely to be a particular problem in
your field Image manipulation detection software may help.
viii) Accordingly, the Copyright Breach can also be considered as
part of ethics: When copyright material is reproduced
without permission Data Fabrication Making up research
findings Data Manipulation/Fabrication Data
Manipulation/Falsification Manipulating research data with
the intention of giving a false impression. This includes
manipulating images, removing outliers or ‘inconvenient’
results, changing data points, etc...”

Misconduct in relation to Authorship: It is unethical like

‘gift’ or ‘ghost’ authorship. Gift authorship: When research or
administrative hierarchy comes in to the picture or because of a
colleague with whom we have a personal relationship like
son/daughter or husband/wife/relatives. Senior researchers or

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administrative boss who have substantial contribution on the

subject, at any point like writing manuscript. Editing manuscript,
reviewing manuscript, providing additional knowledge with high
intellectual input on writing science are not considered as ‘gifted’.

Ghost authors are the researchers who writes the research

article without acknowledgement. This is very common for many
cases where researcher drafts an article at the behest of
pharmaceutical company. The real author's name never comes in
domain of publication. Problem of the ghost author is that
whatever they write may not always be correct interpretation and
may be biased; hence, it badly affects the researcher community.

To tackle this publication misconduct COPE, ICMJE

provides certain guidelines: Journals must have clear authorship
criteria. Authors should disclose all contributors, regardless of
author status and their specific individual contributions and
affiliations. Authors must sign about their contribution’s details.
Authors should disclose any of his/her conflict of interest and a
statement whether they have received any support from medical
writers.

Authorship Disputes and Ethical Misconducts

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
guidelines states authors Anyone who has made a substantial
contribution to the conception Design or acquisition of data or
analysis and interpretation of data Drafting or revising the article
for intellectual contents Participated in the final approval of the
version to be published Disputes: ‘Question of interpretation’ like
whether Contribution’ by the authors was substantial? Whether
authorship criteria were discussed when research was planned?
It was decided before submission of manuscript?

Therefore, accordingly to ICMJE norms those who are just

occupying the departmental chair, provided funds, had general

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supervision helped in collection of data, provided technical

support and helped writing assistant are not entitled for
conferring authorship.

Conflict of Interest It May be financial or others like

personal interest like employment interest, promotion or career
advancement interest, patents, personal believes, grant providing,
relationship, academic competition or intellectual passion.

Each author should declare to the editor any interest that

could constitute a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest
with respect to his/her involvement in the publication, between
them and Commercial entities and administrative unit,
employment relationship. Sources of funding for the study,
review, or other item should be declared in the final publication.

Fabrication and Falsification of Data Fabrication means

cooking up data or results (fictitious by nature) as per the
hypothesis of research and publishes it in a journal whereas
falsification is simply manipulating data or result. Fabrication
also covers selective reporting authors just report a small number
of significant values of the study but hide large number of
insignificant observations.

The authors should abide by the following

responsibilities which are required to maintain the integrity and
credibility of research and to nourish the trust of public in
scientific endeavors, all authors must follow the rules of good
publication practice and should stick to the following
responsibilities:

i) Do not fabricate or manipulate the data

ii) Avoid plagiarism by giving proper acknowledgment
iii) Declare whether research work has been published or
presented before

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iv) Declare COI

v) Avoid ghost/gift/guest authorship
vi) Do not submit the manuscript to more than one journal for
simultaneous consideration
vii) Last but not the least, take direct responsibility for
appropriate portions of the content.

The institutes should conduct workshops to encourage

researchers/authors to follow good publication practices. The
institute provide to the scholars the copy of COPE or ICMJE
recommendations for publications.

If a manuscript is submitted simultaneously to two or more

journals it is called dual submission. It is very difficult for the
editors to detect the dual submissions. The authors use these
kinds of unethical tactics to get their manuscripts accepted by the
journal. The authors when came to know that their manuscript
has been accepted by one journal, they withdraw it from another
journal.

Sometimes both the journals unknowingly published same

article, it will result in research inflation without adding anything
substantial to the existing knowledge. It will also have
detrimental effects on funding and human resources. To avoid
such misconduct in future the authors should be asked to give
logical explanation when they request for withdrawal of their
manuscripts to save valuable time, efforts and energy spent on
these kinds of cases for peer review, correspondence and potential
publication for the editors.

The other serious ethical issue is that of plagiarism. It is

defined as the stealing or theft of another person’s words, ideas or
results and without citation of reference source. It is becoming
more prevalent due to the “publish or perish” environment leading
to increased publication demands. Self-plagiarism or salami

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slicing is also not acceptable as it is considered manipulative. In

this, one research article is broken into multiple different
manuscripts but sharing the same methodology, hypotheses etc.
It will lead to unfairly skewing of research database and enhanced
citation record of authors. It is suggested that the authors cite
their prior work with permission from journal and justify that new
information is conveyed in the current paper.

By use of software applications (Turnitin and iThenticate),

plagiarism can be identified easily. As a pre-requisite from higher
education commission (HEC), we use Turnitin, a plagiarism
detecting software, for all submitted manuscripts.

Sometimes the authors instead of paraphrasing use some

hidden characters to escape from plagiarism. Sometimes authors
by using sticks like insulting some hidden character like full stop
after each word and replacing alphabet ‘o’ by zero and changes were
made accordingly in the document. The authors should be
instructed to avoid such practices and be honest in correcting
their manuscripts. They should also be advised to go for properly
paraphrase and cite the original source article in your paper.

Research Ethics:

Investigations concerns about processes for ethical review

of research (e.g. lack of independent review body or inadequate
procedures) Retractions Concerns arising from requests to retract
published articles (i.e. for a journal to publish a notice of
retraction), Editors’ decisions to retract articles or the process of
retraction Reviewer Misconduct: When reviewers: fail to treat
submissions in confidence use information for their own benefit
from a submission they have been asked to review (e.g. reporting
data as if it were their own, plagiarising text, stealing data or ideas
and using them in grant applications) try to delay publications
from rivals/competitors submit a biased review or inappropriate

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recommendations in the hope of preventing or delaying

publication by a rival fail to declare competing interests.

Consequence of Research Misconduct

i) Society and humanity: Wrong procedures, false and

fabricated data bring out products, which may be
considered unsafe for humanity.
ii) Fellow researchers: Published data and knowledge derived
from research misconduct in medical sciences will mislead
fellow medical researchers and that will lead to huge loss
of money, funds, times and reputations.
iii) Medical practitioners and students: Medical practitioner
also suffers a lot due to unethical research publications as
many wrong diagnostic and therapeutic published
guidelines lead to professional disaster for them.
iv) Public trust and Government policies: It may destroy
public trust on science. Such false information and data
may misguide government and lead to implement some
erroneous health policies and laws.

The Role of Publisher, Sponsor and Sanctions for Misconduct:

A journal publisher attempt to exert undue influence over

editorial decisions Sponsor: When there is any question over the
role of a funder in a publication, including when the involvement
of a funder in any part of the research or publication (e.g. study
design, data collection, analysis, reporting) is inadequately
disclosed.

Sanctions for Misconduct: When journal editors, publishers or

learned societies impose sanctions on authors who have
committed publication or research misconduct (e.g. by banning
individuals from publishing in their journals) Selective Reporting:
When unfavourable or inconvenient end-points (e.g. outcomes

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that fail to reach statistical significance or do not favour a

particular product or hypothesis) are deliberately omitted from
publications reporting research Self-Plagiarism

Undeclared Conflict of Interest (Authors) Undeclared Conflict

of Interest (Editors)

When authors fail to declare all conflicts of interest relevant

to their publication (i.e. relationships, both financial and
personal, that might affect the conduct or interpretation of their
work and about which editors or readers might wish to be made
aware). Undeclared CoI (Editors): When editors (or other members
of a journal’s staff or editorial board) fail to declare conflicts of
interest relevant to the editorial processes of their journal (i.e.
relationships, both financial and personal, that might introduce
bias or prevent objectivity) or When journals fail to adopt
appropriate systems for ensuring that people with relevant
competing interests (whether declared or not) are not involved in
editorial decisions (e.g. systems to prevent editors from
considering their own work or that of close colleagues or family
members) Undeclared CoI (Reviewers): When reviewers fail to
declare all conflicts of interest relevant to the submission being
considered (i.e. relationships, both financial and personal, that
might prevent an unbiased and objective evaluation of the work)

Undeclared Financial Support for Publication Unethical

Research

When sources of support for a research project or

publication are not declared (e.g. failing to disclose funding for
research or for publication such as assistance from a professional
writer or payment to an author) Unethical Research Experiments
that contravene ethical norms, such as the protection of research
participants.

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IV. Process of Publication

If the researcher wants to publish the research findings and

observations, he has to ensure that the manuscript is original,
concise and has clarity in language.

Journals publish only those articles which are exhaustive

and based on meaningful research and contribute towards the
knowledge building and awareness of readers and conclusion
drawn should also be comprehensive and should have list of up-
to-date references.

Misconduct: misconduct is the violation of the standard

codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication
of research. It includes falsification or fabrication of data
manipulation generating data, plagiarism or misappropriation of
the ideas of others, im- proprieties of authorship, simultaneous
publications, duplicate publications, salami slicing, and non-
declaration of Conflict of Interest (COI). Conducting research
without informed consent not maintaining data confidentiality.

V. Criteria of Authorship

As we all know that the publication adds to the credibility

of the research and brings fame and recognition to the author.
Therefore, it is expected that the authorship of articles must be
honest, reliable, trustworthy, and transparent.

Plagiarism: The word plagiarism was first used in the

English language in the year 1601 by the dramatist Ben Jonson to
describe someone who was guilty of theft. Plagiarism is derived
from the Latin word “plagiare” which means to “kidnap.” By
definition, plagiarism is the use of previously published work by
another author in one’s own manuscript without consent, credit,
or acknowledgement.

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“In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a

writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other
original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging
its source.”

Plagiarism means “when one author intentionally uses

another's work without permission, credit, or acknowledgment.”
Plagiarism generally found in following forms: Data, Words and
Phrases, Ideas and Concepts.”

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional.

Unintentional plagiarism is usually seen in articles written by
students or junior researchers. Lack of awareness and
ignorance lead to unintentional plagiarism. Intentional plagiarism
happens when an author deliberately copies documented or
published work and presents it as his/her own. Both types of
plagiarism are unethical and illegal, which can ruin the career and
reputation of the writer.

Broadly speaking plagiarism can be of three types:

Plagiarism of idea occurs when a plagiarist copies or steals

the idea or thought of someone else and presents it as his/her own.
The example of plagiarism of idea is presenting or documenting an
idea of someone else which is being discussed or presented in any
conference or seminar without citing proper sources.
Plagiarism is defined as ‘to copy ideas and passages of text from
someone else's work and use them as if they were one's own’. The
word plagiarism may further extend to unreferenced use of the
ideas of others submitted as a ‘new’ paper by a different author!
The most vulnerable part for plagiarism in any research
publication is ‘methods.

Plagiarism of text or direct plagiarism, i.e. word to word

writing, is when a researcher takes large section of an article from

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another source and pastes it in his/her own research without

providing proper citation.

Hybrid varieties of plagiarism is Mosaic plagiarism

where the author steals the idea, opinion, words, and phrases
from different sources and merges words without acknowledging
the original author.

Self-plagiarism is the practice of an author using portions

of their previous writings on the same topic in their subsequent
publications, without specifically citing it formally in quotes.
Another form of plagiarism is self‐plagiarism where author copy
and paste from his/her previous publications including results,
tables and figures without providing copyright clearance
certificate from publishers. There is no consensus as to whether
this is a misconduct or not. To be on the safer side, authors should
cite source or give reference of their previous publications.

Types of Plagiarism: Sources Not Cited "The Photocopy":

The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single
source, without alteration. "The Potluck Paper": The writer tries to
disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources,
tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining
most of the original phrasing. Also known as "patch writing." "The
Poor Disguise": Although the writer has retained the essential
content of the source, he or she has altered the paper’s
appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.

The Labor of Laziness": The writer takes the time to

paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all
fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.
"The Self-Stealer": The writer "borrows" generously or "recycles"
from his or her previous work, violating policies concerning the
expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.
"The Forgotten Footnote": The writer mentions an author’s name

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for a source, but neglects to include specific information on the

location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms
of plagiarism by obscuring source locations.

The Misinformer: The writer provides inaccurate

information regarding the sources, making it impossible to find
them. "The Too-Perfect Paraphrase": The writer properly cites a
source, but neglects to put in quotation marks text that has been
copied word-for- word, or close to it. Although attributing the
basic ideas to the source, the writer is falsely claiming original
presentation and interpretation of the information.

The Perfect Crime": We all know the perfect crime doesn’t

exist. In this case, the writer properly quotes and cites sources in
some places, but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from
those sources without citation. This way, the writer tries to pass
off the paraphrased material as his or her own analysis of the cited
material. "The Resourceful Citer": The writer properly cites all
sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately.

The researchers involve themselves in plagiarism because

of the fact that they lack in confidence in write-up, lack in basic
research skills, does not have time to complete the assignment,
and because of laziness could not publish more papers for
promotions. When plagiarists are contacted, the usual replies
may be:

i) although my name is included but I have not written or

reviewed the article
ii) my junior drafted the manuscript and I just made few
corrections
iii) there are limited number of medical terminologies and
word combinations. How these can be replaced or
paraphrased? and
iv) honestly, I was unaware of plagiarism checking.

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“Students plagiarise the research work/paper/article/

project/chapter in four main ways:

1. Stealing material from another source and passing it off as their

own, e.g.

a) buying a paper from a research service, essay bank or

term paper mill (either pre-written or specially written),
b) copying a whole paper from a source text without proper
acknowledgement,
c) submitting another student’s work, with or without that
student’s knowledge (e.g. by copying a computer disk).

2. Submitting a paper written by someone else (e.g. a peer or

relative) and passing it off as their own.

3. Copying sections of material from one or more source texts,

supplying proper documentation (including the full reference) but
leaving out quotation marks, thus giving the impression that the
material has been paraphrased rather than directly quoted.

4. Paraphrasing material from one or more source texts without

supplying appropriate documentation”.

Culture of publish or perish is one of the important causes of

plagiarism. The researcher needs to publish a large number of papers
in limited time period to get more opportunities in career and
research. In addition, lack of knowledge, laziness, and fear of failure
and desire of getting recognition also lead to plagiarism. The author
should run their manuscript through software meant for detection of
plagiarism before submitting it to the journal.

The plagiarism can be prevented by creating awareness

about plagiarism. Authors can avoid plagiarism by acknowledging

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the original source of the idea or word and enclosing them within
quotation marks.

How to Avoid Plagiarism: The best way to avoid

plagiarism is to cite other's work always in the research articles,
put the cited words in quotation marks, seek permission from
appropriate authorities for references to cite tables, figures, etc.
In case of paraphrasing, where the writer writes the text in his
own word, authors must properly cite the original source and
should also obtain permission for use of published illustration.

Duplicate publication: Duplicate publication or

redundant publication is a publication of a paper that
substantially overlaps with one which is already published,
without clear, visible reference to the previous publication. As per
copyright law and publication ethics, whatever is available in the
journal for reading would be original unless there is a clear
statement that the author and editor are intentionally
republishing an article. Hence, duplication of publication is the
breach in the copy- right law and against the ethical conduct.

It is very serious issue pertaining to ethical publications.

Many times, it happens without the knowledge of co‐authors or
the group of researchers who published it in previous journal.
More damaging of all kind of misconducts. It is called “wasteful
publication”. It is damaging because of its economic implications
for publishers, readers, libraries, and indexes. It can also affect
the results of meta-analyses.

Major redundancy is always considered with evidence of

deliberate duplication such as changes of title and data sheet with
identical findings. Minor redundancy is something ‘salami
publication’ types with looks of extended follow‐up of previously
published article. It may be, editor must contact corresponding
author and ask explanation, if satisfied, do not take any action.

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The COPE classifies duplicate publication into major and minor

offenses. The major offense is the one where duplicate publication
is based on the same data set and findings which are already
published. It is also considered if there is evidence that the author
tried to hide duplication by changing the title or order of
authorship or by not referring previous publication. Minor or
salami slicing is considered segmental publication or part
publication of results or reanalysis derived from a single study.
Authors do it to increase the number of publications and citations.
It is considered unethical and it is taken in a bad taste because
for a reader it may cause distortion in the conclusions drawn.

VI. Predatory Publication

It is the publication of an article in the journal that lacks

the usual feature of editorial oversight, transparent policies, and
operating procedure of legitimate peer review journals. Predatory
journals exploit the authors by charging the publication fee and
deceiving them by providing the false claim about the journal’s
impact factor, indexing, and peer review.

Predatory publishing is harmful for both the author and the

community. Predatory publishing may tarnish the image of the
author. Articles published in predatory journals are usually not
appreciated by the subject expert. It can misinform the readers
and propagate wrong science because of poor quality control.

Predatory publishing can be avoided by educating re-

searchers, supervisors, and administrators about fake journals.
Authors should also learn how to identify trustworthy journals.

Data fabrication and falsification: “Data fabrication

means the researcher did not actually do the study but made-up
data. Data falsification means the researcher did the experiment,
but then changed some of the data. Both of these practices make

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people distrust scientists. If the public is mistrustful of science,

then it will be less willing to provide funding support”

Multiple submissions of a paper: “It is unethical to

submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same
time. This is also a waste of time for editors and peer reviewers
and can give rise to prejudices at the reputation of journals if
published in more than one”

Redundant publications (or ‘salami’ publications): “This

means converting one paper from one meaningful paper into
several different papers from the same experiment or study. This
can be avoided by inappropriately breaking up data form a single
experiment/study.

Improper author contribution or attribution: “All listed

authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to
the research in the manuscript and approved all its claims. Don’t
forget to list everyone who made a significant scientific
contribution”

Best Practices: One of the most important things to

promote ethical publication is to encourage research integrity
among medical researchers. COPE advocated for a research
integrity officer in each of the research institution to monitor and
guide various issues pertaining to research ethics including
publication ethics. Research Institutions bear the primary
responsibility for promoting a culture of good scientific conduct
among researchers and students and for the prevention,
investigation and punishment of scientific misconduct in their
midst.

Publishers, Editors and Peer Reviewers: Editors ensures

that reviewer is adequately qualified and can keep confidentiality
and also protects the whistle blower in case of reports on

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publication misconduct. Journal editors must provide a link to

WAME or COPE or ICMJE for authors, readers or reviewers to get
first‐hand information on ethics in publication. Ethical
publication also includes timely peer reviewing and publication of
the manuscript which is the responsibility of editor and publisher.
Editors is to remain cultural and gender sensitive on any article.

Prevention: Institution must have clear and transparent

functioning on not only ethical research policy but also on ethical
publications. A Strong peer‐reviewing system. Uses of latest
technological support. Strong publication ethics policies. Active
monitoring, protection of whistle blowers. Cooperation between
journals and research institutions or universities possibly prevent
publication misconduct effectively.

To Summarise: Better education on publication guidelines

and ethics. Introduction of registers for planned and ongoing
clinical trials. Change criteria from quantity to quality when
papers are used for assessment of posts or grants. Punish the
culprits but be careful that innocent is not victimized.

General Ethical Principles: The researcher should follow

these ethical principles to claim themselves as good researcher.
These are: Respect /Autonomy for persons Individuals should be
treated as autonomous agents Persons with diminished autonomy
are entitled to protection (Vulnerable population) Meaningful
informed and voluntary consent. Beneficence Maximizing benefits
by promoting the well-being of subjects and society. Justice
Persons bearing burden of research should receive appropriate
benefits: subjects should not be placed at risk merely because of
convenient access, their compromised position, or ability to be
manipulated. Non-maleficence Minimizing harm / No harm to the
participant.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

To do away with problem of violations of publication ethics

the editors should ensure that the matter is appropriately
pursued in the ways laid down for promoting research integrity. It
may include retraction of manuscript, notification of employer,
placing the author on a “watch list” & publication ban for specified
time.

Another solution to this problem can be possible through

collective efforts by authors, reviewers and editors. Editors need
to be vigilant. Expert reviewers need to carefully look for potential
breech of publication ethics and bring it to the notice of journal
editors. Authors need to be educated and made aware of the
problem. It is of paramount importance that they understand the
boundaries of publication ethics. They must be made clear that
the research work represents not only you but your co-authors,
the funding body and your institution. Don’t stigmatize yourself
so that your career is at stack. The “instructions to authors”
section of a journal should be very clear about the ethics and
publication. Authors should be made clear that authorship is not
just about credit but also for responsibility too. And importantly,
due credit should be given to those who actually did the work.
Moreover, workshops or symposia can be arranged by the journal
editors by taking proper guidance and advice from COPE. And
finally, by changing the criteria from quantity to quality for
promotions or for academic achievements.

If these ethical guidelines are religiously followed by

authors, it will help in decreasing the instances of violation of
publication ethics with resultant increase in the credibility of
publications and in overall confidence in the integrity of research.

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Chapter - 3

RESEA RCH AND PUBLICA TION MISCONDUCT:

MISJOINDERS AND NONJ OINDERS
Debasis Poddar*

“We must, however, not only make this general

statement, but also apply it to the individual facts.
For among statements about conduct those which are
general apply more widely, but those which are
particular are more genuine, since conduct has to do
with individual case, and our statements must
harmonize with the facts in these cases.”
- Aristotle.1

I. Academic Integrity: Misdemeanour to Misconduct

Postcolonial legacy vis-à-vis procedural discourse in the

delivery of criminal justice apart, a naïve quest of Shri Abdul
Kalam, the then President of India: “Why prisoners sentenced to
death are the poorest of the poor?”2 remains relevant, albeit, with
rhetoric. If taken into context, those eventually get lost for
research and publication misconduct are often than not
subalterns; hardly connected to ‘who’s who’ in knowledge
profession. Such analogy unfolds the class-character of an
otherwise unproblematic regime vis-à-vis normativity of
academic integrity. This clarion call for a level-playing field for all
alike is meant to euphemise- not to eulogize- the regulatory
regime in a classified community; complacent with a

* Professor of Law, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam.

1 W. D. Ross (tr.), Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 7. Available at:
https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/aristotle/Ethics.pdf
2 Rajindar Sachar, Death be not proud, The Times of India (online edition), October 25,
2005. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/death-be-not-
proud/articleshow/1274583.cms

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

contemporary catchphrase, namely, rule of law. The author

caveats that the punitive governmentality vis -à-vis
subalterns for research and publication misconduct in the
higher education institutions amounts to the travesty for an
otherwise axiomatic rule-of-law genre. More than proceeding
against the subalterns, research foci of the author but lie in
the institutionalized governmentality to “discipline and
punish”3 the subalterns alone while such misconduct appears
omnipresent; no less above rank-and-file research and faculty
cadre in higher education institutions. This forthcoming
effort is a narrative of the misjoinders and the nonjoinders
respectively; commonplace in everyday lifeworld. The power
relations in higher education institutions often than not plays
critical qualifier; thereby engages realpolitik for skewed
construction of misconduct and its agency behind .

After a minute miscellany about academic misconduct, the

author hereby scribbles an inventory of erratic practitioners;
followed by reasonable classification on the basis of misdeed,
followed by harm to academia: first, misjoinders, less relevant yet
included to this proceeding, and next, nonjoinders, more relevant
yet excluded from the same; whether or how far inclusion or
exclusion may be incidental (mistake) or intentional (mischief) is
a point apart. Also, there are larger conundrums, e.g., default or
no-fault liability, harm potential and/or prospect, etc., to name a
few- too few- among them, are set to get deliberated in forthcoming
paragraphs. The author hereby engages a minute inquiry into the
epistemology of academic integrity and explores the genesis of
research and publication misconduct well within the given
institutional system; besides fallibility of morbid and mortal
knowledge practitioners who fall prey to systemic fault by

3 Vide Alan Sheridan (tr.), Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
(1977). Available at:
https://monoskop.org/images/4/43/Foucault_Michel_Discipline_and_Punish_T
he_Birth_of_the_Prison_1977_1995.pdf

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

default. The author resorts to civil procedure buzzwords to iconize

the former as misjoinder and the latter as nonjoinder in course
of its activist discourse. 4 In the knowledge profession, while
cause of action arises on the contentious issues vis-à-vis research
and publication misconduct, the author usurps judicious robe to
plead for exit and entry of stakeholders- misjoinders and
nonjoinders respectively- and get the given cause of action
adjudicated.

So far as misjoinders and nonjoinders are concerned, the

same persona- say editor- may fall prey to the vigilance net
without contribution while s/he may get rid of the net with
contribution. The same jeopardy is applicable to every sundry
persona, whoever is relevant to the net; such as author, editor,
etc. The same persona- either author or editor- may be put to
advantage somewhere and to disadvantage elsewhere under the
same net. Consequently, role reversal of the same role model
between misjoinder and nonjoinder appears commonplace to
leave readership confused. The author hereby keeps confusion
clarified with a caveat to facilitate readership not to identify one
with single role model alone. For instance, there are cases where
the same role player in the same role model- as either author or
editor- may be held misjoinder somewhere and nonjoinder
elsewhere. The problematic is posited with the possibility of
plurality- mutual coexistence of holy and unholy alike- within the
same personality; irrespective of otherwise role models played out
by these personae; something relevant to everyday experiences
and reflected in antiheroic characters of the ancient

4 Court may strike out or add parties.-- The Court may at any stage of the
proceedings, either upon or without the application of either party , and on such
terms as may appear to the Court to be just, order that the name of any party improperly
joined (misjoinder), whether as plaintiff or defendant, be struck out, and that the name of
any person who ought to have been joined (nonjoinder), whether as plaintiff or
defendant, or whose presence before the Court may be necessary in order to enable
the Court effectually and completely to adjudicate upon and settle all the questions
involved in the suit, be added.
The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; First Schedule, Order I, Rule 10(2).

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

mythology: Bhishma, Dhritarashtra, of the Orient and Achilles,

Hector, of the Occident alike; besides females, e.g., Draupadi,
Helen, etc., to name few among them. Unlike opposition, i.e.,
either black or white, truth and untruth often than not
remain greyed, in apposition of black and white; in morbid
and moral soul. A few- too few- engaged in knowledge practice can
transcend the collage characteristic in course of research and
publication discourse.

A case of misdemeanour ought to get dissociated from that

of misconduct. While the former deserves summary procedure,
followed by counselling vis-à-vis consequence in case of
repetition, the latter deserves procedural recourse. Even in a
case of misconduct, the first-timer and the habituated ought to
get dissociated. While the first-timer deserves admonition, the
mis-conductor- with indulgence in repetition, deserves name-n-
shame; followed by apology to the discredit of misconduct.
The habituated, however, deserves deterrence; subject to
civilizational principles, e.g., due process of law, natural justice,
proportionality of deterrence with delinquency, etc., followed
by penance. In final count, ideation behind institutional
integrity governance lies in parenting, more than policing, upon
those engaged in course of research and publication discourse.

II. Conduct v. Misconduct: A Miscellany

The term ‘misconduct’ necessarily refers to an act of

mischief, done with presence of mind, and not an act of mistake,
done without presence of mind. Therefore, similar to the legal
fiction vis-à-vis lifting the corporate veil, lifting the systemic veil
ought to get graduated (read elevated) to sine qua non in
course of institutional misconduct discourse to get sinner into
the net. Also, misconduct has had its genesis into the systemic
fallacy in a way or other: “O mischief, thou are swift to enter in the

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thoughts of desperate men.5 Therefore, understanding misconduct

ought to get hyperlinked to understanding fallacy in the given
system of higher education institutions; also, of the larger
public lifeworld. With a cue from the literary classic
mentioned above, therefore, inquiry may get initiated with a
quest: Where lies the source of desperation in such an otherwise
wise profession? The author hereby engages deconstruction of
mala fide mind behind the act of mischief. After commonplace
malpractice, original sin often than not lies in overarching
ambition to carry forward a competitive career through research
and publication (read production) in fast-forward mode;
something frequent in the everyday materialist lifeworld
nowadays. The quest for truth as teleological end of the
knowledge practice thereby stands subverted by tryst with
untruth in the name of knowledge pursuit for research and
publication. Consequently, with inflation of information,
scepticism about both institutional integrity of the academia
and individual integrity of its stakeholders experiences a
spiral upsurge, 6 in consonance with the capitalist realpolitik
toward maximum work-hours by labour force for maximum
production of goods- also services nowadays- to serve
industrial revolution agenda of greatest happiness for the
greatest number, after the then utilitarian morals;7 something
revived in recent times with the neoliberal robe.8 Since time

5 William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (1597), Act 5, Scene 1. Available
at: https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/read/
6 Editor’s notes, Avalanche of published academic articles could erode tryst in science,
Autonomous University of Barcelona, November 6, 2023. Available at: https://phys.
org/news/2023-11-avalanche-published-academic-articles-erode.html
7 Vide Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
(1780). Chapter 1. Available at: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com
/assets/pdfs/bentham1780.pdf
8 Narayana Murthy, “Youngsters should want to work 70 hours/week”, Brut India, 2023.
Available at: https://www.google.com/search?q=narayana+murthy+70+worurs+full
+video&rlz=1C1NHXL_enIN869IN869&oq=narayana+murthy+70+worurs+full+video&
gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyCQgDECEY
ChigAdIBCTEzOTA3ajFqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=
cid:e2a7b73e,vid:F6DYiSaxdf8,st:0

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immemorial, until globalization of industrial production culture

by means of colonization worldwide, public debate vis-à-vis
quality versus quantity was non-existent. In Greece, for
instance, Homer authored two epics: The Iliad and The
Odyssey. In India, Vyasa and Valmiki did only one each: The
Mahabharata and The Ramayana respectively; initially as orature
and not as literature. All four pieces survived several millennia
and retained relevance as literary classics. With the passage of
time, industrial productivity is institutionalized as mainstream
normativity. With a piece or two, none of them could find
career prospect in recent times; irrespective of research
potential in respective epics and notwithstanding the credit
getting apparent on the face of record. Here lies a fallacy vis -
à-vis normativity of otherwise wise institutionalized knowledge
profession in the contemporary lifeworld.

The author hereby draws a miscellany of intellectual

misconduct in its nitty-gritty; before taking stock of its
individual stakeholders, e.g., the misjoinders, who are
irrelevant yet included into the narrative, and the nonjoinders,
who are relevant yet excluded from the narrative. The following
statement may get cited to illustrate institutional integrity:9

“If made aware of a credible allegation of such

misconduct in any of our books or journals, MSU (Michigan
State University) Press will refer the matter to
MSU’s research integrity officer. If subsequent
investigation substantiates the alleged misconduct, MSU
Press will promptly take the appropriate steps to correct
or remove the problematic content from its stock.

“If you believe that plagiarized, fraudulent, or unethical

research has been published in one of our books or journals,

9 Michigan State University Press, Policy on Research Misconduct (ethics statement).

Available at: https://msupress.org/about/ethics-statement/

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please detail the reasons for your belief in an email to the

press director, (contact person detail).”

While the institutional policy regime mentioned above

pledges curative principles in cases of minor misrepresentation,
the same has had punitive principles to extend deterrence against
the malpractitioners; consequential to the proof of major
misconduct. The reasonable classification between minor and
major cases appears appropriate here:10

“For minor misrepresentations, we will issue an errata

sheet. For books, the corrections will be made promptly in
the e-books and in any subsequent printings. For journals,
the errata notice will appear in the next print issue, and a
corrected digital version will be available in the Project MUSE
and JSTOR databases along with a statement about what
has been corrected.”

“For major misconduct such as plagiarism or

fabrication, we will pulp print editions of the publications
containing the offending material and reissue corrected
print and digital versions. Journal articles available via
Project MUSE will include redaction notices explaining
what has happened. Journal articles available via JSTOR
will be darkened or removed, depending on the judgment
of JSTOR’s content management team. The costs of
retracting, correcting, reissuing, and labelling the
publications in question will be charged to the individual
found to have committed the misconduct. Volume or journal
editors who failed to identify the problem may also be billed.”

While a minor case receives remedy by means of reparation

of the given situation, in a major case, there are provisions to place
liability upon those within the institution and the same is

10 Supra, n. 9.

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inclusive of absolute or no-fault liability. Consequently, even an

error out of mistake- not a guilt out of mischief- deserves penalty,
not punishment, for those to suffer by means of payment through
nose for the loss of reputation institution suffers out of credible
allegations proved on merit. So far as guilt out of mischief is
concerned, those involved in misconduct deserve punishment
in technical sense of the term. Indeed, usage of pecuniary
means with higher amount is put to place as commonplace
penology. There is but a technical difference. In cases of its
punitive usage, to award punishment, the amount may and does
transcend the principle of proportionality; something justified
by the logic of penology to import innuendo of deterrence to the
public as conveyance of institutional governmentality vis-à-vis
zero-tolerance toward academic malpractices. However, even in
the worst case of misconduct, punitive amount ought not to
transcend the threshold of carrying capacity for the middle-class
under the disguise of deterrence.

The following classification is derived on the basis of

systematic literature review in the relevant knowledge domain.
The variants of misconduct most known are available in
literature published meanwhile. The author claims no credit for
mention of the same, yet makes mention for awareness of those
scheduled to undertake research coursework; a primary target
population of his chapter. This disclaimer- mentioned above- is
meant to acquit the author from the potential allegation vis-à-vis
misconduct for duplication or replication of information already
available in online search engines; just a click away. The variants
of misconduct least known remain inaccessible with online search
engines. At the least, several variants remain beyond reach of
rank and file public free-of-cost since access remains subjected
to subscription and often than not beyond the affordability of
the global commons; more so to readership in the global
south. The author deserves credit to get variants of

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misconduct collated and classified for convenience of

readership.

Without claim, the contribution of this re-search lies in

collation and classification of two groups: those with less
liability, if any, yet caught by the vigilance net; and those with
more liability, yet remain beyond the net. Besides, so far as
variants of misconduct least known are concerned, there lies
contribution of this re-search; albeit, without claim.

A. Misconduct Most Known

The following variants of an otherwise inclusive

inventory offend academic ethics; unwarranted yet
commonplace in course of research and publication discourse
nowadays:

a) Acknowledgement failure
b) Coercion: overt or covert
c) Compromise with investigation
d) Conflict of interests
e) Copyright infringement
f) Corrections and retractions
g) Duplication or replication
h) Editorial misconduct
i) Fabrication
j) Falsification
k) Ghost authorship or editorship
l) Ideologue research and publication
m) Manipulation in citation
n) Misrepresentation
o) Network or nexus for publication
p) Noncompliance to due process
q) Nonsense research and publication
r) Nuisance research and publication

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s) Overlapping works
t) Predatory practices
u) Plagiarist practices
v) Redundant research
w) Salami publication
x) Sponsored research and publication

No variant needs ideation since every variant: (a) reigns the

everyday experiences, 11 (b) remain omnipresent in relevant
literature available with online search engines to leave little or
no scope to re-search (c) is available in variant-specific re-search
works present in digital library database; sometimes inaccessible
since the accessibility often than not remains subjected to
subscription. So far as major variants are concerned, a
rudimentary inventory is provided by SAGE. 12 Besides, all
residual variants are available with online search engines in a
way or other. Thus, details on the variants mentioned above are
left to beginners in this profession vis-à-vis knowledge practice
as coursework assignments. In final count, this effort is meant
to handhold capacity-building the technical knowhow vis-à-vis
research through coursework under the tutelage of their
respective professors.

B. Misconduct Least Known

More-known ones apart, there are several less-known

variants of academic misconduct. A few least-known specimens
are picked by the author to provoke academic imagination of the
learned readership; thereby engage public discussion- if not

11 Refer to John M. Braxton and Alan E. Bayer, Perceptions of Research Misconduct and an
Analysis of Their Correlates, The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 65, No. 3, (May-
June, 1994). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2943972.pdf?casa_token
=qfg5WAjuDsAAAAAA:l918FDwz-Ke_FZNiUIKZVpNivLR2tp2dmSgL2o10FeXW5JP7QI-
3UAuDC5dzKpT4HONTF3Tq1ZKI8DWVbtNWnxbMdKJacgmA5x5SrbJA-JrBtoo8rKIGIA
12 Refer to the types of publication misconduct, SAGE. Available at: https://
in.sagepub.com/en-in/sas/types-of-publication-misconduct

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debate- in time ahead. Whether or how far the following may be

held misconduct raises a conundrum of choice:

C. Re-production of ideation with paraphrase

The practice is known to knowledge profession across the

board and commonplace in practice. With differentiated diction
to its credit, re-production of already published ideation
elsewhere prevails in knowledge market without cynicism
against reproduction of ideation with dissimilar expression since
these clandestine practices cannot be caught by software meant
to detect plagiarism by similarity of expression. Whether or how
far re-production of ideation with recourse to paraphrase
contributes to plagiarism, therefore, appears a moot point since
paraphrasing claims discursive innocence by its own merit. 13 The
borderline between paraphrasing and plagiarizing, however,
appears porous enough for erratic practitioners to indulge in
transgression from within its scope of penetration. Both potential
and limitation of this distinction are apparent in the following
illustration:

13 It (paraphrase) means taking the words of another source and restating them, using your
own vocabulary. In this way, you keep the meaning of the original text, but do
not copy its exact wording. Available at: https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/
academic-writing/avoiding-plagiarism-paraphrasing

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Table: 1 Academic Integrity at MIT 14-15

Original Plagiarism Paraphrasing

Because of According to Lester Lester Thurow (1993)
their unique Thurow (1993) maintains that
perspective, Americans fear because Americans
Americans fear globalization see globalization
globalization less than people from simply as a bigger
less than other countries and as form of their own
anyone else, a consequence spend economy, they are less
and as a less time thinking concerned about it
consequence about it. Indeed, than is the rest of the
they think Americans see world.
about it less globalization as an Why is this
than anyone enlarged version acceptable?
else. When of their own economy. The writer has kept
Americans do Why is this the meaning of the
think about plagiarism? original passage
globalization, The writer has used without copying words
they think of Thurow's exact words or structure. Words
the global without enclosing them like globalization
economy as an in quotation marks. and Americans are
enlarged S/he has only generic terms (i.e.,
version of the substituted synonyms terms that are
American here and there. Even commonly used for
economy. though Thurow is the concept they
(Source: credited with a citation, illustrate - it is
Thurow, L. this would be difficult to find
(1993). Fortune considered plagiarism. synonyms for them).
Favors the Thus, you may use
Bold (p. 6). New these words without
York: Harper placing them in
Collins.) quotation marks.
(Complete Thurow
reference appears in
bibliography)

14 Ibid.
15 For details, read Anna Babbi Klein (ed.), Patricia Brennecke, Academic Integrity
at MIT: A Handbook for Students (2005), 2020. Available at: https://integrity.
mit.edu/sites/default/files/images/AcademicIntegrityHandbook2020-color.pdf

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While plagiarism indulges in re-production of the prior

publication, paraphrasing engages circuitous re-production of the
prior publication by smart means and methods of jugglery with
the phraseology applied in earlier work; something much less
apparent than plagiarism. At bottom, degree of difference in the
similarity of expression apart, both run the re-production
business vis-à-vis similarity of ideation. Thus, paraphrasing
resembles the state in larger public sphere; functional as a
‘necessary evil’ by default.16 Indeed, paraphrasing deserves due
credit for sustainability of the knowledge profession since not too
many possess the potential to convey original (read
unadulterated) thought toward fundamental contribution to the
knowledge domain. Notwithstanding its utility, let the truth
prevail as acknowledgement to the apparent axiom that
paraphrase is meant to supplement plagiarism. In final count,
both extend disservice to pursuit for knowledge since none of
them is pregnant with potential to carry originality of ideation in
its text or context anyway. The usage of verbose in the name
of paraphrasing original expression may and does leave the very
basic purpose of knowledge pursuit for ideation worsened. The
technical distinction between verbose and vocabulary is left to
learned readership. While the former is held inimical, the latter is
upheld as incremental to valorise the text and its context. There
are but rival schools to rebut valuation of the vocabulary, though.

16 Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary

evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same
miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our
calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.
Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on
the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear,
uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not
being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish
means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence
which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776). Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/147/pg147-images.html

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E. From searching engine to engineering search

The network neutrality, often than not known as net

neutrality, of otherwise wise enough search engines is contested
by prior works since long back and hereby reiterated for rebuttal
to the apparently apolitical character of all sundry search engines
employed in course of research and publication discourse. More
than basic usage of commonplace search engines for public
awareness, technical usage of the search engines for re -
search may and does subvert quest for truth since the same is
subjected to systemic realpolitik; something either incidental or
intentional, yet consequential to the credibility of truth either way.
Relevant literature, published in the millennial year, called a
spade a spade:17

“… Search engines raise not merely technical issues

but also political ones. Our study of search engines
suggests that they systematically exclude (in some cases
by design and in some, accidentally) certain sites and certain
types of sites in favour of others. We argue that such biases,
which could lead to a narrowing of the Web’s functioning in
society, run counter to the basic architecture of the Web as
well as to the values and ideals that have fuelled
widespread support for its growth and development.”

Compared to generic search engines for commoners,

subject-specific search engines for scholars ought to serve the
purpose of knowledge pursuit; thereby access appropriate
literature free-of-cost, generated by authors in relevant disciplines
and intended to share the same with re-searchers for citation,
collaboration, debate, discussion, exchange, etc. These academic

17 Lucas
D. Introna and Helen Nissenbaum, Shaping the Web: Why the Politics of Search
Engines Matter? The Information Society, Vol. 16, Issue 3, 2000, excerpts from abstract,
p. 169. Available at: https://nissenbaum.tech.cornell.edu/papers/Shaping%20the
%20Web.pdf

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search engines are meant to float knowledge portal; thereby

facilitate peer re-searchers to avail public access to information
and insight alike with more ease. Few such academic search
engines are already familiar enough to knowledge profession ,
e.g., BASE, CORE, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, etc., to
name few among them.18 Even otherwise, through recourse to
technical means and methods, e-scavengers access relevant
information and insight for knowledge pursuit with the generic
search engines. By courtesy, lived experiences, seasoned priests
of the knowledge profession possess technical knowhow to
Google with wise wordplay; thereby access the relevant
resources otherwise beyond reach of rank-and-file cadre
engaged in the knowledge pursuit anyway . Thus, otherwise
open-access search engines keep information inaccessible to
commoners by knowledge password; something accessible to
scholars by disciplinary wisdom alone. While descriptive input
delivers default output about official information, institution,
instrumentation, etc., reflective input delivers avantgarde
output about creative inquiry, insight, introspection, etc.
Behind smokescreen, what matters is the correlativity
between input to and output from search engines to connect
these means and the ends respectively. More than political
issues, technical ones often than not cause roadblock for the
netizens in the ordeal to avail otherwise open access to
information en route information freeway in effect.

A larger paradox of the knowledge market but lies elsewhere.

The global network of publication entrepreneurs, those
incorporated, maintain subscription wall to prevent public access
to literature, books and journals alike, priced beyond reach of
readership. Thus, colonization of information unfolds knowledge
exclusion; something equivalent to monopolization of
knowledge under the disguise of copyright mark  with
consequent departure from freedom of information in an

18 Available at: https://paperpile.com/g/academic-search-engines/#faq

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otherwise proclaimed knowledge economy. There are but pro bono

enterprises to maintain people’s database and let public access to
referenced e-books free-of-cost; otherwise priced by original
publication enterprises and umpteen in count. 19 With their
guerilla presence for empowerment of commoners, the social
enterprises play Prometheus to bring in knowledge to the societal
grassroots. The crusade for public access to pirated copies of
otherwise priced books ought to get construed as misconduct after
the law. The learned readership is but left to a conundrum of
choice: Who’s misconduct? Is it the commercial enterprise out of
corporate caprice toward private gain or the social enterprise out
of commitment to commoners toward public good? “The answer is
blowin’ in the wind,”20 thus voiced a choice of conundrum.

F. AI-powered app-abled posthuman research

In contemporary times, a miscellany vis-à-vis misconduct

cannot be ended without characterization of the generative
artificial intelligence (hereafter AI) and its contribution in
course of research and publication discourse. Rather than
replication of prior works vis-à-vis generative AI,21 the author
intends to generate public discussion on the usage of generative
AI, followed by public debate, e.g., whether and h ow far such
AI handholds re-searchers improve text and its context within
the given limits of academic integrity, where such usage
transcends the threshold of research and publication ethics
to fall prey to pitfalls of misconduct, etc., albeit, with the
touchstone of values after public morality of the given time and
space. Since time immemorial, public morality always remains
subjected to the subjectivity vis-à-vis time and space of the cause
of action concerned and here lies rationale behind reference from

19 For instance, Z-Library project. Available at: https://z-lib.is/

20 For details, read Bob Dylan, How many roads must a man walk down before you call him
a man? Available at: https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/blowin-wind/
21 Available at: https://ai.google/discover/generativeai/

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Aristotle by means of the prefatory quote with his policy advocacy

to engage the inquiry for ethics on specific case-to-case basis.

The world has invented the AI and, notwithstanding default

parochial resistance out of static inertia, the same will ought to
reign the world until it is replaced by more sophisticated
knowledge; something in the offing with the progress of
neurotechnology shortly. “An invasion of armies can be
resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted,” thus wrote
Hugo.22 Almost two decades after the anti-computer
vigilantism by Left Front to prevent entry of computer to
Kolkata during early-1980s, Chief Minister of the same Left
Front run Government of West Bengal criticized the call for
vigilantism. 23 Likewise, blanket ban on the usage of AI in
knowledge profession ought to prove eccentric enough;
thereby get set aside in time ahead as another Quixotic whim
and fancy- if not fanaticism- and by means of intellectual
reasoning, voiced by dissidence even against the ‘Creator’:24

“One fatal tree there stands, of Knowledge called,

Forbidden them to taste. Knowledge forbidden!
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that? can it be sin to know?
Can it be death? and do they only stand
By Ignorance? is that their happy state,
The proof of their obedience and their faith?”

22 T. H. Joyce and Arthur Locker (ed.), Victor Hugo, The History of a Crime: The Testimony of
an Eye-Witness (1852), e-book (2003), Chapter X, Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10381/10381-h/10381-h.htm
23 Sumali Moitra, Bengal CM calls anti-computer protest “foolish”, TNN, April 26, 2004, 19:17

IST. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/bengal-cm-calls-anti-

computer-protest-foolish/articleshow/640340.cms
24 Robert Vaughan (ed.), John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), Collier, New York, Book IV,
p. 94. Available at: https://ia800904.us.archive.org/35/items/miltonsparadisel00
miltuoft/miltonsparadisel00miltuoft.pdf

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A similar illustration is available in recent times: “At some

point, even calculators which were introduced in the 1980s were
considered a threat to academic integrity.”25 Likewise, initial
response with resistance to change is irresistible out of a static
inertia; by the inanimate and the animate alike. In an
everchanging universe, after cosmic law of the nature, what
appears constant is change and nothing else. Earlier the academia
acknowledges the normative order is better for itself. The
institutions experiment to cope with the scope of AI in knowledge
profession and formulate the following hypotheses:26

 AI makes knowledge easier to access

 Students are aware of the risks
 AI is the key to their future careers
 Concerns about equity and ethics

If validated, AI-savvy academia ought to get a prognostic

roadmap for preparedness about the challenges ahead.
Meanwhile, the Australian Universities Accord discussion paper
highlights AI as a significant opportunity and challenge with
the following wisdom:27

“This is something we cannot ignore. And students

want universities to actively engage with AI for their benefit.
“They do so knowing this is a “difficult time” for their
teachers.

25 Stephen Wilhite, Academic integrity and AI- Universities in a dilemma, Khaleej Times,
June 7, 2023. Available at: https://www.zawya.com/en/opinion/business-
insights/academic-integrity-and-ai-universities-in-a-dilemma-omdxxcse
26 THE CONVERSATION: ‘Please do not assume the worst of us’: Students know AI
is here and want unis (universities) to teach them how to use it, posted May 15, 2023,
9:05 pm BST. Available at: https://theconversation.com/please-do-not-assume-the-
worst-of-us-students-know-ai-is-here-to-stay-and-want-unis-to-teach-them-how-to-
use-it-203426
27 Ibid.

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“But they are worried about their futures and they want
their education to prepare them for life after study, in a world
that is changing rapidly.

“We need to work with students, industries,

communities, and governments to figure out how we can
help our students engage productively and
responsibly with AI. This is urgent work as the pace of AI
development accelerates and has wide-ranging impacts
across society perhaps beyond its developers’
understanding.”

The official text of the Australian Universities Accord

Discussion Paper explained the emergence of AI as part of a larger
project for the academia; something foreseeable in an age of
transformative technology. To quote from relevant paragraph of
the paper:28

“… artificial intelligence and automated complex

systems are developing rapidly and are increasingly
integrated into activities across every part of the economy
including higher education. Changing technologies create
new demands and possibilities for research, innovation
and entrepreneurship, as well as new ways to design and
deliver learning experiences and educational services, all
bringing fresh challenges and opportunities for higher
education providers.”

The world witnessed similar wisdom in Gandhi while he

scribbled the following:29

28 Available at: https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/

australian-universities-accord-panel-discussion-paper
29 Read M. K. Gandhi, No Culture Isolation for Me (Young India, 1-6-1921, p. 170). Available
at: https://www.mkgandhi.org/momgandhi/chap90.htm

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“I do not want my house to be walled in all sides and

my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands
to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I
refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

In the wake of information revolution, therefore, prudence

lies in the preparedness to mutation vis-à-vis institutional
education and research alike. However, newer entrant ought not
to blow hitherto cult of the institutional pedagogy off.
Therefore, due diligence ought to get deployed by sentinels
before the entry of AI to their respective institutions: For
instance, the following checklist may be placed to get newer
technology testified:30

 What kind of AI is it?

 Does the AI enable something that would be
difficult or impossible to achieve without it?
 What are the potential risks or drawbacks of deploying
this technology?
 How equitably are the anticipated benefits and risks
distributed across different groups of students and
families?
 If you could wave a magic wand and change anything
about this technology, what would it be?

Those cynical to hitherto AI-powered misconduct ought to

ascertain preparedness to witness more unholy since something
more unconventional is just awaiting to leave research and
publication redefined. The technology of tomorrow appears in the
offing:31

30 Nabeel Gillani et al, Unpacking the “Black Box” of AI in Education, Educational

Technology and Society, Vol. 26, No. 1 (January, 2023), p. 107. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/48707970.pdf
31 Rafael Yuste et al, It’s Time for Neuro-Rights, Horizons: Journal of International Relations
and Sustainable Development, WINTER 2021, No. 18, p. 154-155. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/48614119.pdf

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“Technological advancements are redefining human life

and are transforming the role of humans in society. In
particular, neurotechnology—or methods to record,
interpret, or alter brain activity— has the potential to
profoundly alter what it means to be human. The brain is
not just another organ, but the one that generates all of our
mental and cognitive activity. All of our thoughts,
perceptions, imagination, memories, decisions, and
emotions are generated by the orchestrated firing of neural
circuits in our brains. For the first time in history, we are
facing the real possibility of human thoughts being decoded
or manipulated using technology.”

The crude crust of somewhat similar technology was

portrayed by Ray long back; something invented by the scientist
and weaponized by the authoritarian ruler afterward to brainwash
dissidence; thereby leave contrary voices silenced. Thus sound his
lyrics:32

“Ruler : You mean wash the brain?

Researcher : Absolutely. It’s something that will make
governance child’s play! With the help of this,
even in the absence of governance, things will
go on superbly. This invention charms the
brain.
Ruler : What sort of charm?
Researcher : Whatever you want to do. Whatever is your
will.
Ruler : Well done! How long does this charm work?
Researcher : Forever, Your Highness. It cleans up all
that is contrary and cleans the brain.

32 Satyajit Ray (dr.), Hirak Rajar Deshe, i.e., In the Kingdom of Diamonds (1980), Part 3.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnob9ZUxOdM

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The derivative deserves deliberation. While the people

possess public sovereignty, individuals deserve private
sovereignty for themselves, so far as autonomy of thoughts,
perceptions, imagination, memories, decisions, emotions, etc. are
concerned; something basic to human being for being human, yet
vulnerable, in the wake of newer technology. Back to the
knowledge governance, next-generation netizens are more tech-
savvy than relatively dated citizens by default; albeit, rarest
exceptions apart. So far as researchers and their supervisors are
concerned, also applicable to pupils and their pedagogues, who
are more capable to help whom raises a moot point nowadays. The
stereotypical wisdom vis-à-vis age as a comparative advantage
with the hitherto axiomatic edge of knowledge ought to witness
the sunset in time ahead. The wisdom resembles a writing on the
walls.

The author hereby pleads for more progressive

institutional policy advocacy toward sustainable pedagogy in
time ahead. The supervisor-centric research and mentor-centric
methods suffer twice. First, those in the next-generation and
placed at the receiving end possess better ability and agility vis-
à-vis access to information. Thus, with the passage of time,
supervisors and mentors turn institutionalized; thereby turn
slow- if not static- to appreciate gradual progression happening
around round-the-clock. Second, researchers and learners
cannot connect the wisdom of earlier generations without lived
experiences of the time-space foreign to their generation. Thus,
reciprocal pedagogy -a newer genre- appears a desideratum and
the same ought to prove a more worthy praxis in time ahead. It is
time for supervisors and mentors to set aside their given
hierarchy of position, power and privilege; thereby re-search
and learn with next-generation researchers and leaners as co-
citizens; something non-negotiable for progression of both
generations with time.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

Does the AI possess potential to replace supervisors and

mentors in time ahead? The inquiry has had answer either way.
With the dominant genre of knowledge practice, i.e.,
dissemination of information, institutions of supervisorship and
mentorship ought to wither away since the AI-powered app-
enable search engines do the job with less time and more
energy than the human agency. With the dormant genre vis -
à-vis dissemination of wisdom, however, these institutions
possess potential to survive by their own merits since the
constituency of wisdom is a creative combination of intelligence
and integrity, something deliverable by the performance of human
agency alone, till date, at the least.

Last yet not least, omnipresent systemic cynicism on the

free-for-all state of affairs for researchers and learners deserves
rebuttal. Indeed, a few- quite a few- of them avail unfair
advantage of libertarian approach in favour of fair usage of
the generative AI, etc. However, they ought to fall prey to their
own fallibility, something to cost them dear:33

“… If these men have defeated the

Law and outrun native punishment, though they can
Outstrip men, they have no wings to fly from God.”

Even in so-called modern world, while next-generation

has hardly had faith, ‘God’ 34 but retains omnipresence; in

33 Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine (ed.), William Shakespeare, The Life of King Henry
V (1600), Act 4, Scene 1. Folger Shakespeare Library. Available at:
https://folger-main-site-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/11/henry-
v_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf
34 Whatsoever we imagine, is finite. Therefore, there is no Idea, or conception of anything
we call infinite. No man can have in his mind an Image of infinite magnitude; nor
conceive infinite swiftness, infinite time, or infinite force, or infinite power. When we
say anything is infinite, we signify only, that we are not able to conceive the ends, and
bounds oi the thing named; having no Conception of the thing, but of our own inability.
And, therefore, the name of God is used, not to make us conceive him (for he is
incomprehensible; and his greatness, and power are unconceivable); but that we may
honour him.

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disguise, though. The AI-powered app-enabled search engine

usurps the onus of ‘God’ amidst pandemonium to keep vigil
on eternal human fallibilities nowadays. Thus, gross misuse
of the AI by sophomore, even if the same is left unattended
by institution with impunity, ought to cost the alumnus later;
too dear to bear with. Even archaic AI -misuse can be caught
by the AI-powered re-search engine itself in time ahead.

G. Market dominance: A publication misconduct

So far as publication misconduct is concerned, several

commonplace variants find mention meanwhile; in the
inclusive inventory (Paragraph 2.1. Misconduct Most Known ).
For instance, conflict of interests, copyright infringement,
ghost authorship or editorship, ideologue research and
publication, network or nexus publication, nonsense or nuisance
research and publication, plagiarist practices, predatory
practices, salami publication, sponsored research and
publication, etc., are most known as misconduct. In final count,
respective stake of the misconduct in research and in publication
cannot get dissociated with exactitude. The number of available
resources on whatever stated above is umpteen, with no need
of repetition; something sufficient to constitute a
commonplace misconduct in itself. All variants of publication
misconduct, accessible to public access free-of-cost, are hereby
left to those engaged in the coursework to carry forward studies
in the same; at the best, taking cursory cue from this easementary
essay. The author hereby explores a hitherto least-known
variant of publication misconduct with recourse to systemic
fraud. Also, the same constitutes a clear publication misconduct
in technical sense of the term. The gross misuse of presence in
the publication market with dominance, increasingly indulged in
by few giant players, run by premier academic Inc., may and does

Hobbes’s Leviathan (1651), Clarendon Press, Oxford (1909), Part I, Chapter 4, p. 23.
Available at: https://files.libertyfund.org/files/869/0161_Bk.pdf

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resemble so-called cartelization to the travesty of fair play, a

competition law buzzword; something subversive to rule-of-
law genre in the publication market. Thus, arbitrariness
constitutes aberration in the freedom of publication to silence
myriad authorial voices; thereby leave free -speech genre
incarcerated. With limited participation, therefore, publication
market remains devoid of plurality; with its teleological end
subverted from within the system.

The cartelization-like misconduct in the publication market

leaves a lasting impact upon the academic integrity of
knowledge profession twice: (i) prejudicial impact and (ii)
perceptual impact. Indeed, such a misconduct cannot fit into
the classical definition of cartel in technical sense of the term. 35
However, the misconduct shares a semblance with the cartel in
its nature and features; so far as gross misuse of presence of
enterprise in the market with dominance is concerned.

The prejudicial impact turns functional by means of the

larger-than-life impression vis-à-vis prospective author profile;
whether and how far the author and/or the text may fit into the
framework agenda of its context; for instance, political, economic,
societal, entrepreneurship policy context, and the like. Since giant
enterprises are often than not adhered to their respective policy
framework, authors fitting into the policy framework of none
thereby get lost as outcast in an otherwise free market for
publication of research. Indeed, the given construction of
cartel-like misconduct looks like somewhat overthought. At
bottom, parochialism leaves the lapse in good faith about
whatever sounds unfamiliar to the institutions concerned;
something contrary to the prospect of free-market economy.

35 In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

“cartel” includes an association of producers, sellers, distributors, traders or service
providers who, by agreement amongst themselves, limit, control, or attempt to control
the production, distribution, sale or price of, or trade in goods or provision in services.
The Competition Act, 2002, section 2(c).

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The readership is thereby left with conventional literature, flooded

by giant enterprises with market dominance; followed by absence
of unconventional literature with plurality to the credit of
discursive diversity in an otherwise free-market economy. Also,
censor, contempt, defamation, etc., often than not get played out
to silence voices of difference sans deference to the diversity a
free-market knowledge economy is otherwise meant for .
Misuse of dominance even in good faith, therefore,
constitutes a publication misconduct.

The perceptual impact is often than not consequential to the

prejudicial chronicles; with recurring effect on the authorial
apathy vis-à-vis prospect for publication of research in time
ahead. Thus, institutional parochialism of giant enterprises Inc.
toward the text- unfit to their respective policy context- prompts
gestation of cynicism amongst authors about corporate
governmentality out of strong presence in the market with
dominance. Consequently, next-generation authorial apathy
indulges in negation out of anticipation about the publication of
research in giant enterprises, known for inbuilt parochialism
toward avantgarde literature; thereby excludes them from
otherwise inclusive inventory of potential players available for
publication of avantgarde literature. Such a perception is the
culmination of a construction; carefully crafted by the corporate
governmentality to avoid the void of prejudice against plurality
and here lies the genesis of misconduct.

A disclaimer appears due to readership as proviso to the

publication misconduct mentioned above. With the given average
of publication standards across the board, lesser read the better
and not read the best, misuse of dominance ought not to get cited
with mala fide intent to misuse the misuse of dominance as
publication misconduct; thereby guard mediocrity vis-à-vis
research to publish sense. The unsustainable excuse vis-à-vis
misuse of dominance with mala fide intent to guard omnipresent

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mediocrity constitutes another misconduct; something

commonplace nowadays. The cause of action vis-à-vis misuse of
presence in the publication market with dominance, therefore,
ought to possess proof of potential beyond reasonable doubt to
credit the text to be published; without extraneous context, e.g.,
legacy, network, profile, etc., to name few among them . The
research works, published by few giant enterprises, often than not
belong to those with personal or professional connects to
relevant enterprises where works are published ; something
elevated to newer normalcy with the passage of time. The
author hereby pleads for non-discrimination as a public policy
to entertain those without prior connects alike.

III. Joinders in the Institutional Misconduct Proceeding

Since time immemorial, law and morality share mutual

overlap at regular intervals and cannot get dissociated at ease.
The number-count, therefore, appears umpteen; since so-called
trial of Jesus Christ. Also, by myriad means, morality reigns
juridical studies with poles-apart variants around, e.g.,
customary morality,36 constitutional morality,37 political
morality,38 etc., to name few among them. Likewise, a
misconduct proceeding to remedy the research and publication
misconduct constitutes no exception to this end; thereby imports
academic morality as a relatively newer genre in the study of
axiology. In course of procedural discourse, however, some are
joined by mistake, if not mischief, for liability vis-à-vis research
and publication misconduct while they share lesser stake than
others. There are occasions of overlap; so far as quantum of

36 For details, read Benjamin N. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Yale
University Press (1921), Lecture III.
37 For details, read Z. H. Lari, Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. VII, Monday, the
8 th November, 1948.
38 For details, read Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously, Harvard University Press
(1977), Chapter 3.

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the stake is concerned. The following inventory, inclusive

though, is meant to discover the defaulters in disguise:

A. Misjoinders least known

The initial glimpse upon misdemeanour apart, the

forthcoming paragraphs are meant to grapple with
misconduct. The authors and the editors frequent clandestine
practices hardly worthy to suit either the knowledge profession
or its practitioners. For instance, a timid contribution for the
publication project getting hurried, with research potential of the
author getting buried, is a classic case of research and publication
misdemeanour; whether and how far this contribution has had
relevancy for a cause of action as a case of misdemeanour to
proceed with is but a point apart and left to the learned readership
as final institution of arbitration in the knowledge world. Likewise,
editorial enterprise to put undue pressure either on author or
on co-editor to fast-forward publication project constitutes
misdemeanour; if not misconduct; something inimical to
academic integrity. The cliché of authorial and editorial misdeeds-
both misdemeanour and misconduct taken together- reflects tip
of the iceberg. The lions’ share- accomplished and/or abetted by
the following knowledge market players remains beyond the reach
of public sight; even hindsight; thereby continues to cause
systemic subversion to the knowledge world.

In course of the everyday lifeworld, as frontrunners in

pursuit of newer knowledge, author and editor suffer worst
brunt in the disciplinary proceedings against misconduct; to such
extent that they are labelled by default as players who indulge in
misconduct. The author intends not to pardon them from
proceedings but to rebut public perception with addendum that
there are other lesser-known players to prompt frontrunners
indulge in misconduct yet remain beyond reach. The following two
players deserve deliberation:

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B. Publisher

With enterprising intent to achieve market success,

publishers often than not tutor author and editor get manuscript
prepared for publication the way entrepreneurs prefer to publish
in pursuit of revenue; more than and/or even rather than
reputation; something offensive to the cause of sustainable
knowledge pursuit. Authors and/or editors fall prey to the pitfall;
thereby learn the inhouse governmentality indulge in tailored
production to comply with whim and fancy of the publishing
household. Thus, claim for originality of ideation behind
manuscript is thereby reduced to nought. The production,
therefore, is devoid of intellectual property and propriety alike;
thereby serves commercial cause of the enterprise alone. Even
without persuasion, author and editor succumb to corporate
whim and fancy on their own; thereby prepare manuscript to be
published by the brand.

While getting shortlisted, the enterprise Inc. places priority

on context of the text, e.g., legacy, network, profile, etc., of the
authors. Consequently, otherwise wise authors and editors
without favourite features, for instance, educational background
in premier institutions of the global heavens, end the ordeal
unpublished by the enterprise; though, rare exceptions apart.
Also, ideation apart, contents stand subjected to ideology check.
Besides, citation of the parochial academic oligarchy is
believed instrumental to bring in better fortune; albeit arguably.
All these are but research hypotheses; therefore, subject to
corroboration by evidence, proof, etc.; with the ethnographic
inquiries in time ahead.

So-called jagaad apart, academia is by and large informed of

who-is-who around, those next to premier counterparts in the
hierarchy are well-known to the public at large for lesser

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mischief and more fair-play; so far as intensity and frequency of

malpractices in global knowledge economy are concerned.
While the barefoot enterprises do fair-play, myriads are but ill-
known for gross compromise with quality-check; so far as
credibility of their manuscripts- shortlisted by otherwise wise
barefoot enterprises- are concerned.

Few least-known routes are few clicks away to set aside

gradual institutionalization of the newer knowledge. With
prior informed consent, faculty research may be published
online with ISBN/ISSN by higher education institutions for
public access free-of-cost. Without financial implication on
either side, upload of individual research by institution is meant
to set newer knowledge free from encumbrances anyway. Those
independent of institutional affiliation may self-publish research
by means of upload with private blog. Publication does not
necessarily mean one with presence in the brand citation
database and/or one with international standard number but
one with impact potential to its credit.

C. Sponsor

In cases of sponsored project, with prior provision for

financial support vis-à-vis publication of the report by
investigator(s), manuscript of the report appears often than not
manufactured to earn pleasure of the sponsor. At the least, report
is carefully drafted (read crafted) not to earn displeasure of the
sponsor even if the same yields untruth. Thus , unscrupulous
practices are employed to doctor the report by myriad means and
methods to reach the result; as required by the sponsor to serve
prescribed purpose. Thus, odious issues and challenges
involved in research foci of the sponsored report with intent
to find fault-lines with the given state of affairs remain
proscribed by “the rules of the game”; 39 negotiated neither by

39 By courtesy, Jean Renoir, The Rules of the Game (1939).

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written nor by oral exchange, though. Thus, purpose of

sponsorship for progressive development suffers subversion by
misconduct from within the system. Since reciprocal
appeasement- quid pro quo- continues to corrupt the public
lifeworld, be the sponsor private or “the State”, 40 independent
research report with documentation of systemic fault-lines ought
to carry consequences, e.g., report getting lost to oblivion, non-
approval of proposal for sponsored project to the same team
getting new normal, etc. On the contrary, an all’s-well report
ends well, with win-win for either team; followed by the fortune of
further job prospect by getting proposals with higher budget
approved in time ahead. While technical reasoning behind
failure of natural science R&D project are plenty,41 reasoning
behind failure of otherwise successful social science project lies in
miscarriage of inquiry with mala fide intent to get its result
manipulated by default. Accordingly, methodology is set to get
research methods mutated with technical means to reach the
result so required by the sponsor, by hook or by crook, at the
cost of inquiry.

So far as research and publication is concerned, relevancy of

the sponsor lies here that quest for truth is the teleological end of
research; something ought to be published for enlightenment of
the commons en masse, to serve larger public good in time ahead.
The publication of report with lie, even if the lie is a white lie,
constitutes public fraud and more so if the publication is

40 Vide Article 12, read with Article 36, of the Constitution of India, 1950.
41 Projects are aimed at a successful outcome; however, in reality only few projects
are successful. Why is it so? This question has been a cause of concern. Studies have
been carried out and the reasons influencing the success or failure of a project have also
been found to vary, as some are within the organization and others are external and
many of these factors are also contextual.
D. S. Nagesh and Sam Thomas, Success factors of public funded R&D projects, Current
Science, Vol. 108, No. 3 (10 February 2015), p. 357. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24216562.pdf?casa_token=46iIGpWZAWYAAAAA:c
NjM0rnK5UWnf3YfpJUSh3fLVGpIcLtnccDZJXBxh1orqy28PXrUUJiwty9QOnQOpF78jQOI
gQu8JeHapiZxupgXERMi5iVzscuQpc_rw26wDYb1Id4_

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sponsored by public exchequer; something hard-earned by the

public and collected by state institutions through the laws of
taxation as revenue. In case of public fraud by corporate-
sponsored research, consequences may culminate into larger
public fraud since there is higher likelihood that the lie is a
black lie; tailored to maximize private gain at the cost of public
good; albeit, responsible corporates apart.

D. Nonjoinders least known

While the publisher and the sponsor remain least-known

misjoinders, both are but most-known nonjoinders in proceedings
vis-à-vis research and publication misconduct. The publisher
and the sponsor are often than not appurtenant to most -
known misjoinders, the author and the editor who suffer first
and worst brunt on the charge of misconduct; thereby suffer
afterwards. The following but remain least-known
nonjoinders by default:

E. Employer

A juristic persona, the employer itself remains least-known

joinder since the same has had safeguard behind so-called
institutional veil; similar to so-called corporate veil, under the
given jurisprudence of company law. The liability of employer in
proceedings are but apparent on the face of record since, in
circuitous routes, normative proposition for career prospect, set
by the employer, causes abetment to indulge in the malpractices,
yet remain beyond cognizance in disciplinary proceeding; more so
since the employer itself brings in the cause of action and
conducts the proceeding while its own liability remains beyond
cognizance. Since the employer may be made a party to the
proceeding by means of creative construction of the
metanarrative, A person (even juristic person) ought not to be judge
in his own cause, because he cannot act both as judge and party;

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after the axiomatic natural justice rule. 42 Inhouse

proceedings for academic misconduct, therefore, ought to fall
short of legitimacy; something consequential to natural justice.

Impunity of the employer on the count of its liability in quasi-

judicial proceedings out of its apparent contribution to the
misconduct, therefore, remains unsettled question of the law. If
the law is meant to regulate the conduct of its subject as a
social institution, liability arises while operation of such
institutional law culminates into the misconduct. The core crisis
lies in the blind adherence to the model of higher education
institutions in the North-West where research and publication are
upheld as non-negotiable criteria for exclusive means of career
prospect; something irrelevant to the conventional model of higher
education institutions in India.

The higher education institutions in Indi a spearhead

poles-apart agenda to educate the people en masse; thereby
insist upon largescale empowerment by means of education.
The authority houses a huge cohort to convert the higher
education institution here into another place of public
education; something contrary to the higher education
philosophy of the Occident. After universal rights regime,
access to school education alone is upheld as a human right.
Since right to education is extended to higher education,
institutions ought to do away with the cliché of research and
publication model for career prospect in the academia; otherwise,
commonplace abroad. The higher education institutions here
deserve diversified standards for career prospect. For instance, let
the pedagogue grow the way s/he delivers to classrooms.
Likewise, let the proctor grow the way s/he delivers to halls of

42 Aliquis non debet esse judex in propria causa, quia non potest esse judex et pars.
Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004), APPENDIX B, p. 5260.
Available at: https://lawyersofpakistan.com/wp-content/uploads/Black's-Law-
Dictionary-8th-Edition.pdf

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residence. Let all others grow the way they deliver to institutional
lifeworld: by means of consultancy, project, database
management, human resource management, public relations
network, etc., to name few among them. The sacrosanctity of
research and publication for progression is meant for
enlightenment model followed abroad and not for employment
model followed here. The parallel standards ought to motivate all
deliver their respective tributaries toward merger of
individual and institutional interests. Thus, rush for research
and publication by all ought to get reduced; followed by the fall
in the number of cases vis-à-vis misconduct by those unable
to progress career otherwise.

In final count, institution is meant to serve public interest

and parallel standards for progression of all members of the
faculty alike is meant to serve institutional interest ;
consequential to larger public interest for universal peace.
After ancient Indian wisdom:43
“om sarve bhavantu sukhinah
sarve santu niramayah
sarve bhadrani pasyantu
ma kascid duhkha bhagbhaver
om santih santih santih”
[Let all be happy, let all be free from debilitation, let
all see goodness, let there be no victims of sorrow]

The given proposition for parallel standards for progression

appears in consonance with present position of the regulatory
regime in higher education governance vis-à-vis Professor of
Practice; thereby engage seasoned professional in the academic
lifeworld:44

43 This shanti mantra is from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Available at:

https://shlokam.org/sarvebhavantusukhinah/
44 (UGC) Guidelines for Engaging Professor of Practice in Universities and Colleges. Available

at: https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/3659158_Guildeline-for-engaing-Professor-of-
Practice-in-Universities-and-Colleges.pdf

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… the UGC has taken a new initiative to bring the

industry and other professional expertise into the academic
institutions through a new category of positions called
“Professor of Practice”.

If professionals with graduate degrees are eligible to join

as Professors of Practice, then the members of faculty with
higher degrees have had reasonable expectations to get
incentivized by parallel standards; something sine qua non
toward social justice. As it is elsewhere, inclusivity in career
prospect appears imperative for workspace justice. Thus, in
the absence of desperation by members of faculty, abled with
diversified deliverables, institutions ought to witness research
and publication misconduct with lesser intensity and frequency
in time ahead. Also, this policy advocacy is meant to plead for
plurality. Thus, all diversified deliverables taken together, let the
institutions bloom into fruition.

F. Regulator

The regulatory regimes in higher education of India by the

respective agencies are meant to ascertain functional uniformity
in good governance practices across the board and statutory
purposes are by and large served by all these agencies for several
decades. At the same time, run by bureaucracy, agencies struggle
with academic and professional malpractices since they are devoid
of insight upon academic best practices worldwide.
Consequently, parables of good conduct- meant for all sundry
institutions- ought to suffer setback since institutions are
poles-apart with respective institutional realpolitik behind. What
works in one region may not work elsewhere. Even, what works in
one institution may not work elsewhere in the same region since
every sundry institution is endowed with features of its own.
Here lies a roadblock for higher education g overnance in
India; so far as research and publication misconduct is

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concerned. With their given ingenuity, knowledge practitioners

(read malpractitioners) always run miles ahead of the regulator to
comparative advantage; something often than not relevant to
criminals and sentinels. The jurisdiction, therefore, may be left to
wisdom of the higher education institutions; so far as misconduct
is concerned. The institutional proceedings vis-à-vis misconduct
ought to be inclusive enough; with the presence of ex ternal
members and observers. Also, presence of outsiders with prior
connect to insiders placed in high offices needs check since the
same shakes the very integrity of such proceeding vis-à-vis
academic integrity. “Justice should not only be done, but should
manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”, 45-46 centenarian
pronouncement is elevated to aphorism for the rule against
bias nowadays. Also, regulatory intervention is required to
conduct such proceedings as public proceedings and get the
same subjected to all natural justice principles with the
presence of independent experts not otherwise employed in or
engaged with the institution anyway.

The regulatory agency for higher education- more so for

general education- ought to act like parents; rather than police.
The regulatory regime here, however, plays both; with space for
improvement in parenting and in policing alike. First, with its
parentage, the regulatory agency ought to keep track of major
variants of misconduct; something hardly visible in its official
literature so far. 47 A valid defence of the regulator, however,
lies in timely intervention with standard regulations on
promotion of academic integrity 48 followed by inclusion of a
two-credit course, named “Research and Publication Ethics ”,
for awareness about publication ethics and publication

45 Lord Hewart, in R. v. Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy [1924], King’s Bench Division, UK.
46 The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, 2006; paragraph 3.2.
47 Refer to the inventory of misconduct most known, mentioned above; paragraph 2.1.
48 Read University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of
Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018; paragraph 5. Available
at: https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/7771545_academic-integrity-Regulation2018.pdf

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misconduct for the coursework, a one-semester course for

beginners in the Ph.D. programme.49 In the relevant module, few-
too few- major variants apart, e.g., falsification-fabrication-
plagiarism (FFP) etc., ghost/inappropriate authorship/edi
torship, conflict of interest, etc., the lion’s share is left
unattended by the recommended syllabus.50 While there are
enterprises to carry forward this modest academic integrity
movement, like this effort scribbled with such agendum, the same
remains rare exception- rather than routine- and here lies failure
of the regime since this parental enterprise is yet to make
institutions matured; thereby carry forward this movement on
their own. Next, in its policing spirit for prevention of plagiarism;51
regulations are vitiated by few avoidable voids: (i) provisions
for curbing plagiarism are prepared by an otherwise unwise
assumption that plagiarism constitutes the only major variant of
commonplace publication misconduct. (ii) P lagiarism can be
detected by means of quantification of apparent similarity,
traceable by means of software. (iii) Plagiarism can be prevented
by means of policing the academia. The following are meant to
extend responses to all these premises: (i) Plagiarism is one and
not the only variant of major publication misconduct. There are
but others; mentioned in paragraph 2.1 of this effort. (ii) Software
is meant to detect similarity of expression and not similarity
of ideation. More than similarity of expressi on, similarity of
ideation but leaves larger adverse impact upon academic
integrity; thereby reduces academic impact to de minimis; if not
nought. (iii) While prevention is the expression in the title of the
regulations, intention behind text in the regulations is not
preventive but curative.52 Also, in the absence of provision vis-à-
vis opportunity to be heard, something fundamental to procedural

49 University Grants Commission D.O.No.F.1-1/2018(Journal/CARE), December 2019.

Available at: https://geography.du.ac.in/userfiles/downloads/Research-and-Public
ation-Ethics-UGC-2020.pdf
50 Ibid., RPE05: Publication Misconduct.
51 Supra, n. 48, paragraph 6.
52 Id.

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due process,53 unconstitutionality of the impugned delegated

legislation is apparent. Another persistent caveat on legitimacy
of the law against plagiarism- a moral compromise- lies in
immorality behind moral policing; something endorsed by Apex
Court;54 in poles-apart context, though.

Last yet not least, in the regulations, there is no scope for

reasonable classification between the incidental first-timer, with
absence of mind, and the habitual offender, with presence of
mind. Thus, penal process treats these two otherwise class-apart
personae and their cases alike; with corollary consequences not
appreciable by penology anyway. Also, the regulator leaves
vacuum to the institutions; something inimical to uniformity in
the delivery of justice by all institutions across the board. The
quasi-judicial character of inhouse proceedings requires natural
justice rules to be followed without miscarriage of procedural
justice; thereby reserves the same beyond judicial discourse.
The cynicism vis-à-vis miscarriage of substantive justice but
reigns its omnipresence upon a likelihood of the inquiry by
inhouse tribunal getting reduced to the proceeding by kangaroo
court.

IV. Desideratum: Re-search on the Recovery of Research

In lieu of conclusion, desideratum deserves deliberation with

the spirit of research on the epistemology of intellectual
technology toward scientific inquiry; named research. After
preceding paragraphs, policing- if any- ought not to be

53 Opportunity to be heard. The chance to appear in a court or other tribunal and present
evidence and argument before being deprived of a right by governmental authority. The
opportunity to be heard is a fundamental requirement of procedural due process.
Supra, n. 42, p. 3469.
54 “Even police officers are not required to do moral policing”.
CISF and Others v. Santosh Kumar Pandey, Civil Appeal No. 8671 of 2015, December 16,
2022, paragraph 18. Available at:
https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2015/18980/18980_2015_8_1501_40636_Judg
ement_16-Dec-2022.pdf

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engaged with default intent to “discipline and punish”55

researchers for publication misconduct since a moot point- who
should discipline whom- pops up a conundrum of choice before
learned readership. While individual players- author,
coauthor, editor, co-editor, etc.- are named misjoinders,
institutional players- publisher, sponsor, employer, regulator,
etc.- are but nonjoinders yet no less liable for the malpractices-
known as research and publication misconduct. The paradox lies
here that nonjoinders usurp judicious robe to “discipline and
punish” misjoinders while the former (read institutions)
indulge in construction of the ecosystem where the latter
(read individuals) fall prey to careerist caprice; thereby resort
to research and publication misconduct as subaltern cadre in the
research and publication market; thereby pay the price of their
ignorance dear; with ignominy. While both individuals and
institutions severally share their respective contribution to
misconduct, no party has had locus standi to preach the parable
of good conduct, “papa don’t preach”,56 but to get introspection
initiated and correct their respective course; thereby recover good
faith- followed by good conduct- for better market. Even with its
parental role, the regulator ought not to usurp moral police;
thereby regulate the freedom of research and publication.

In recent times, with its adherence to the best practices in

research and publication worldwide, the regulator brings in a
paradigm shift: from misconduct to good conduct;57 something
constructive to transcend the spiral effect of research and
publication evils; thereby focus upon the epistemology of inquiry
in quest of truth as a teleological end:58

55 By courtesy, Alan Sheridan (tr.), Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the
Prison (1977).
56 Madonna, “Papa don’t preach”, in True Blue (1986). Available at: https://genius.com

/Madonna-papa-dont-preach-lyrics
57 Patwardhan B. et al, Guidance Report: Good Academic Research Practices, University

Grants Commission, New Delhi, 2020. Available at: https://www.ugc.gov.in/e-

book/UGC_GARP_2020_Good%20Academic%20Research%20Practices.pdf
58 Ibid, p. 8.

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“Public trust in research and its output is essential for

a healthy modern society. Although the research enterprise
is self-correcting, this self-regulation occasionally needs
help. Over the years, research institutions, professional
societies, and governments have established several
protocols, codes of conduct, norms, and principles to
enhance that trust in research institutions, funders,
producers, publishers, and products.”

Also, the credibility due to institutional research and

institution of research alike, the regulator hereby acknowledges
few axiomatic values of axiology involved therein:59

 Ethics
 Rigour
 Relevance
 Transparency
 Respect
 Impartiality
 Independence
 Accountability

The omnipresence of research integrity is reiterated by

resolution of the regulator: “Integrity in research implies that these
values permeate every aspect and are upheld by all involved in
the research enterprise”.60 Therefore, misjoinders and
nonjoinders alike, both are building blocks of research and
publication in the inclusive knowledge market:61

59 Ibid, p. 14.
60 Id.
61 Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Guidelines on Good Publication Practice, p. 43.

Available at: https://publicationethics.org/files/u7141/1999pdf13.pdf

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“We thought it essential to attempt to define best

practice in the ethics of scientific publishing. These
guidelines should be useful for authors, editors, editorial
board members, readers, owners of journals, and
publishers.”

Without apparent stake by means of contribution to

knowledge, learned readership constitutes a nonjoinder by means
of consumption of knowledge; whether and how far the readership
may be construed as consumer of knowledge is a point apart and
subject to altogether different discourse. Since learned readership
constitutes target population, informed public choice by
reception or rejection en masse has had potential to
incentivize good practices; thereby influence the research and
publication market in a way or other. The loss of credibility to
learned readership out of misconduct in knowledge profession
ought to leave vacuum- if not void- followed by corollary
consequences, for instance, research may remain unread by
disillusionment of the readership; something sufficient to exile
individual misjoinders from the publication market on the
assumption of fraud to their discredit. While individual
frontrunners are caught, backgrounder institutions ought to be
caught as corollary consequence since the former function in the
ecosystem run by the latter. Thus, nonjoinder institutions cannot
plead innocence for misconduct prima facie played out by
misjoinder individuals. Since all players- taken together- run the
publication market, all are jointly and severally liable for the
market distortion done.

While both the misjoinders and the nonjoinders are liable in

a way or other, less or more is a point apart, nonjoinder
institutions run quasi-judicial proceedings to ascertain whether
and how far individual misjoinders fall prey to the systemic
fallibility; followed by the verdict of nonjoinders to voice
oracle vis-à-vis liability and penalty of misjoinders caught by

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the systemic fault. While nonjoinder institutions also possess

liability, who has had locus standi to judge whom, remains a moot
point to debate. In the given state of affairs, more than getting
judgmental to other, self-introspection appears desideratum for
all sundry players toward revival of their credibility to learned
readership; followed by restoration of the credibility of knowledge
profession and productivity to the market. The void of nonjoinder
institutions vis-à-vis seat of adjudication as personae non grata
but cannot be construed as the passport in favour of individual
misjoinders to indulge in free-for-all in the disguise of
knowledge production; something commonplace nowadays .
After lived experience in the everyday lifeworld, not all
individuals are misjoinders. Few, quite-a-few, deserve
proceedings for misconduct apparent on the face of record
and done with the presence of guilty mind and with intensity and
frequency beyond the threshold of academic integrity. Despite
respective stake behind the given ecosystem, the employer
and the regulator cannot afford to allow cases of gross misconduct
occur with impunity. The cases of misconduct, however, deserves
judicious cognizance on case-to-case basis; after the Aristotelian
policy advocacy; something cited at the beginning of this
chapter.62 Besides adjudication of gross misconduct on case-to-
case basis, however, the author is in pursuit of policy advocacy
vis-à-vis academic integrity to plead nonjoinder institutions
continue introspection for more prudent research and publication
ethics in time ahead.

At the same time, however, nonjoinder institutions ought to

learn policy jurisprudence toward good governance in knowledge
practice; thereby avoid the void of misconduct. Instead, better
governance lies in prevention of misconduct on one side and
promotion of good conduct on the other. The adherence to global
best practices appears a takeaway to bring in progressive
development for the institutional lifeworld. All institutions owe

62 Supra, n. 1.

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non-negotiable integrity to evoke academic integrity for all

individuals across the board.

A metanarrative behind research and publication

misconduct lies elsewhere. Since s/he is placed in frontline of the
knowledge market, individual fallibility is omnipresent on the face
of record. The systemic fallacy out of institutional fallibility but
constitutes the grassroots of academic misconduct while the same
has hardly had presence; if at all, in public sphere. A clarion call
for prophecy; more than policing and parentage anyway, appears
another desideratum toward improvement of academic conduct in
time ahead. The usage of relevant ‘wh’-questions appears
appropriate to unfold the metanarrative. The academic
misconduct appears accomplished; yet: How? When? Where?
Who? Why? “And the answer is blowing in the wind”, after Bob
Dylan, to the detriment of integrity.

Last yet not least, demerger of research and revenue

constitutes final desideratum with research foci upon knowledge
profession. With the given teleological end vis-à-vis employment,
research institutions apart, what the higher education
institutions in India need are diversified deliverables; more than
cutting-edge research. The present policy of incentives by means
of revenue generation, including promotion, prompts goldrush for
research en masse while the same may not be meant for all
alike. Here lies the genesis of desperate compromise with the
quality in research and publication. Instead, the policy of
incentives by means of reputation generation, including
nonpecuniary incentives, e.g., award of academic degrees,
formal recognition of excellence in research performance,
long vacation of a year or two- with continuity of the seniority
in designation- for quality research, etc., to name few among
them, serve the pursuit for research and publication without
compromise with quality; thereby meet demand -supply ratio
with the readership.

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Rather than revenue generation by means of research,

reputation has had incentive to discipline the knowledge
profession and its practitioners. In final count, the same brings in
sense of responsibility to maintain hard-earned reputation;
followed by sense of responsibility not to indulge in something evil;
thereby contribute to the repudiation of hard-earned reputation
anyway. Last yet not least, reputation contributes to
generation of academic social responsibility, something similar to
propriety, rather than property; thereby cast the onerous duty
upon these wise knowledge practitioners reserve hitherto
intellectual integrity, at the least, not to renegade intellectual
integrity of the academia.

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Chapter - 4

A CADEMIC MISCONDUCT AND THE SOCIETA L RO LE

Tamal Kumar Guha*

I. Introduction

Over the centuries, it has been considered that the primary

duty of librarians is to provide services like collecting books,
journals, cartographic materials and many such objects, as well
as to provide services to the users by circulating such materials
for academic, education and entertainment. Notably, today's
libraries, especially those associated with academic, research and
specialized services, provide much more extensive facilities than
the mere circulation of books, journals and alike. In the present
knowledge-driven society, the concept of libraries has evolved
beyond the collection of books and similar artefacts. To serve
human causes, today, libraries are open to collect, collate and
disseminate knowledge accumulated from and for every sphere of
human activities. Libraries have embraced sources of knowledge
converged from publications in traditional channels, small write-
ups (digitally or otherwise), oral history and even mass
contributions through crowd-sourcing to serve humanity for
perpetuity. Libraries have embraced the responsibility to archive
content cutting across all segments of intellectual strata. The
responsibility of the present-day libraries is now to provide
services like providing tools for authoring, editing, and reference
management, as well as enhance the capacity to retrieve
resources throughout the globe, assist the users in avoiding

* Librarian, IIT Guwahati, Assam

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unsolicited similarity of their research outputs by using

antiplagiarism software and many such other services.

It has also remained a primary objective of librarians to

ensure that authentic contents, irrespective of their physical
format, are available to the users. Since the evolution of library
systems, the entire ecosystem has so developed that librarians are
bound to adopt and apply several means and techniques to ensure
that only excellent, authentic and reputed quality content is
available to their users. Implementing such a proposition,
however, takes due diligence. For librarians, the mainstay of
rigorous quality control is the source from which they are to be
acquired. In alternative terms, librarians typically depend on the
publishers, whom they consider the significant quality controllers
of content. The reason for such dependency is just because of the
editorial and peer-review process through which publishers of
repute usually follow. The challenge of librarians, however,
continues. In fact, with the advent of new techniques and
technologies (including artificially intelligent systems), the
publishing industry and authorship are becoming complex and
complicated. Moreover, identifying the exegetical errors, whether
in scientific or literary works, has become so critical that even the
subject domain experts find it challenging to monitor and
intervene.

For several reasons, the academic community has been

driven to embrace means to produce content that may lack the
interpretive quality of academic research or is occasionally
fabricated to the effect that it causes severe consequences. This
circumstantial perturbation has created another layer of
complexity for librarians, who historically depended on the
authenticity of the contents produced and published by reputed
entities. In simpler terms, today, librarians depend on specific
tools and measures to ascertain the quality and integrity of the
contents, like using tools to identify reputed publishers, whom

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they presume have rigorous peer-reviewing and editorial

processes, using software tools to determine plagiarised contents,
etc. However, the present notion of academic productivity has
driven the situation in an altogether different direction, where
assessing the quality and validity of content has made it difficult
for all across the academic community.

II. Why Do People Adopt Unethical Means

Though it might sound generalistic, close observation of the

existing trends of adoption of unscrupulous practices to achieve
academic goals might reveal the underlying ethical issue: a
profound lack of professional integrity that crept in due to the
commodification of academia. In their critical analyses of
academic activities of the modern-day education system, Brennan
& Magness (2019) have highlighted that the widespread
perception amongst the academic community, including the
administrators, is "the more and better you publish, the more you
make". While in this statement, 'more' indicates a quantity, the
word 'better' can be explained by the "better venue" (Brennan &
Jaworski, 2015), where the authors mean to indicate reputed
publications of renowned publishers.

Morally speaking, however, this particular view has several

far-flung repercussions. Superficially, this may be observed as a
catalyst for encouragement for more active research participation
and, eventually, the betterment of the authors. However, such an
opinion has indirectly driven to perverse publishing practices.
Hence, it becomes imperative to introspect the overall concept of
ethics and ethical practices in academic research.

As we would all agree, the pivotal background of all

research related to libraries is centred around the framework of
Social Sciences and "[i]n the social sciences, it is important to
acknowledge that the subjects of research are humans who have
the right to be protected from harmful conduct. It may be argued

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that the main intention of research ethics is the protection of its

research participants"...(Weinhardt, 2020). Hence, a
predetermined set of ethical rules would be desirable while
conducting research, irrespective of the subject domain. Peters
and Peters (2006) have highlighted three useful principles and
practices, namely "Avoid blind trust", "Retain independent
professional judgement", and "Be proactive". Further, while
analyzing why many researchers get misguided, they brought out
one significant issue, mainly because "[m]ost people believe they
know a great deal about human behavior gained during a lifetime
of living in a complex human society, but usually this is
confounded guessing". While researching and remaining ethically
sound, following predecided codes of practices, like 'The
Nuremberg Code', may be more appropriate while conducting
research.

At this juncture, bringing in the perspective of morality and

legality is crucial, as these concepts often intermingle and overlap,
creating false premises for responsible academic pursuit. For
example, adopting a particular path for publishing an article
could be permissible within the legal ambit; however, it may not
be morally sound at the same time. Though it might sound
awkward, such instances have been observed many times
throughout the history of humankind. As Shaw (1999) has
illustrated, the 'Right to Die' controversy about Karen Ann
Quinlan about "[t]he question of whether it is morally permissible
to do something (for example, withdraw life support from someone
in Quinlan's situation) is distinct from the question of whether it
is legal or illegal to do so." He went on to demonstrate how an
action that could be morally right can be illegal, such as "helping
a Jewish family to hide from the Nazis was against German law in
1939, but it would have been a morally admirable thing to have
done." At the same time, an entirely legal action could be morally
wrong. For example, laying off thousands of employees for a
company's profitability could be legally sound but highly

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debatable from a moral angle. Thus, it remains the responsibility

of academicians to balance ethical, moral, and legal boundaries
within their academic activities.

III. Unprofessional Acts in Which the Academicians Get

Involved

The large-scale and rampant proliferation of unethical

practices in the academic arena has yielded a considerable
amount of literature addressing the issues concerning
unprofessional acts in which academicians are involved. Three
pieces of literature published in the last two decades were
considered for this discourse (Comstock, 2013; Bos, 2020; Taylor,
2022). These authors have succinctly narrated the multiple layers
of unethical misconduct in which academicians and researchers
are getting involved. Some of such concerns have been highlighted
below,

A. Plagiarism: The basic idea of research is to produce novel

content which will someday help humanity to prosper and
progress. Hence, camouflaging the works of others or not referring
or not quoting or paraphrasing does not help to create new
content which might help the society for which researches are
conducted. Though adopting such means might help the
individual researcher gain popularity, position and publish in
'better venue', eventually, such practice in layman's term can be
coined as stealing another person's intellectual property. Though
many tend to reason with the metaphor of "standing on the
shoulders of giants", this argument does not validate the use of
the intellectual property of others without acknowledging it;
instead, it indicates only following the path the great thinkers
have already laid down.

Fortunately, with the advancement of technology,

librarians and academicians today have tools (which encompass

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global ethical norms) to identify plagiarised content, which helps

the community refrain from adopting such unethical practices.

B. Forging and fabrication: Despite plagiarism being found to be

one of the most rampant malpractices in the academic
community, the adoption of fabricated data and, even to a large
extent, forged data is of more serious concern amongst scientists.
Such practices can be considered more severe malpractice and
involve expertise in a specific subject domain. Unfortunately, no
tool exists except the skills of experts to locate and prove sins.
Experts often need to go deep into the data level of fabricated
research and redo an experiment from the initial stage to arrive at
conclusive results to prove these sins. A survey by Fanelli (2009)
revealed that "[a] pooled weighted average of 1.97% (N=7, 95% CI:
0.86–4.45) of scientists admitted to have fabricated, falsified or
modified data or results at least once –a serious form of
misconduct by any standard– and up to 33.7% admitted other
questionable research practices." To the surprise of the entire
orthopaedics society and the general public, Kupferschmidt
(2018) brought to notice the malpractices adopted by Dr.
Yoshihiro Sato just to get more than 200 publications.

For society's betterment and the greater good, refraining

from forging and fabrication must be emphasized in academic
courses, especially in the early stage of research courses, where
the students must be appropriately educated to refrain from such
misdoings.

C. Falsifying: Though it may sound like 'falsifying' is identical to

'forging'/'fabrication', one can distinguish between these two
practices in minute observation. While in 'fabrication', one
deliberately uses erroneous data, in the case of 'falsifying', the
researchers use a genuine dataset in a truncated manner so that
the research outcome supports their targeted goal. Bos (2020) has
described this as "‘trimming’ (leaving out certain findings) and
‘massaging’ (slightly changing) data, as well as altering images,

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misrepresenting results, and simply not reporting findings". This

misconduct might eventually help the researchers get their
desired awards; however, this practice (as the reader would
understand) is not beyond the perimeter of any ethical practice.

IV. Closing Statement

Though this small discourse wanted to highlight the entire

gamut of morality and ethical issues of the academic practices
within the knowledge society, it remains sketchy to address
several layers of malpractices which have been adopted over
centuries and the complexities are growing with the increase
challenges of the academic and professional ecosystem. While the
regulatory bodies play a vital role in trimming academic
misconduct and framing suitable rules and guidelines, at the end
of the day, the academic community holds collective responsibility
for proper and better research work, which will ultimately help the
nation prosper. It remains a challenge for the institutes of higher
learning to educate and train young generations for proper course
correction so that they refrain from adopting unprofessional
academic activities.

References:

Bos, J. (2020). Research Ethics for Students in the Social Sciences.

Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.
1007/978-3-030-48415-6
Brennan, J., & Jaworski, P. M. (2015). Markets Without Limits:
Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests (pp 227). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315818085
Brennan, J., & Magness, P. (2019). What Academics Really Want.
In J. Brennan & P. Magness, Cracks in the Ivory Tower (pp.
22–45). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.
1093/oso/9780190846282.003.0002
Comstock, G. (2013). Research Ethics: A Philosophical Guide to the
Responsible Conduct of Research. Cambridge: Cambridge

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University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511

902703
Fanelli, D. (2009). How many scientists fabricate and falsify
research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey
data. PLoS ONE, 4(5), e5738. https://doi.org/10.1371/
journal.pone.0005738
Kupferschmidt, K. (2018). Tide of lies. Science, 361(6403), 636–
641. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.361.6403.636
Peters, G. A., & Peters, B. J. (2006). Human Error: Causes and
Control (pp 162). CRC Press. https://www.routledge.com
/Human-Error-Causes-and-Control/Peters-Peters/p/boo
k/9780367391140
Shaw, W. S. (1999). Contemporary Ethics: Taking Account of
Utilitarianism. Blackwell publishers.
Taylor, J. S. (2022). Markets with limits: How the commodification
of academia derails debate. (First edition.). Routledge.
Weinhardt, M. (2020). Ethical Issues in the Use of Big Data for
Social Research. Historical Social Research, 45(3), 342–368.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26918416

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Chapter - 5

ETHICAL AND PUBLICATION NORMS FOR

PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL RESEARCH:
CHANGING DIMENSIONS AND CHALLENGES

G. S. Rajpurohit 
N. L. Gurjar **

I. Introduction

In the age of copyright law, understanding the

prologue of ethical and publication norms in intellectual
research, is essential. At its core, ethics delves into the
concepts of good and bad, guiding moral duty and obligation.
To put it simply, ethics are the moral principles that shape
our behavior while engaged in any activity. They encompass
two key aspects: i) Prescriptive Standards: these standards
often consider rights, obligations, societal benefits, fairness,
and specific virtues like honesty, compassion, and loyalty; ii)
Self-reflection and Development: The continuous study and
refinement of our own ethical compass. For social scientists,
research ethics involve adhering to established codes and
principles. As David B. Resnik summarized, these principles
include honesty, objectivity, integrity, carefulness, openness,
respect for intellectual property, confidentiality, responsible
publication and mentoring, professional colleague respect,

 Principal, University Law College Centre-II, Former Head and Dean, Faculty of Law,
University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Email: [email protected] Mobile -
9829160431
** Professor & Director, Alankar Girls P.G. Law College, Jaipur Former Dean, Faculty of
Law, Vivekanand Global University. Email& [email protected] Mobile
9783853344

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non-discrimination, competence, legal compliance,

transparent discussions about intellectual property,
awareness of diverse roles, informed consent procedures, and
utilization of ethics resources.

Researchers face the dual responsibility of upholding

these principles. They must navigate their work within the
rules and exemptions set by legislation, while also aligning
their conduct with the guidance of their supervisor, research
literature, and a consideration of ethical complexities.
Similarly, authors and co-authors have a moral obligation to
comply with the provisions of the Book and Publication
Registration Act and the Indian Copyright Act when
publishing any work.

II. Meaning of “Research”

The word Research is derived from the French word

“recherche", which means ‘search or seek again’. “Research
is composed of the two words ‘re’ and ‘search’, which means
to search again or search for new facts or to modify older ones
in any branch of knowledge. It involves the treatment of
materials, concepts symbols for the purpose of generalizing
to an extent, correct, or varsity knowledge”1

The concept of research can be well understood with

the help of definition of the Webster's International
Dictionary as “a careful critical inquiry or examination in
seeking facts or principles, diligent investigation in order to
ascertain something.”

1 Arvind Kumar, Research Methodology in Social Science 1–3 (Sarup & Sons, New
Delhi 2002).

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Therefore, the primary purpose of research is

discovering, interpreting and developing human knowledge
for the advancement of treasure of education.

III. Objectives and Purposes of Research

i) To familiarise with phenomenon or to acquire new

insights into an existing fact (exploratory research),
ii) To determine the occurrence and association of
something (diagnostic research),
iii) To portray accurately the characteristics of a
particular object, situation or group (Descriptive
research)”,
iv) To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
two objects (hypotheses testing research) and
v) To separate fact from speculation (distinguishing
research).

IV. Elements of a Research Proposal

According to Earl Babbie, essential elements of a

research proposal are:

i) Introduction: Defines the research topic, provides

background information, and establishes the
significance of the study.
ii) Literature review: Identifies and critically analyzes
existing research related to the topic, highlighting
gaps and justifying your proposed investigation.
iii) Research questions or hypotheses: Clearly
formulates the specific questions or hypotheses your
research aims to answer or test.
iv) Methodology: Describes the research design, data
collection methods (surveys, interviews,

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observations, etc.), sampling strategy, and data

analysis plan.
v) Timeline and budget: Specifies the estimated
timeframe for completing the research and the
resources required (funding, equipment, etc.).
vi) Ethical considerations: Addresses potential ethical
issues related to research conduct, participant
safety, and data privacy.
vii) References: Provides a list of all cited sources used in
the proposal.

Horton and Hunt have pointed out eight steps in

scientific research or scientific methods of investigation, (i)
define the problem; ii) review of literature; (iii) formulate the
hypothesis; (iv) plan the research design; (v) collect the data;
(vi) analyse the data; (vii) draw conclusion & (viii) replicate
the study.

V. Various Types of Research

The main purposes of social research are to explore,

to describe and to explain. On the basis of which social
research can be classified into three types, (i) exploratory
research; (ii) descriptive research; (iii) explanatory or
causal research, the other types of research are (iv) pure
research; (v) applied research (vi) quantitative research; (vii)
qualitative research; (viii) comparative research; (ix)
longitudinal research; (x) experimental research; (xi)
evaluation research; (xii) analytical research; (xiii) critical
research; (xiv) historical research; (xv) basic research; (xvi)
pilot cross-sectional and predictive.

Empirical phenomena in social sciences are crucial in

scientific work. Broadly speaking there are several methods
of conducting scientific research in sociology. These are: i)

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field study method; ii) experimental methods; iii) survey

method; iv) case study method; v) statistical method; vi)
historical methods; vii) evolutionary method and viii) basic
research.

In legal studies, various types of research are (i)

doctrinal or traditional research; (ii) non-doctrinal or
empirical research; (iii) comparative research; (iv) statistical
research; (v) critical research; (vi) exploratory research; (vii)
explanatory research; (viii) analytical and critical research;
(ix) historical research; (x) comparative research; (xi) applied
and fundamental research; (xii) sociological research; (xiii)
action research; (xiv) scientific legal research (xv) ethical or
approach research.2

The following steps in the formulation of a research are

required, (i) identify a broad field or subject area of interest
to you; (ii) specify the broad area into subareas; (iii) select
what is of most interest to you; (iv) raise research questions;
(vi) formulate objectives and (vii) assess your objectives.

VI. Research Hypotheses, Types and Components

A hypothesis is an assumption about relations

between variables; it is a tentative explanation of the research
problem or a guess about the research outcome. Before
starting the research, the researcher has a rather unclear
notion of the problem, which may be due to their limited prior
knowledge in the area. Hence an adequate statement about
the research problem is very important. Following are a few
examples of hypothesis, i) lower-class men commit more
crimes than middle class men a year; ii) suicide rates vary
inversely with social integration; iii) aggression is caused due

2 Anwarul Yaqin, Legal Research and Writing Methods 7–9, 11–14 (1st ed. 2008).

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to frustration; iv) unemployment decreases juvenile

delinquency; v) educated women have more adjustment
problems after marriage than illiterate women.

While formulating a hypothesis following aspects

should be kept in mind, i) it should be empirically testable
whether it is right or wrong; ii) it should be specific and
precise; iii) the statement in the hypothesis is not
contradictory; iv) it should specify the variable between which
the relationship is to be established and v) it should describe
one issue only; vi) it must consider the experience of other
researchers; vi) it must accurately reflect the relevant
sociological and legal facts.

The various types of hypotheses are: i) working

hypothesis; ii) scientific hypothesis; iii) alternative
hypothesis; iv) research hypothesis; v) statistical hypothesis
and vi) null hypotheses.

VII. Meaning of Research Design

Research design is, planning a strategy for conducting

research. The following important functions/ goals of
research design have been given by Black and Champion
1976:16-17) are:

it provides a blueprint,
it limits (dictates) boundaries of research activity, and
it enables investigation to anticipate potential
problems.3

In doctrinal research, the following aspects are

ordinarily included in a design: title of the research

3 Ram Ahuja, Research Methods: Procs 180–85 (2018).

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project/dissertation/thesis; introduction nature of problem

or research question; hypothesis of researchable question;
literature of review; objectives of research study;
methodology; nature of information needed; scopes of the
study: delimitation; significance and contribution; contents/
chapterization arrangement; tables and bibliography and title
of statutes.

VIII. Writing a Ph.D. Proposal to be submitted in the

University/Organization/ Institution

These days the importance of pursuing Ph.D., has

grown manifold as its mandatory for teaching posts. It has
become a very competitive exercise to get admission into a
good Ph.D. programme. Students find it very challenging and
confusing as how to go about applying for a Ph.D. course. A
Ph.D. proposal is a prospective document, while approaching
an institution to get admission into their Ph.D. program.
There are various formats but it is usually best to craft a
basic proposal in about ten pages. The most widely accepted-
framework of a proposal for a Ph.D. has the following
sections:

i) Title of topic cover page

ii) Certificate of the supervisor
iii) Declaration by the student law
iv) List of Abbreviations
v) Introduction
vi) Literature Review
vii) The background
viii) Rationale/conceptual framework
ix) Statement of research problem
x) Objectives and Hypothesis
xi) Methodology
xii) Data Analysis

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xiii) Arrangement of characterization

xiv) Conclusion
xv) Bibliography
xvi) Table of the cases and Statues
xvii) Appendix (if any required)

Here are some of the questions for review of literature

are, what do you already know in the immediate area
concerned, what are the characteristics of the key concepts
or the main factors or variables, what are the relationship
between these key concepts, factors or variables, what are the
existing theories, where are the inconsistencies or other
shortcomings in our knowledge and understanding, what
views need to be further tested? what evidence is lacking,
inconclusive contradictory or too limited, why is to need
study (further) the research problem? what contribution can
the present research study be expected to make and what
research design/hypothesis of methods seems unsatisfactory
and what is the real contribution for help to shot out the
problem.

IX. Ethics in Legal Research, Plagiarism and Copyright

Infringement

Researcher has to adopt an appropriate academic style

in his writing. He has to understand good research practices
and bad research practices, proper references and citations
play a crucial role to make the research works authentic and
credible. The researcher should learn how to cite correctly
and completely. Researcher must train himself to take careful
and accurate notes when doing research. The rules of citation
differ from institution to institution or publication to
publication, but the central aim is to credit and acknowledge
the work of authors.

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In legal research when the researcher is referring to

sections from Bare Acts, Constitution or extracts from
committee reports or any statutory or legal documents, he
has a duty to cite the source properly. Mere reproduction of
case laws and sections from statute do not constitute legal
research. No copyright subsists with respect to works which
are in the common or public domain. Hence, the researchers
are free to use them, while using such materials.

The researcher still has a duty to respect the moral

rights of authors. One should not claim credit for something
if it is not created by him. He has to disown what belongs to
others and what he has taken from the public domain by
giving due credit to the original creators, both research
scholars and supervisor(s). In particular, ethical
considerations may need to be addressed in experiments
involving human subjects.

X. The relation of Ethics and Law

“Ethic means the system of moral principles and rules

of Conduct.” It is also a science of moral study, ‘Ethics’ deals
with rules not as they are or have been, but as they ought to
be. Roman thinker Ulpian says that law is a science of just
and unjust. His concept of real to live honestly to injure no
one and to give every man his duty.4 Law was originally
initiated as a method of controlling human conduct with the
help of ideal laws or norms. Plato never looked at law in
isolation from religion and ethics. If the researcher takes up
a subject of law and religion, the moral concepts of religion
should be compared with the existing law and he has to prove
whether the religion has its own effect on law or not. The
study of relationship of ethics accepted by the society and

4 Myneni S.R., Legal Research methodology, Allahabad Law Agency Faridabad 2014
P-190-31

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legal laws of the present day can be taken by the researcher

and the reform can be suggested to make the society better.
There are some laws which are contrary to the morals
accepted by the society. The researcher can study the effect
of those legal provisions and give suggestions for
improvement of those laws.

XI. Some Ethical Principles and Codes in Social Science

Research

There are many other activities that the government

does not define as misconduct but which are still regarded by
most researchers as unethical, they are called “other
deviations from acceptable research practices. These include:
i) making unauthorized copies of data, papers or computer
programs; ii) rigging an experiment; iii) stealing data; iv)
sabotaging someone’s work; v) rejecting a manuscript for
publication without even reading it; vi) publishing the same
paper in the different text in journals without informing the
editors; vii) submitting the same paper to different journals;
8. not informing a collaborator of your intent to file a patent
in order to make sure that you are the sole inventor; viii)
including a colleague as an author on a paper in return for a
favour even though the colleague did not make a serious
contribution to the research paper; ix) discussing with your
colleague’s confidential data from a paper that you are
reviewing for a journal; x) favours using a racist epithet in
laboratory; xi) promoting a student, a better grade for sexual
favours; xii) making derogatory comments and personal
attacks in your review of the author’s submission; xiii) failing
to maintain research data for a reasonable period of time; xiii)
failing to keep good research records; xiv) exploiting graduate
or post-doctoral” students; xv) giving the same research
project to two graduate students in order to see who can it
the fastest; xvi) false representation of the research work to

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grant an application in order to convince reviewers that your

project will make a significant contribution to the field; xvii)
by passing the peer review process and announcing your
results through a press conference without giving peers
adequate information to review your work; xviii) conducting
a review of the literature that fails to acknowledge the
contributions of other people in the field or relevant prior
work.5 xix) overworking, neglecting or exploiting graduate or
post-doctoral research fellow/scholars.6

Formulated guidelines

Research Ethics Guidance (2021) outlines general

principles and specific recommendations for ethical research
conduct. It covers topics like:

i) Informed consent: Transparency and respect

for research participants' autonomy.
ii) Confidentiality and anonymity: Protecting
participants' privacy and data.
iii) Vulnerable groups: Special considerations for
research involving children, disabled
individuals, or other vulnerable populations.
iv) Data storage and security: Proper handling and
safeguarding of research data.
v) Conflict of interest: Avoiding bias and ensuring
research integrity.
vi) Misconduct and plagiarism: Responsibilities
and ethical standards for researchers.

5 Booth Wayne and Colomegregory G., the craft research, the university of Chicago
Press 4.5.2005 p.09
6 Simons. H. and Usher, K. research. Falmer Press London 8000 P119-20

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The following are some of the recommendations given by

the Authors & publishers Association (CAPA) science

directorate to help researchers to adopt ethical quandaries,

1. Informed Consent:

 Researchers must clearly explain research details

like purpose, duration, and procedures.
 Participants have the right to decline or withdraw
anytime, with explanation of potential
consequences.
 Researchers must discuss foreseeable risks,
benefits, confidentiality limitations, incentives, and
contact information.

2. Authorship Discussions:

 The competitive research atmosphere can

complicate authorship credit.
 To avoid confusion, discuss authorship expectations
and order explicitly at the start of collaborations,
even if it feels uncomfortable.

3. Clear Communication:

 Experts advise informing participants about the

likelihood, severity, and duration of potential harm
or benefit.
 Emphasize their voluntary involvement and discuss
alternative treatment options (if relevant).

4. Data Usage and Consent:

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

 Researchers must inform participants about how

their data will be used, including materials like case
notes, photos, and recordings.
 Secure their consent for data usage.

5. Sensitive Topics and Confidentiality:

 Protecting participant privacy and confidentiality

is vital.
 Experts suggest offering graduated interview
questions with increasing sensitivity, allowing
participants to stop if uncomfortable.

6. Data Security:

 Ensure secure storage of confidential records with

limited access.
 Be mindful of situations where confidentiality may
be unintentionally compromised.

7. Data Sharing Transparency:

 Consider data sharing before research begins and

inform participants in the consent process.
 Specify how data will be shared (anonymously or
not) and with whom.

8. Online Research Precautions:

 Researchers need technological awareness for

online research, especially when handling
confidential information.
 Seek help from tech-savvy individuals if needed to
ensure adequate data protection.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

9. Researcher Ethics:

 Researchers should acknowledge ethical

considerations in their work.
 Principles like knowledge, respect, protection of
autonomy, privacy, risk minimization, non-
exploitation, transparency, and accountability are
crucial.

XII. Ethical Issues and Principles in Research

The principles of research can be described as follows:

1. Responsibility for all procedures and ethical issues

related to the project rests with the principal
investigators;
2. The principal Investigators own ethical principles
should be made clear to all those involved in the
research to also informed collaboration with other
researchers, and potential conflicts should be resolved
before the research begins;
3. Potential participants should be protected against any
and all those potentially harmful effects and should be
informed of any potential consequences of their
participation;
4. Participants should be offered access to research
results, presented in a manner and language they can
understand;
5. All research should be reported widely with objectivity
and integrity;
6. Researchers should provide adequate information in
all publications and to colleagues to permit their
methods and findings to be properly assessed limits of
reliability and applicability should be made clear;

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

7. Researchers are responsible for properly

acknowledging the unpublished as well as published
work of other research scholars; and
8. All research materials should be preserved in a
manner that respects the agreement made with
participants.

XIII. Codes and Policies for Intellectual Literary Research

Ethics in the Copyright Era

It is pertinent to note that importance of ethics is very

necessary for conduct of better and better legal research,
social sciences and humanities. It should come as no
surprise that many different professional associations,
government agencies universities and Institutions have
adopted specific codes rules and policies relating to research
ethics.

The following7 summary of some ethical principles that

also has been mentioned by Prof. Rattan Singh8 are-(i) do not
fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data, do not deceive
colleagues granting agencies or the public; (ii) strive to avoid
bias in experimental design data analyses, data
interpretation, peer reviews personnel decisions grant writing
expert testimony and other aspects of research where
objectivity is expected or required, Avoid or minimize bias or
self-deception disclose personal or financial interests that
may affect research; (iii) keep your promise and Agreements,
act with sincerity, strive for consistency of thought and
action; (iv) Avoid careless errors and negligence carefully and
critically examine your own work and the work of your peers,

7 Adil E. Shamoo & David B. Resnik, Responsible Conduct of Research 2d ed. 354
(Oxford Univ. Press 2009).
8 Rattan Singh, Ethical Issues and Challenges in the Use of Emerging Techniques in
Socio-Legal Research.

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and keep good records of research activities such as data

collection, research design, and correspondence with
agencies or Journals; (v) share data results, ideas, tools
resources. Be open to criticism and Correspondence with new
ideas; (vi) Honour patents, copyrights and other forms of
intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data methods
or results without permission, give credit where credit is due,
give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions
to research never plagiarize; (vii) confidentiality of data is one
of the foundations of sound research and ethical behaviour.
Researcher must explain to subjects the procedure that will
be followed to ensure privacy during date collection and
subsequent protection of confidentiality of data after
collection. If any other person besides the researcher. will
have to access to the data that person and their reasons for
access must be specified to the subject 9confidentiality can
include information with participant names attached but
researcher holds it in confidence or keeps it secret prom
public discloser10; (viii) publish in order to advance research
and scholarship, not to advance just your own career, Avoid
wasteful and duplicative publication11; (ix) Help to educate,
mentor and advise students promote their welfare and allow
them to make their own decisions; (x) Respect your colleagues
and treat him fairly; (xi) strive to promote social good and
prevent or mitigate social harms through research, public
education, and advocacy; (xii) Avoid discrimination against
colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or
other factors that are not related to them, to their scientific
competence and Integrity; (xiii) maintaining and improve own
professional competence and expertise through lifelong

9 O. Campbell, Research on Reproductive Health, WHO/RHR/HRP/SOC/99, at 80

(World Health Org. 1999).
10 Neuman, W. Lawrence, Business of Research: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (Pearson 2004)
11 Adil Shamoo & David B. Resnik, Responsible Conduct of Research 354–355 (2d ed.
Oxford Univ. Press 2009).

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education and learning take step to promote competence in

science as a whole; (xiv) know and obey relevant laws and
Institutional and governmental policies and (xv) when
conducting research on human subjects minimize harms,
risks and maximize benefits, respect human dignity privacy,
and autonomy, take special precautions with vulnerable
populations and strive to distribute the benefits and burdens
of research fairly.

XIV. Plagiarism as a Form of Academic Misconduct

A. Concept of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is often described under different names like

misappropriation, faulty citation, copyright infringement,
literary theft, imitation, cheating, cribbing and stealing,
literary theft etc. Plagiarism derives from the Latin word
plagium, which means "kidnapping". Plagiarism can be
defined as stealing12 (by copying) the words or Ideas of
someone else and passing them of as one’s own without
crediting the source13. The New Websters Dictionary of the
English language defines plagiarism as “the authorised
used of the language or thoughts of another author and the
representation of them as one’s own”. Centuries before,
Roman poet martial complained that another poet had
kidnapped his verses and the use of this word was first
introduced into English in 1601 by dramatist Ben Johnson
and he named it literary theft: Modern ideas of originality
and wave against plagiarism appeared in the 18 th century
but it still exists even in 21st century in academies,

12 Marsh, Gill, Plagiarism Alchemy and Remedy in Higher Education (State Univ. of
New York Press 2007).
13 Chris Park, "In Other People's Words: Plagiarism by University Students—
Literature and Lessons," in Plagiarism Alchemy and Remedy in Higher Education
by Gary Marsh, 186–208 (State Univ. of N.Y. Press 2007).

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formalism art and in other fields”14. Reviewing other’s work,

no doubt helps the researcher but under the following
circumstances, they might be accused of stealing other
work:

i) Stealing someone else’s work and place them into

someone’s own writing without quoting or
referencing them
ii) Using another person’s ideas and information
expressing without acknowledging that
person’s work is intellectual theft.
iii) Copying sections from one or more source texts.
iv) Providing improper documentation (including the
full reference but leaving out quotation marks
thus giving the impression that the material has
been paraphrased rather than impression than
directly quoted).
v) Paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your
own.
vi) Using other’s ideas into your own words without
supplying adequate citations.

Plagiarism can further be defined as:15

(i) Copying directly from a text word for word

without acknowledging the original author and
source.
(ii) Using an attractive phrase or sentence found
in another source without acknowledging the
original number and source.

14 Atkins, Thomas, & Nelson, John, "Plagiarism and the Internet: Turning the Tables,"
20 Eng. J. 101 (2020).
15 Park Chris in other people's) words: Marsh, G. (2007). Plagiarism alchemy and
remedy in higher education. State University of New York Press.

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(iii) Downloading text from the internet without

acknowledging the original author and source.
(vi) Giving incorrect information about the sources
of a quotation/ para phrase.
(v) Paraphrasing words of text closely by only
changing some of the words or the sentence
structure without acknowledging the original
author and source.
(vi) Using statistics from another source/person
without acknowledging the original source or
presenting false data.
(vi) Copying a fellow researcher’s work with
acknowledging that researcher.
(viii) Copying or paraphrasing the work that has
already been published elsewhere without
citation.
(ix) Downloading or copying pictures, diagrams,
tables, photographs, etc. without
acknowledging the original author or source.
(x) Copying so many words or ideas from a source
that it makes up the majority or work without
giving credit.
(xi) Paying another person to write research
findings.

Now-a-days plagiarism in academic environment has

turned into a problem that challenges the scientific honesty.
Unfortunately, the practice is found to be rampant and
written or un-written is a global phenomenon. Recently
editors of many journals have identified cases of overt
plagiarism in works submitted to their journals, some of
which even made their way through the entire review process
to get published in respectable journals. The following are
various types of plagiarism in intellectual property law; (i)
direct plagiarism; (ii) mosaic plagiarism; (iii) accidental

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plagiarism; (iv) partial plagiarism; (v) self-plagiarism; (vi)

collusion plagiarism; (vii) ideal plagiarism; (viii) justice
plagiarism there are some software and databases through
which the cases of plagiarism can be easily detected.

B. The Main Reasons of Plagiarism

Generally, students think that anything on the internet is for

public and can be copied due to the lake of awareness about
plagiarism. (b) people prefer shortcuts as they are over loaded
with their work. (c) poor time management and planning
skills affect their writing skills and they are easily tempted to
copy other’s work when time is short (d) lack of confidence in
their own writings and ideas also tempt people to plagiarise
and (e) some like the thrill of stealing and they copied other’s
work for leisure etc. Four standard methods are commonly
used to incorporate information from copyrighted source
material into one’s even written document e.g. quoting,
paraphrasing, summarizing and acknowledgment.
Plagiarism means to steal someone’s work ideas, literature or
anything that is developed or invented by someone and to use
it one’s own name to get fame glory and eminence.

C. Available Software and Data Bases to check plagiarism:

1. http://www.turnitin.com: This subscriber service helps

educators and others to deter plagiarism in student work.
It operates like a search engine that checks for matches
with billions of pages’ worth of material on the Internet.
The service is available for a free trial, and the site also
includes plagiarism. There are some software and
databases through which the cases of plagiarism can be
easily detected. Following are some important databases.
2. http://www.plagiarism.com: This website checks written
work for potential plagiarism at no charge. The program

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

is intended to make writers aware of their own writing

styles and identifies any text that they may have
inadvertently plagiarized.
3. http://www.plagiarismchecker.com: This database
checks the plagiarism aildun on the web at free of cost.
4. http://www.virtualsalt.com/: This website offers
strategies for preventing plagiarism. It addresses how to
be aware of cheating and includes information about
plagiarism for students and teachers, tips on prevention,
and links to other websites.
5. http://www.academicplagiarism.com/: This website
offers innovative solutions for detecting plagiarism. It
uses advanced algorithms to scan for gifs and categorize
plagiarized content. There are other web-pages like,
www.checkforplagiarism.net; www.ithenticate.com;
www.plagiarismdetection.org;http://www.plagiarismd
etect.com/; and
6. www.copyscape.com and certain others, through which
cases of plagiarism can be easily detected. But
unfortunately, in our society, there is lack of awareness
regarding such databases.

D. Suggestions to Prevent Menace of Plagiarism

The authors put forth following suggestions to prevent

plagiarism: (i) Never use other person’s writings without
proper, acknowledgment. (ii) Always use a single and uniform
method of citation like MLA style, APA style etc. (iii) Never
steal the other person’s idea as it also leads to plagiarism. (iv)
Need to develop creativity as it always leads to success and
originality. Four key factors that impact plagiarism are the
perceived urgency to meet deadlines (time pressure); internal
justifications like "everyone does it" (moral obligation);

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specific situations where copying seems minor, like taking a

few lines (descriptive situations); the belief that plagiarism is
widespread in academia (subjective norms). Ralph and
Randle found the most common reasons for plagiarism by
students were: i) Desire to achieve by any means/laziness: (ii)
in lack of interest in the subject, (iii) lack of understanding
about the offence, (iv)thinking they can get away with it, (v)
students struggling to keep up, (vi) not too bothered about
being caught or the punishment itself, (vii) English not the
first language of many students and (viii) Other time
pressures like having to work.16

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Shamoo, A. E., & Resnik, D. B. (2009). Responsible conduct of

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pp. 17-22). Eastern Book Center.

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Chapter - 6

TH E RELATION BETWEEN INTELLECTUA L

HONESTY AND RES EARCH INTEG RITY AS THE
FUNDAMENTA L PRIN CIP LES OF RESEA RCH

C. P. Gupta*
Monika Mishra**

I. Introduction

The contemporary world is facing ethical issues not

only in basic business practices but also in the area of
research and development. For this, intellectual honesty and
research integrity must be maintained by the people who are
engaged in the profession (Kretser et al., 2019). They are the
ones who are supposed to carry the Legacy of Research and
Development Forward in the future with tremendous success
after adequate utilization of the artificial Intelligence and
Technology transformation which can be seen in every area
of life these days. Before moving forward, it is necessary to
provide detail about what exactly is the meaning of
intellectual honesty and Research integrity.

Intellectual and scholarly pursuits revolve around

intellectual honesty where the commitment to truth, ethical
principles, and transparency is highlighted as the pursuit of
knowledge. At the center, intellectual Logistic is dedicated to
achieving accuracy by ensuring that all the facts and ideas
that are inculcated in the work get represented faithfully and
honestly by giving due acknowledgment to the authors of the
works that are referred to in any particular research. It is

* Dean & Director Vidyatshli Law College , Jaipur

** Head, Apex School of Law, Apex University, Jaipur

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crucial here to note that not only the ethical principles but
transparency is also a vital component in ensuring that the
individuals are not applying personal biases in their work
and are openly disclosing any technicalities regarding the
work that they take up. It helps avoid conflicts of interest and
the intellectual work is also free of intentional malfunctioning
(Robishaw et al., 2020). When due regard is paid to the
original authors or writers of the works that are referred to in
the research the attribution creates a fundamental ethical
basis and Plagiarism is avoided. It is often stated that
plagiarism is a clear breach of intellectual honesty and it is
to be avoided by every person who takes up the research. The
research is objectified with the help of intellectual honesty
which places Central rule in comparing The Scholars for
impartially evaluating the evidence that they have in hand
respective of any personal beliefs that they may possess at
the time of conducting any resource. Open mindfulness is
also faster by intellectual honesty which encourages
individuals to put forward their ideas and distinct
perspectives with more construction of words.

The term research integrity means the commitment to

conducting research with honesty, transparency, and
ethics. These underpants the academic divorce and scientific
principles that form the basis of research over more moral
standards that govern the activity of research. High
standards are held for promoting intellectual honesty and the
quest for truth and knowledge is also present. It is also based
on avoiding any kind of manipulation of data with any form
of deception and fabrication utilized in the conduction of
research. Research Scholars and scientists adhere to
research integrity so that credibility can be attached to the
scientific community and trust can be built in the studies
that they conduct which form cornerstones of progress and
innovation in the knowledge-driven world.

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The relationship and promotion of intellectual honesty

along with research integrity are provided in detail in the
present work for a better understanding of the concept and
ethical basis of any research. The significance of the two
concepts is also highlighted to provide a detailed overview of
how important and applicable they are in the field of research
(Schroeder et al., 2019). The challenges which are faced by
the researcher are also provided in detail along with the
ethical dilemmas to illustrate the issues which may be
encountered while conducting any research. At last the
conclusions and recommendations are provided in detail with
future dimensions to provide a cohesive and conclusive view
to the whole study.

II. Significance of Intellectual Honesty and Research

Integrity

In the field of research, it is seen that intellectual

honesty and Research integrity hold Paramount importance
as it is useful for maintaining credibility. Findings of the
Scholars and academic community must be implied property
so that that trust is established and adequately preserved for
research and development in the future (Taylor & Bicak,
2019). The principles of intellectual honesty and Research
integrity are also upheld by the researchers who believe that
their research must be a reliable source of Information and
should be taken seriously in the future. Every field these days
is dependent upon research and development to attain
success and progress for which intellectual honesty and
Research integrity formulate the fundamental principles. It
also provides quality and ensures that validity is attached to
the work appropriately. The accuracy of the research and
that it is conducted rigorously is also known from the fact
that it has intellectual honesty. The researchers are also

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there to ethical and transparent practices that provide their

work the status of high quality, validity, and reliability in the
context of their results as well. The contribution of
intellectual honesty and Research integrity is also towards
the advancement of knowledge with high standards of quality
where flawed findings or misleading facts are worked at
length. Pure reviews are also based upon intellectual honesty
and Research integrity as a prerequisite because they provide
effective support to the review and the evaluation by exports
also becomes free of complexity (Muthanna & Alduais, 2021).
The Reliance is also placed on the assumption that the
researcher who conducted the earlier study has utilized the
principles of intellectual honesty and transparency in his
work. Replication is also established as the cornerstone of the
scientific method where the data which is collected is
accurate in the form of reporting and this is made possible
with the utilization of intellectual honesty and research
integrity. Apart from maintaining credibility, quality, validity,
and replicability intellectual honesty and Research integrity
are also important for establishing ethical conduct in the field
of research. Ethical research practices are a crucial part of
research integrity and it protects the rights and will of all the
subjects of the human race. When research integrity is taken
into consideration conflicts of interest are avoided and all the
ethical guidelines along with the institutional ones are
adhered to by the researchers. Intellectual honesty and
Research integrity when applied to any particular research it
is believed that the research has ethical soundness along
with the scientific validity attached to it (Tomić, Buljan &
Marušić, 2022). When the principles of intellectual honesty
and Research integrity are applied to any particular results
the high-quality results that are produced of the ethically
conducted research have an impact that exists for a longer
time as compared to the other researchers who do not follow
the ethical guidelines. The test of the time is standed by such

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Research and it also contributes to the accumulation of

knowledge for future research as well. Without testing the
validity and reliability of the existing research future Scholars
can make use of existing research in which intellectual
honesty and Research integrity are followed as the
fundamental principles.

The research has a far-reaching impact on society as

a whole and also shows implications on public policy and
public health for this reason the preservation of public trust
must be done with the help of intellectual honesty and
Research Integrity (Miller & West, 2020). People utilize the
results of the researchers in many ways for which
transparency and ethical practices must be adequately built
with the help of intellectual honesty and Research
integrity. Researchers are also made accountable for their
findings and discussions based on the research whether it's
qualitative or quantitative with the principles of intellectual
honesty and Research integrity. The researchers who practice
misconduct or breach the integrity of research are also liable
to face serious consequences which may include damage to
their reputation and imposition of academic and professional
sanctions on them. Giving rise to their responsibility they
even face legal consequences because of which the
researchers must maintain ethical standards with the help of
intellectual honesty and Research integrity. The research is
not restricted to any particular field and it expands to fields
like environmental Sciences and medicine which may directly
have a crucial impact on the well-being and safety of people
and the Planet altogether (Horn et al., 2022). For this reason,
intellectual honesty and Research integrity become
significant to avoid any harm that may result from the
unethical practices being adopted by the researchers.

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Cross-disciplinary collaboration is also made possible

with the help of intellectual honesty and Research integrity
as the fundamental principles of various disciplines may
come together and give rise to interdisciplinary practice. The
combination of Expertise can be adequately done with the
help of intellectual honesty and integrity as people
researching in various fields can trust each other's work and
it makes their work comparatively easy. Data sharing is also
made simple and the problems that may arise in
interdisciplinary research can also be effectively sorted with
the help of transparent practices being adopted by the
researchers in various fields they Research into. Not only the
research of the future is made easy with intellectual honesty
and Research integrity adopted as current practice but it also
aids future progress and innovation (Katsarov, Andorno,
Krom & van den Hoven, 2022). A solid Foundation is laid for
the developments in the future with the help of research
integrity as the findings are credible and reliable for
diversified research which serve as building blocks for
research expanding the spread of knowledge. However, it is
to be kept in mind that the principles of intellectual honesty
and Research integrity cannot be present in every form of
research without paying attention to the requirements of the
researchers (Hastings et al., 2023). It has to be seen that only
those things are made transparent and are not required to be
confidential. Certain security standards are also to be
followed by the researcher regarding the privacy concerns of
the people who have been after participants in
their research.

III. Nexus and Promotion of Intellectual Honesty and

Research Integrity

The above part of the current study has also effectively

highlighted that intellectual honesty and Research integrity

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have to exist in any particular research together which means

that the Nexus between intellectual honesty and Research
integrity is crucial (Goddiksen et al., 2019). Considered the
crucial aspect of the Nexus it is also important that it is
promoted by every researcher in their work and transmitted
to future generations to establish credibility, transparency,
accountability, reliability, validity, etc. In the research. The
interconnection of intellectual honesty and Research
integrity can be supported with the following points regarding
how mutual support can be seen between them-

Sharing of ethical Foundation- The ethical foundation

exists for intellectual honesty and Research integrity as both
are rooted in the pursuit of thrust for knowledge and building
a research platform that provides transparent data not only
to the researchers but also to the people who are open to
utilization of the research findings and discussions (Pizzolato
& Dierickx, 2021). The ethical basis of both are also identical
in terms of upholding accuracy in their research activities.
They also develop on maintenance of public trust in the field
of scientific Institutions and Research as they provide
recommendations that become significant for credible use by
other researchers and are reliable as well.

Validation-Intellectual honesty and Research integrity

provide validity to the research as these principles are
followed only by those researchers who are true to their
research which helps in building public trust as
well. Collaborations are also made possible with the help of
these principles as these are supported worldwide by various
researchers and it allows researchers from different countries
and organizations to join hands together for addressing
Complex global issues. Paying due regard to the original
works of researchers also helps in providing validity to the
research in a crucial manner.

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Honest reporting- Both intellectual honesty and

Research integrity help in promoting honest reporting as
citations and acknowledgments are provided for various
works that have been cited in the work. References are also
used to acknowledge the work of previous researchers which
helps in building trust as to the original works which are
utilized. By reference to the original works of other
researchers, it means that the findings methodology, and
interpretations which are utilized by the researchers do not
suffer from any personal biases. Honest reporting also
supports transparency which is an essential of Trustworthy
research.

Ethical codes- Academicians have also established

various ethical codes that are adequately followed under the
principles of intellectual honesty and Research integrity.
Several guidelines also encompass both. The guidance is
provided to the researchers while conducting any particular
research based on the ongoing topic regarding what ethical
standards they have to be in and what practices are to be
adopted by them while conducting the research (Bueno,
2020). These standards and guidelines which are provided in
the form of ethical codes are also helpful as educational
initiatives based upon the relation between intellectual
honesty and Research integrity.

Misconduct prevented- As a proactive measure

intellectual honesty is utilized in researchers for preventing
misconduct in the form of ethical violations, data fabrication,
falsification of facts, or plagiarism. When ethical behaviour
and honesty are promoted in any research there is the
likelihood that in research integrity the breaches will be
reduced (Hosseini & Lewis, 2020). If any researcher gets
involved in misconduct there are also measures present

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which deal with the consequences for such beaches where

they may suffer damage to their intellectual reputation and
academic standing. When such consequences are faced by
them, they serve as a deterrent to the bridges and help in
enforcing the ethical codes in standards which are set for
intellectual honesty and Research integrity.

Accountability and transparency- Intellectual honesty

and Research integrity also work on emphasizing the
principles of transparency and accountability as it is
necessary to disclose what is included in the research to
avoid the conflict of interest and they are also crucial in
establishing the fact that the Reserve is free from any
personal bias (Cooper et al., 2023). When any
researcher himself is accountable for ethical conduct
involved in his research it means that the culture of
transparency in the research is promoted by him and this is
considered to be effective for the promotion of fundamental
principles of research.

According to Cooksey, McDonald, Cooksey &

McDonald (2019), it is stated that Academic integrity is
important for maintaining intellectual honesty as it is related
to truthfulness which is considered to be the synonym of
honesty. There is a crucial relationship between academic
integrity and intellectual honesty as not only the
configuration or gathering of data in any research is affected
by the principles but also the contextualization of any
research depends upon the fundamental principles that are
followed by the researchers. There may be various issues
faced by the researcher like maintenance of ethical
treatments of participants and confidentiality or others which
are associated with the storage and appropriate Analysis of
data which are to be handled by the researcher while taking
up any research. For this academic integrity becomes crucial

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in determining the success of the research and helps in

coping with various issues which may come during or after
the conduction of any particular research.

According to Peels, de Ridder, Haven & Bouter (2019),

it is stated that not only the researchers but also the
scientists are concerned about the integrity of research and
are developing various codes of conduct for researchers.
Various ethical codes that are developed include substantial
pluralism which is highly associated with intellectual
Honesty. Various values, virtues, and norms are followed and
metaphysical pluralism and axiological pluralism are
combined in these codes of conduct for handling various
situations which may be encountered by the researchers
during research. It can be analyzed that the research should
be focused on intellectual pluralism and Research integrity
to produce accountable, valid, and reliable results. It can also
be stated according to the above work that there has to be
careful reasoning and judgment while dealing with the ethical
codes that are available as the requirements of every
researcher and researcher vary from subject to subject.

IV. Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas

There are certain challenges that are faced by the

researchers while taking up any research that may
be distinct for every researcher but there can be a particular
set of challenges that are usually faced by every researcher.
It has to be kept in mind that the people who take up studies
are not always equally interested in taking up such studies
and there may be various reasons by which they are
persuaded to take up the study (Montgomery, 2022). Certain
researchers are willingly interested in taking up research and
do tremendous work in their fields. At the same time, certain
researchers do research just for the sake of formality and do

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not take complete interest in the research that day, which

may have even worse consequences for themselves and the
research that they take up. There are high-impact journals
that are present for the publication of work by the
researchers. They always stay in demand and the majority of
the researchers find it appropriate for their reputation to get
their work published in such journals. This is a crucial
challenge as intense pressure is faced by the researchers to
get their work published in those journals and to meet the
requirements the event fabricates the data. The pressure
that they face may also sometimes lead to engagement in
questionable research practice which if such pressure was
not there must not be entered by the research.

Another crucial challenge which is faced by

researchers these days is the publish-or-perish culture in
academia where intellectual honesty and Research integrity
are getting undermined. The fact of getting their work
published forces them to prefer quantity over quality and the
potential that exists in the researcher gets compromised.
When the work pressure is more and they have to publish
more and more work they can't focus on quality and
sometimes breach the ethical conduct as well (Mabou Tagne
et al., 2020). Many researchers are working in any particular
field and they focus on working on the recent issues that are
going on which leads to replication of the work and they
cannot reproduce the same that has already been published
by some other research. Their research is very crucial and
good but due to the replicability, they cannot reproduce their
work which becomes a challenge for the researchers. The
pressure is also increasing on the researchers to publish
work which has significant positive results as the findings
which are positive and natural are more likely to have a
crucial impact on the people on whom the researchers
developed. This is leading to the reduction in transparency of

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the results which are negative and nature and reminding the
research integrity and intellectual honesty as fundamental
principles for research (Tennant & Ross-Hellauer, 2020).
Other crucial challenges are lack of training and financial
assistance which is provided to the researchers as not all the
researchers who take up the task of research are well
equipped with the tools utilized for research. They are also
not getting adequate financial assistance for going with the
elaborate research that is required to be taken up in their
fields. Research funding is getting intensely competitive these
days and it is becoming difficult for the researchers to secure
grants which is leading to ethical dilemmas where the
researchers exaggerate their findings to get better funds.

Apart from the above, it is also becoming very difficult

for the researchers to carry the research and any particular
field as the cross-cultural differences are becoming crucial
and the researchers belonging to different backgrounds are
finding it difficult to do it just with each other while
conducting any particular research. not only this but the
misunderstandings about authorship and intellectual
properties are also increasing due to cross-cultural
differences and they are unable to maintain a shared
commitment to the research that they take up which is a
challenge for research integrity (Hosseini, Rasmussen &
Resnik, 2023). The concerns about privacy and
confidentiality of the people who are engaged in the research
as subjects have also been crucially challenging for the
researchers as the big data is getting into a world in the
research and it is becoming Complex due to the utilization of
Technology.

The above challenges which are faced by the

researchers are leading to ethical dilemmas which
are creating other challenging circumstances for the

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researchers and are preventing them from applying the

principles of intellectual honesty and Research integrity in
their works. The most crucial of the ethical dilemmas is the
authorship dispute where the order of authorship which has
to be included in the research Publication is becoming
difficult to resolve between the authors (Seadle, 2022).
Recognition is very important to be given to any person who
has participated in the research but providing the status of
the author to everybody is not possible and due to this
reason, many researchers are facing conflicts among the
people who work with them. Another crucial ethical dilemma
which is faced by the researcher is sharing the data
and avoiding the conflict of interest. There are various issues
on which research is conducted by the researchers and when
research is conducted on vulnerable or marginalized
populations it becomes all the more difficult as ethical
concerns are race to them. It has to be taken into account by
the researchers that no potential harm costs to such a
population or exploitation is not done to their limited
resources. The issue and concerns for plagiarism, data
privacy, peer review, and sharing of data along with retention
of data after the research is complete have been crucial for
the researchers. Honest feedback is to be provided along with
maintenance of confidentiality whenever the peer review is
done by the researcher and creates a stigma for personal
biases. Certain researchers are carried on by humans or
animals which also face a dilemma as it is difficult to handle
them and the instances of scientific advancement have
shown that the ethical concerns associated with their rights
and violations are crucial affecting the autonomy of
researchers and their freedom to deal with the subjects.

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V. Future Directions and Recommendations

Considering the above work certain future directions

must be stated along with the recommendations to overcome
the challenges and ethical dilemmas faced by the researchers
while implementing and promoting intellectual honesty and
Research integrity. Following are the future directions-

Enhanced transparency, ethics, and privacy- It is seen

that in the future greater Emphasis may be put on
the adoption of transparent research practices which will
require more comprehensive documentation of the
methodology and procedures as will be adopted by the
researchers. Data-driven resources are becoming more
prevalent these days and ethics and privacy must be also
given Central focus. Ethical practices for promoting data
management after obtaining the consent of the people
involved as subjects and safeguarding the data against any
misuse that may happen with the data of those subjects by
the adoption of either secure systems or secure databases.

Collaboration of Global Research- It is also seen that

in future the cross-border collaboration will be increasing as
interdisciplinary research is happening and people from
various disciplines are entering into other disciplines. The
restriction of Geography boundaries will be ending soon and
a diverse perspective will be developed on ethical
considerations beyond the geographical boundaries in the
future as is analyzed from the work (Rennie & Gunsalus,
2019). The challenges which are encountered by the
researchers are somewhere identical across the globe and to
deal with such challenges international approaches are also
required which will lead to the collaboration of Global
Research.

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Educational training program- As the importance of

research and development is increasing It is seen that from
an early stage, the educational programs will also include
research training and the importance of research will
increase as the normal curriculum subjects as taught to the
students right now. The culture of ethical conduct will be
created with the help of academic courses which will provide
the basic knowledge of research to every person who will gain
education and thereby it will depend upon them whether they
want to pursue a career as a researcher or not. It is also
important here to note that the skills which will be needed for
navigating into the future of research will be present in every
individual irrespective of the field that they are in.

Improvisation of whistle-blower protection- The

whistle-blowers are the ones who are engaged in
unethical practices and they do not abide by the ethical codes
which are available regarding intellectual honesty and
Research integrity today. In the future, it is analyzed that the
ethical breaches and miss conduct will be addressed by
strengthening the mechanism available for protection
from Whistle-blowers and it will make it easy for the people
who want to report the violations. The people who will report
the violations will be able to do it without any fear of
retaliation and they will have improved protection
mechanisms available to address these issues.

Engagement of the public- It is also analyzed that in

the future the educational institutions and other research
institutions will also be engaging more public to spread
awareness about ethical principles which are required to be
taken into account while conducting any research as the
researchers have society implications and the people who
exist in society are very much affected by such implications.

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Moving forward the following can be recommendations to deal

with the challenges and ethical dilemmas that are faced by
researchers while implementing the intellectual honesty and
Research integrity issues-

1. Training and workshops should be provided to the

researchers and in every academic curriculum there
should be compulsory research subjects that are
taught to the individuals so that they at least know the
basics of research which is becoming very popular
today and will continue to gain importance in the
coming future. This will include the development of
resources and guidelines for helping the researchers
in navigating the challenges regarding ethics that may
be faced by them and training them with the solutions
to such challenges.

2. Accountability has to be increased on the part of the

researcher as there are many software’s that are
coming up with artificial Intelligence and are used as
tools for creating research reports by the researcher
(Singh et al., 2020). They are considered to be
unethical practices as they do not highlight the
personal experience of research and therefore the
Research report or finding is highly unreliable. If any
researcher is using such practices or software they
have to be barred from researching in the future and
any of the legal consequences which they may face
should be made known to them.

3. Incentives should be provided to Scholars or

researchers who prioritize quality over unethical
practices and who utilize their skills to progress in the
field that they are in. It may include various
recognitions and awards given to them for the work

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that they do and they may also be given future benefits

when they will conduct research by following improved
ethical standards. It will boost their confidence and
will also help in attracting other researchers to follow
ethical practices.

4. The recognition of research integrity and intellectual

honesty should also be given appropriately as the
fundamental principles of research to support
research on these principles in the future. Not all the
people who do research know much about the value
and significance of research integrity and intellectual
honesty which necessitates the fact that the research
on these principles should be conducted at length to
make all the people who are unaware of these aware.

VI. Conclusion

It can be concluded from the above work that

intellectual honesty and Research integrity are inseparable
fundamentals of research which are to be considered
adequately by every researcher while taking up their work.
Intellectual honesty helps in building the strength of the work
by establishing transparency and accountability in the work.
There are certain established codes of conduct and ethical
standards that are to be followed by researchers so that the
work that they do gets adequate recognition and follows all
the guidelines that are available for research. There is no
doubt in the significance of research and development as we
increase day by day in every aspect of business, it is also
crucial to know that research itself is becoming an
outstanding business these days. Research integrity helps in
establishing the line of research that is adequately inclusive
of all the recognitions and accumulations of original Work as
required by the researcher. Significant changes also exist in

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the contemporary world regarding the ethical issues that are

considered by the researchers and it is believed that these
researchers will be the torchbearers of future research and
development for all the ethical codes which lead are
adequately followed. Intellectual honesty must be required as
it will show the commitment of research towards truth and
ethical principles and will subjectively help in establishing
the public trust in the field of research. The works that will
be provided with intellectual honesty will have transparency
which will mean that they are free from any buyers from the
side of the researcher and the attribution that will be given
will help in preventing malpractice as maybe existing. The
academic and scientific principles are also considered to be
pivotal for the promotion of research which will be free from
any manipulation of data and fabrication leading to trust
building and creating a knowledge-driven world. It can also
be seen that there exists a Nexus between research integrity
and intellectual honesty which shares common
characteristics of establishing credibility, reliability, validity,
accountability, and transparency and helps in maintaining
the ethical code. There are many challenges and ethical
dilemmas which are faced by the researchers while dealing
with intellectual honesty and Research integrity as
fundamental principles because not all the researchers are
equally interested in carrying the research forward and some
are doing it merely formally which is creating problems not
only for them but are also generating on fruitful results for
the general public.

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Hosseini, M., Rasmussen, L. M., & Resnik, D. B. (2023).

Using AI to write scholarly publications. Accountability
in research, 1-9, https://www.tandfonline.com/
doi/full/10.1080/08989621.2023.2168535
Katsarov, J., Andorno, R., Krom, A., & van den Hoven, M.
(2022). Effective strategies for research integrity
training—a meta-analysis. Educational Psychology
Review, 34(2), 935-955, https://link.springer.
com/article/10.1007/s10648-021-09630-9
Kretser, A., Murphy, D., Bertuzzi, S., Abraham, T., Allison,
D. B., Boor, K. J., & Yada, R. (2019). Scientific integrity
principles and best practices: recommendations from
a scientific integrity consortium. Science and
Engineering Ethics, 25, 327-355,
https://link.springer.
com/article/10.1007/s11948-019-00094-3
Mabou Tagne, A., Cassina, N., Furgiuele, A., Storelli, E.,
Cosentino, M., & Marino, F. (2020). Perceptions and
attitudes about research integrity and misconduct: A
Survey among young biomedical researchers in Italy.
Journal of Academic Ethics, 18(2), 193-205,
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alex-Mabou-
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Miller, C. B., & West, R. (Eds.). (2020). Integrity, honesty, and
truth seeking. Oxford University Press, USA,
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ge&q=intellectual%20honesty%20and%20Research%
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Montgomery, K. (2022). Response—Corruption, trust, and
professional regulation. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry,
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021-10149-5
Muthanna, A., & Alduais, A. (2021). A thematic review on
research integrity and research supervision:
Relationships, Crises and Critical Messages. Journal of
Academic Ethics, 19, 95-113, https://link.springer.
com/article/10.1007/s10805-020-09368-z
Peels, R., de Ridder, J., Haven, T., & Bouter, L. (2019). Value
pluralism in research integrity. Research integrity and
peer review, 4, 1-13, https://link.springer.com/
article/10.1186/s41073-019-0076-4
Pizzolato, D., & Dierickx, K. (2021). Stakeholders'
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qualitative study. BMC medical ethics, 22(1), 67,
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021-00637-z
Rennie, D., & Gunsalus, C. K. (2019). What is research
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Robishaw, J. D., DeMets, D. L., Wood, S. K., Boiselle, P. M.,
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/PMC7934091/
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Taylor, Z. W., & Bicak, I. (2019). Academic honesty,
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translation of academic integrity and honesty policies
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Academic Ethics, 17, 1-15,
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profile/Zw-
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consensus on essential virtues for ethics and research

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nline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08989621.2022.212834
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Van Zyl, C., Kombe, F., Okonta, P., & Rossouw, T. (2019).
Promoting Research Integrity and Avoiding
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00.11910/14289/10947.pdf

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Chapter - 7

TH E ROLE AND RELEVAN CE OF PHILOSOPHY IN

RESEA RCH
Sutapa Chakraborty*

I. Introduction

‘Research’ is a term to represent a type of an academic

activity where a zeal to know the unknown from the known
is observed. (Kothari, 2010: 1) Thus, being an academic
enterprise research involves different methods and
procedures that are important to mark its characteristics. For
example, collection of data, analysis of data, evaluating the
data, deducing conclusions from the available data as well as
reflecting on these deductions to reach a greater hypothesis
are constituents of a research activity. This hypothesis is,
therefore, based on some data analysis, criticism and
deductions. Herein we may significantly note the role and
relevance of Philosophy in a research. To speak elaborately,
all the important steps of a research involve the philosopher’s
attitude of looking at facts or concepts. Hence, bringing out
an indigenous research outcome from an existing store of
information for a further advancement in the field concerned
Philosophy serves as the backbone of a research. Taken in
this sense, all the important methods of a research like
analysis, synthesis, evaluation, deduction, etc., are uniquely
methods of Philosophy. So, to know, understand and execute
any research in a successful manner the relevant knowledge
of Philosophy and its distinctive methods, as are typically

* Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Acharya B. N. Seal (Govt.) College,

Cooch Behar, West Bengal

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used in different fields of research, is a preliminary

requirement. For, before we indulge in any research activity
it is very significant to know the nature of this activity and
the relevant procedures involving the activity of research. In
this regard, a systematic understanding of philosophy and its
nature, scope, methods etc., would significantly point out the
indispensable role of philosophy in research. Let us see in
details from the analysis and interpretation of what the
meaning of a research is and how the indispensable relevance
of philosophy in research may be systematically
characterized as follows.

II. Meaning of Research

When we break the term Research into “re” and

“search” we find the literal meaning of it as the ‘search’
(investigation) ‘after a search’ (re). The dictionary meaning of
‘re’ is used, here, as a prefix, while the meaning of ‘search’ in
dictionaries stands as a verb to indicate some investigation.
(Kumar, 2005:7) However, when the two words are conjoined
they form a noun to signify a careful and a patient
examination of some issues or concepts. The term, therefore,
stands for the investigation of some issue which is based on
some previous search. It is a kind of scrutiny of facts, events
or concepts as available in the domain of knowledge in
general and of a definite subject of discourse in particular.
So, it implies a kind of study that follows a previous study. In
fact, that is why it is called ‘re-search’.

III. Relevance of Research and Philosophy

In the process of investigating facts, events or concepts

the methods of analysis, criticism, and deduction of
conclusion with appropriate reasoning along with the
relevance to the existing norms of the concerned academy are

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very fundamental. These methods provide a researcher a

systematic and fruitful structure to his way of enquiry. All
these above mentioned important methods including the
reasoning factor and the ethical norms are rooted at the heart
of the area of study called Philosophy. In other words,
research of any kind is genuinely based on these
philosophical methods and is, therefore, immensely
dependent on the activity called philosophizing. In other
terms, understanding philosophy, its areas or branches, as
well as the various methods of it, is not only preliminary to
an issue of research but is a necessity to it. Hence, to
understand what a research is or what the ethics behind any
research can be we need to know what philosophy is and how
it is pervasively associated with research. In the next section
of this chapter we would focus on this particular relation of
research and philosophy and would, in this regard, explore
the concept, nature, scope, branches and methods of
Philosophy. Here, we may start with the concept of
philosophy first in the following way.

IV. Philosophy: the Concept & Its Derivation

The concept of Philosophy may be formulated from the

root of its origin. It is, in this regard, derivative of two Greek
words— “Philos” & “Sophia”. The meaning of Philos is “Love”
and the meaning of Sophia is “Wisdom”. Philosophy,
therefore, literally means “Love of Wisdom”. (Blackburn,
1996: 286) Therefore, broadly speaking, any and every range
of study involves this “love of wisdom” to reach its desired
goal of “Truth”. Consequently, it is clear from the literal
meaning of Philosophy itself that any and every deal of
enquiry involves Philosophy. To understand this point of
interpretation we may note the following implications of the
term Philosophy.

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V. Some Implications of the Literal Meaning of

Philosophy

i. First of all, it is the love, i.e., a kind of fascination

or inclination towards ‘something’. That
‘something’ is wisdom, i.e., knowledge in its
deepest and widest sense. By this is meant that
Philosophy does not imply simply the knowledge or
information of a particular thing or existence with
a mere particularity and is thus not concerned with
any particular order of existences. Rather, it stands
for the ‘generic perspective’ or a comprehensive
understanding of the world of existences.
ii. Now, by ‘generic’ perspective of the world is meant
viewing the world from a ‘big platform’. This big
platform is, again, built with a ‘common standard’
of understanding which in turn refers to the act of
rationalization.
iii. Rationalization is, on the other hand, an act of
conscious systematization of the usual order of
things and beings through appropriate use of
language or argumentation. It, thus, represents a
logical structure or what is called an argument
structure to state the point of the systematic
understanding of the facts and issues of the world.
iv. This ‘structure’ of rationalization or
argumentation, therefore, is not a particular
structure of a thing or any being. Alternately, it is
a general or common logical structure of
representing the existing things and beings of the
Nature or what constitutes the world. So, the
structure with which Philosophy deals is an
expansive structure of rationalizing information
and experience and as such is applicable to any
activity based on reasoning or argumentation.

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v. Philosophy is, thus, in a relevant sense, a way, a

method, of rationalization. As a method Philosophy
systematizes the order of our thinking or reasoning
in different directions, in different fields, and in
different apprehensions. Here, in approaching the
systematization of thought and reasoning the uses
of the philosophical methods of analysis, criticism,
deduction, generalization and the like are of
extensive use in different other disciplines. That is
why any research programme in any discipline
follows these methods of philosophy in
approaching their individual areas of specification
with relevant consistency.
vi. Further, attaining Wisdom or knowledge of “Truth”
is the wider objective of this method of rational
(philosophical) systematization. Thus, when the
literal meaning stands as “Love of Wisdom”, it
covers such a vast range of knowledge and learning
where the sky is the limit. In theoretical terms,
therefore, Philosophy suggests the knowledge of
the world phenomenon in its wider dimension.
Taken in this sense, the bounds of philosophy are
so rich to include every branch of knowledge and
enquiry. For, any and every subject of enquiry is a
journey towards reaching the goal of Truth or
Wisdom.
vii. Actually, the devotion to knowledge in its deepest
sense (Wisdom), as stated above, forms the base of
every enquiry related to every discipline. That is
why in the field of research in any particular area
involves the philosophical governance.

In a nutshell, Philosophy is that area of study which

includes the genes of every area of study consisting of the
method of rationalization or involving the thought process to

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aspire after knowledge or to discover truth. Moreover,

discovery of truth being a common goal to any and every field
of enquiry Philosophy remains inherent and integral
constituent to every field of study.
Again, the above analysis of Philosophy remains incomplete
without understanding its relevant interpretation in the
Indian domain. Let us briefly state the meaning of Philosophy
in Indian context as follows.

VI. Indian Interpretation of ‘Philosophy’ as ‘Darsan’

In India, ‘Darsan’ is a term that is used to substitute

the Western term ‘Philosophy’. By ‘Darsana’ is, literally,
meant ‘seeing’. But, the etymology of ‘Darsan’ is not
equivalent to physical vision or perception with physical eyes.
Rather, it stands to imply a kind of inner vision or
contemplative perception. (Ghatak, 2012: 9) In elaborate
terms, we may say this vision is vision of reality from within
which represents a kind of intuitive knowledge of reality
which is greater than apparent knowledge (of reality) from
perceptual experience.

Thus, either in Western sense of the term ‘Philosophy’

or in the Indian sense of the term ‘Darsan’ the subject aims
at the discovery of truth and reality in its essence. So,
knowing reality from being, i.e., from within, as in Indian
sense, is nothing but to quench the thirst of learning and
thereby reaching the stage of wisdom, the love towards which
is implicit the literal meaning of the term in the Western
sense. In other words, seeing the real from within (inner
vision of truth and reality) fulfils the desire (love) of knowing
it in being, resulting in highest knowledge (or what is
wisdom).

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With the above twofold interpretation of the concept of

Philosophy in Western and Indian sense, the nature of it can
be explored in the following way:

VII. Nature of Philosophy

So far, the nature of Philosophy is concerned there we

may note a number of alternative interpretations. For
instance, Philosophy is often considered to be a systematic
study of the universe as a whole which includes the
consideration of not merely the geographical ‘earth’ or the
political ‘world’ but the entire ‘universe’. (Sanyal, 2012: 2-3)
Notably, this study is not about any particular section of the
universe but about the ‘general’ order of the universe.
Philosophy is, again, understood as an area of study
comprising the exploration of “Reality” from the given
“Appearances”. (Chakraborti, 1992: 1)

It is also interpreted as an insightful study of the

experience in its given order or often even as a reflective
awareness of the reflection itself, i.e., a deal of consciousness
in itself. Hence, not only the nature of reality as a fact of
existence is discovered in the domain of Philosophy, but also
the act of grasping (as notable in ‘conscious’ act of the mind)
this reality is attempted here to interpret the real from a
comprehensive standpoint.

Recent interpretations of Philosophy offer an analytic

approach to it in its being an exposition of terms and
concepts of language. The reason for considering philosophy
in terms of language is that all discoveries and deductions of
human enterprise are made explicit in and through language
notably where justifications behind such deductions are
stated as propositions or arguments. So, understanding the
role and relevance of language in human knowledge the

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contemporary designation of philosophy is shifted from an

enquiry of the nature of ultimate reality beyond appearances
to the enquiry of the nature of the available reality with
appropriate analysis and systematization of language such
that it can grasp the fundamental nature of the ‘real’.

From the above it is evident that Philosophy is

basically a theoretic enterprise which discerns the meaning,
nature, and values of life and the universe from a common
perspective, which may be ordinarily called the perspective of
reason, or technically called cognitive consciousness.
(Sanyal, op. cit.: 4-5) In fact, what the various interpretations
suggest above is to mark the temperament of Philosophy as
such a specific deal of intellectuals which is typically
connected to all the other courses of enquiry while being
significantly different from them in its being a standard form
of rationalization as expressed in argumentations. This
temperament of rationalization and argumentation
summarily describes the nature of Philosophy as a unique
subject of study in such that any and every subject of study
submits to the philosophical policies or approaches. These
approaches involve the use of systematic reasoning and
formulations and are nothing but the methodical
representations of generalizations of any kind. It is in this
regard that philosophy is said to be the guide of all areas of
investigation, or often as the mother of all study. Taken in
this sense, as mother of all areas of study Philosophy remains
foundational as the starting point of each investigation in a
way that provide not only equal benefits to these
investigations but also fulfils the basic need of all.

In short, therefore, so far, the nature of Philosophy is

concerned it is, in a sense, multidimensional; while at
another sense, it is the identical platform to search after truth
leading to wisdom. Here, to know the various dimensions of

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Philosophy we may proceed to discuss the scope of the

subject following which a discussion of the branches of
Philosophy may remain relevant.

VIII. Scope of Philosophy

By scope of any subject is ordinarily meant the area it

covers or, simply speaking, the subject-matter of it. Hence,
so far the scope of Philosophy is concerned what we have
already learned is that it has a much extended scope to
include every areas of study in context of its search after
truth. However, being a distinctive study, it broadly includes
the following areas or subject-matters. (Sinha, 2009: 6-8)
These are: Ontology, b. Metaphysics, c. Epistemology, d.
Axiology.

Of these areas Ontology deals with the issue of ‘Being’

or the questions of ‘Existence’ itself, while Metaphysics
compares the appearance of the universe with the reality of
the same and, thus, concerns itself with exploring the
ultimate nature of reality of the universe. Epistemology, on
the other hand, enquires after the nature, conditions,
sources, kinds, limits, and the like of knowledge or as are
related to the field of knowledge. Axiology, again, covers the
concept of valuation by treating the questions of value,
goodness and badness, right or wrong, desirable and
undesirable etc.

Now, these different subject-matters comprising the

scope of Philosophy are consistently connected with each
other. For instance, the concern of Ontology as a deal of
‘Being’ or ‘Existence’ is related to the deal of Metaphysics as
the study of the nature of ultimate reality in the sense that
what actually ‘exists’ is the ‘reality’, or in other words, ‘reality’

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is something that must be ‘existent’. For, without being an

existent the talk of reality is pointless, or rather it is void.
Taken in this sense, the relation between Ontology and
Metaphysics is so intimate that the two are often treated as
one and indistinguishable areas of philosophical enquiry.

Again, when Metaphysics studies the nature of reality

it is closely connected to the questions of Epistemology which
discusses about the sources, conditions, limits, etc., of
‘knowing’ the ‘reality’. Similarly, the epistemological issues
are directed to discover the possibility of ‘knowing’ the ‘real’.
So, existence of reality (the ontological or the metaphysical
concern) is highly relevant to the knowledge of reality (the
epistemological concern). Otherwise (if reality is not known),
it remains non-evident. Hence, the way the inner relation
between Ontology and Metaphysics are understood the firm
relation between Metaphysics and Epistemology may also be
pointed out.

On the other hand, Axiology, as another distinct area

of Philosophy, studies the issues of beauty, goodness or value
in the existing order of things. In a word, therefore, Axiology
concerns with the matter of valuation. Since valuation
extends to art, literature, or even patterns of the objective
world, human life and corresponding choices axiological
enterprise of philosophy comprises of all these aspects of
valuation. It, in fact, determines the value of the ‘knowing or
knowable’ ‘reality’, and therefore, related to all the above
signified concerns of philosophical enquiry.

Thus, all the major concerns or what are called areas

of Philosophy are complementary to one another and
comprise the usual and broad scope of Philosophy.

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Apart from these areas of concerns the scope of Philosophy,

in comprehension, may involve the study of the following
other branches within the extended scope of it.

IX. Branches of Philosophy

Before stating the branches of Philosophy, it is

important here to note the difference between what is meant
by scope and what is meant by branches and how the two are
connected. Thus, as noted earlier, by scope of a subject is
meant the ‘general’ concern or subject-matter of a subject.
That means the concerning areas it covers to discover truth
(in search of its love for wisdom) and know (in its inner vision)
the real not as mere appearing but in its actual existence
comprise the subject-matter or scope of Philosophy. By
branches, however, is meant the ‘individual’ extension of the
scope of the subject concerned. So, like the branches of a tree
the branches of a subject, say Philosophy, are the ‘extended’
areas of specific study that the ‘general’ subject-matter (or
scope) of the subject spreads through.

From this, it is clear that though the terms ‘scope’ and

‘branches’ have distinct meanings, they remain referential to
the comprehensive understanding of the subject. Hence, the
understanding of ‘scope’ suggests the range, boundary, or
extent of studying the subject, when the understanding of
‘branches’ adds to the specification of this extent. With this
understanding of branches and their difference to the
meaning of scope let us explore the possible branches of
Philosophy as follows,

i) Logic: An important branch of Philosophy is Logic

which may usually be defined as a science of
thought or reasoning. Traditionally logic may be

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classed as Deductive and Inductive Logic or

reasoning. Here, the First is dealing with the basic
principles of Thought or Reasoning, while the
Second is with the Analysis of Hypothesis, of
Causality, of Probability, etc.
ii) Ethics: Another unique branch of Philosophy is
Ethics. It is usually designated as the science of
human conduct or action. (Sinha, 1994:1) These
conducts or actions of human beings are, of
course, to be volitional or willful. In dealing with
human conduct, behavior or action Ethics sets an
ideal or norm in order to evaluate the nature of the
concerned action, and not to state the action or
behavior as a mere event or fact. That is why it is
different from any positive science which merely
describes the facts of nature and is rightly called a
normative science of human conduct that deals
with actions as per the respective norms of action.
iii) Psychology: The branch of Philosophy dealing with
the empirical study of mind is known as
Psychology. It gives explanation of mind in terms
of observatory behavior. Unlike the normative
science called ‘Ethics’ Psychology is a positive
science that systematically presents the causality
of mind and body as experienced in objective
behaviours.
iv) Philosophy of Mind: Keeping an alternative
interpretation to the concept of mind to that
notable in Psychology there is a branch of
Philosophical enquiry called Philosophy of Mind.
By this is meant that when Psychology discusses
the facts and phenomena of mental episodes,
Philosophy of Mind deals with the theoretic aspect
of mind by analyzing the concept of mind and
understanding this analysis in a framework that is

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different from the empirical or the objective

framework.
v) Phenomenology: In context of denying the object-
centric knowledge possibility and affirming the
subject-centric wisdom Phenomenology appears
before the scene as a revolution to traditional
philosophy. In recent times, it is studied as a
branch of Philosophy that concentrates on given-
ness (Phenomenon) in experience or what is
presented before consciousness. In this givenness
of experience Phenomenology discovers the self or
what may be understood as the primary
consciousness at the centre of this ‘giveness in
experience’. In other words, that consciousness is
the subject and not the object of knowledge is
shown here. Consequently, this consciousness or
the self as the primary subject of experience forms
the foundation of any knowledge. (Chakravarty,
2000: 163-164)
vi) Existentialism: Existentialism, on the other hand,
is ordinarily believed to be an extension of the
Phenomenological movement in Philosophy. It
opposes the essentialism aspect of traditional
philosophy and encourages the thought that
existence precedes essence. As a branch of study
Existentialism emphasizes the role of authenticity
in human existence.
vii) Philosophy of Language and Analytic Philosophy:
Dealing with the art of analyzing facts and
concepts to reach a deduction is the aim of
Analytic Philosophy. As a recent branch of
Philosophy it explores the significance of analysis
through the use of language. Simply speaking, it
declares linguistic analysis of facts or concepts as
a prime criterion of philosophizing. In doing so

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Analytic Philosophy enters the region of

Philosophy of Language as a method of
philosophical interpretation of language.
viii) Theology and Philosophy of Religion: It is a study
on the religious authenticity, a deal with the
religious aspects of ‘Being’, usually conceptualized
as God. Theology, thus, discusses the context of
God and the relation between God and the World.
Philosophy of Religion, on the other hand, though
a study of the various issues of religions and
religious concerns, is mostly directed to the
analysis of the meaning and nature of various
religions as well as religious concepts (like God) or
religious experience and the like.
ix) Social and Political Philosophy: Dealing with the
social ideal, ends, and values of society Social
Philosophy guides us to know and determine the
ultimate values of social life such that we can
evaluate the evolution of the society as well as
make necessary or relevant developments in the
social structure with reference to that ultimate
value, or the highest social ideal or end.
(Bhattacharya, 2010: 4) Political Philosophy,
broadly speaking, is included within the scope of
Social Philosophy in so far what is ‘political’
happens within a ‘social’ structure. (Ibid: 217)
However, as an independent and specialized area
of philosophical judgment Political Philosophy
deals with the concepts and issues of political
concerns in a way that presents before us a critical
analysis of the various issues like justice, equality,
liberty, democracy, state, etc., along with the
evaluation of the policies and decisions of a
government, state or a nation.

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x) Philosophy of Science: It is a branch of Philosophy

that questions the role and relevance of scientific
theories by interpreting the principles,
postulations as well as deductions of the scientific
enquiries. It, therefore, aims at evaluating the
standard of scientific generalizations and at
discovering the corresponding significance of
science and scientific methods as used in such
generalizations.
xi) Aesthetics or Philosophy of Art: Aesthetics or what
is often called the Philosophy of art is that branch
of philosophy which deals with the issues of
beauty, especially in the domain of art. Reflecting
on the surrounding Nature, Culture, language and
literature within the world of art or even in the
world itself Aesthetic makes analysis as well as
evaluation of the concept and nature of beauty.

Apart from the above mentioned branches of

Philosophy there may be, and there are, a huge number of
sub-branches of it in the sense that Philosophy is the mother
of different branches of study, analysis and exploration. For
example, Modern Symbolic Logic is an advancement of the
branch of deductive-inductive logic, while Counselling is a
very recent dimension of philosophy where analysis of
therapeutic concepts related to mental health is discussed.
This may be kept under the branch called Psychology.
Critical Thinking may, again, be treated as an extended
branch of Analytic Philosophy. Issues related to our practical
concerns like suicide, euthanasia, surrogacy, environmental
crisis, animal ethics and the like fall under the province of
Practical Ethics which is a sub-section of the branch called
Ethics. Ethics, further, contains a professional dimension
widely known as Professional Ethics where the role of Bio-

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Science, Mass-Media, Business or Commerce, Sports,

Administration, “Research” and the like form the central
concerns. Feminism, Hermeneutics, Philosophy of Law,
Philosophy of any other existing area of study, can be well
accommodated to the section of sub-branches of Philosophy
at a significant relevance.

In fact, all these branches of Philosophical concerns

have relevance to the previously stated scope of philosophy
some glimpse of which may be considered from below.

X. Relevance of the Branches of Philosophy with the

Scope of Philosophy

Thus, any and all these various branches of

Philosophy represent one or other aspect of the scope of
Philosophy, namely, Ontology or Metaphysics, Epistemology,
and Axiology. Hence, for instance, logic is that branch of
Philosophy which is applicable to all the available areas of
Philosophy in so far the issue of systematic justification of
any formulation in any field is concerned. Taken in this sense
it is essential to the area of Metaphysics, Ontology,
Epistemology as well as Axiology. That is why logic is treated
as the very essence of Philosophy by many thinkers like
Bertrand Russell in the sense that without appropriate
argumentation the apprehension of reality, of knowledge, of
being or even the issues of valuation remain blank and
pointless.

On the other hand, ethics is a branch of Philosophy

which falls under the primary scope of Philosophy known as
Axiology which covers the issues of valuation, of good and
bad, of “should and ought” of life, particularly of human life.
It also is connected to the scope of Metaphysics when it
postulates the rule of God, the supreme reality or the reality

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of individual Soul and it’s immortality in context of explaining

the law of Karma. (Bhattacharya, 2007: 157-158)

The other branches of Philosophy like Psychology,

Philosophy of Mind, Phenomenology, Existentialism, again,
deals with the questions of “reality” or “existence”, of course
keeping their difference in approach or in the use of methods
in interpreting the nature of this ‘existing reality’. These may,
thus, be kept under the province of Metaphysical or
Ontological discussion of reality or being-hood of which
Epistemology remains an underlying concern in each of these
branches.

Philosophy of language, further, opens a new

dimension in the study of language that presents the
metaphysical or epistemological questions with a novel
orientation. Theology or Philosophy of Religion is an
extension of the area called Metaphysics when it deals with
the nature of ultimate reality and the possible phases of the
realization of this reality. Social-Political Philosophy comes
under the purview of Axiology mainly in the sense of
determining the highest ideal of society or nation. Philosophy
of Science may be treated as a sub-section of Epistemology
as well as Ontology as it deals with the questions of scientific
knowledge and corresponding exploration of the existing
reality as notable in objective phenomena. Philosophy of Art
is, again, a sub-section of Axiology in interpreting the
questions of valuation.

Philosophy is, therefore, an approach which is applicable

to and inclusive of different areas of knowledge and study. In
fact, it provides a large possibility of research areas within its
own multiple branches of enquiry like Psychology, Religion,
Social and Political fields, Existentialism, Phenomenology,
Philosophy of Language, Ethics, Aesthetics, Indian

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Philosophy or even Contemporary Indian Philosophy, and

etc. while the rest of possible fields of enquiry or research in
any of the fields of particular interest find their base at
philosophical methods as well as temperaments. So, with this
interpretation of Philosophy and its different branches let us
unearth the possible methods of Philosophical enquiry that
are highly relevant to every other branch of study and thereby
to any field of research as follows.

XI. Methods of Philosophy and Their Application in

Research

It is really very difficult to systematize the

comprehensive or an exhaustive list of the methods of
Philosophy. However, from the above discussion some of the
common and notable methods of Philosophy may be
mentioned here to understand the role and significance of
Philosophy in research. Some of these methods are:

a. Method of Analysis
b. Method of Diagnosis
c. Method of Hypothesis
d. Method of Abstraction, Imagination or Speculation
e. Method of Symbolization
f. Method of Negation
g. Method of Justification
h. Method of Deduction or generalization
i. Method of Induction or probable conclusion
j. Method of Criticism or Evaluation

Of all these methods the method of hypothesis, analysis,

evaluation or criticism, and deduction stand supreme and
relevantly include the other methods as mentioned here. To
understand the role of Philosophy in research more

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particularly, thus, we may note the following vital methods of

philosophy which form the essential tools of any research.

A. Method of Analysis and Research: The role of analysis

in any field of research is not only relevant but also
necessary. Without analyzing the content or problem of the
area of research systematic formulation as well as
appropriate apprehension of the issue at hand can hardly be
made. Here, by ‘analysis’ is meant the breaking of the
complex content or concept of research into further parts as
far as possible to find out the foundational constituents of
that complex content or concept in order to study and
understand its basic nature. (Ammerman, 1994: 2) The
method of analysis as notable in the branch of Philosophy of
Language and Analytic Philosophy is really of significant use
in different dimensions of every research.

B. Method of Hypothesis and Research: Hypothesis

framing is an important step of various research activities.
(Roy, 1986: 39) In this regard, what is hypothesis, what are
its conditions, or even the steps of forming a hypothesis etc.,
are essential to know before we use hypothesis in research.
All these concepts and conditions are discussed in
Philosophy in such a detail that it can be the starting point
of different researches based on the particular hypothesis.
So, researches of any kinds are indebted to philosophy for
this method of forming hypothesis.

C. Method of Criticism or Evaluation and Research:

Criticism or evaluation is exclusively a philosophical method
which is extensively used in researches of various types. In
fact, without critical estimation the loopholes of hypothesis
or the deductions from the hypothesis cannot be checked.
Consequently, a systematic and reliable research would not

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be produced. Hence, criticism or evaluation of concepts and

issues rule the validity of a research.

D. Method of Deduction and Research: The method of

Deduction is another important logical method of Philosophy
that is of significant use in any and every research. The
finding or concluding section of every research contains the
reflection of the use of this necessary method of Deduction.
This is a fulcrum of each research in the sense that it marks
the findings of the current research as well as gives the
outline to start a new research.

C. Method of Induction or Probability and Research: The

method of inductive generalization is another important
method of Philosophy which is vehemently used in scientific
researches. This method guides the probability element of the
deductions of scientific researches along with highlighting
the relevance of the Law of Causality and the Principle of
Uniformity of Nature in the experimental researches. (Ibid: 6-
8) Hence, in this era of science and scientific researches this
method of induction is of high relevance as a method of
philosophy.

From the above analysis of the application of

philosophical methods in research we may, further, find out
how Philosophy with its significant branches is applicable to
the relevant fields of research. In fact, by systematizing the
role that these remarkable branches and methods of
Philosophy play in any research we can well understand the
genuine relation between Philosophy and Research as
follows.

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XII. Significant relation of Philosophy and Research

Of the different branches of Philosophy logic and ethics

are very significant and have the greatest impact in any area of
research. For, logic and ethics constitute the general feature of
any systematic and authentic research as noted below,

A. Philosophy, Logic and Research: The branch of Philosophy

called logic is the preliminary point of any research activity
starting from stating the problem of a research to the deduction
of conclusion. In this regard, logic or reasoning is the guide of a
researcher in his area of research, whatever that area be. For,
without the use and application of reasoning no research can
gain fruitful recognition. In this sense, logic supports the points
of formulating the issue or what is called statement of the
problem of a research in a systematic order, shows the
application of the method of hypothesis, analysis, and
deduction of conclusion. So, it gives rigor and precision not only
to theoretic subjects like Philosophy itself but also to the
problems of scientific orientation. (Miri, 2010: 45) Hence, the
understanding and application of logic and its methods is
indispensable to any systematic research be it a research in the
field or science, arts or commerce.

B. Philosophy, Ethics and Research: Ethics as a branch of

Philosophy plays an immense role in any research activity.
Without following some basic and customary ethical principles
no research can be authentic in itself. This includes the setting
of objectives as per the available norms, criticism or evaluation
of various concepts and contents, and continuous awareness of
the role and responsibility at the different phases of the
research etc. In fact, proper acknowledgments of all the
previous searches that have reference in the field of an existing
re-search, recognizing the responsibility towards the society,
regulation of the entire research activity in accordance with the

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ethical norms like avoidance of plagiarism, respecting the copy

right issue, keeping honesty, sincerity and reliability in framing
and formulating the prospects of research, and etc. are the
basic ethical guidelines for any research. Ethics, thus, is that
important branch of Philosophy which regulates the whole
journey of an authentic research. So, as branches of Philosophy
logic and ethics, in a way, binds the various aspects of a
research throughout its development.

C. Some other branches of Philosophy and Research: The

other branches like psychology, analytic philosophy, socio-
political philosophy, religion or theology, phenomenology,
philosophy of science or of art have indirect influence in
research areas in context of their being human enterprises
where application of reason, faith and will must remain in
balanced form so as to support the various phases of a research
in general and its completion. Moreover, these latter sections of
Philosophical concerns may be useful in individual research
areas too as mentioned earlier like when one who is doing
research in psychology, in education, in science, in art and
literature, in religious texts, in sociological aspects, in political
science, in cognitive science, and etc. By this is meant that
when a researcher is experimenting in psychology, for instance,
he/she will have to go through the various issues and aspects
as related to mind including the theoretic aspect which a
combined study of psychology and philosophy of mind will
provide. Again, a person doing research in the field of any basic
science would have to understand the relevance of scientific
postulations as are critically analyzed by philosophy, in general,
and by philosophy of science, in particular, as a branch of
philosophy. In the same way one researcher doing research in
the social or political phenomena or concepts would have to
understand the relevance of the social or political ideal of the
society or the nation. The research in the area of art and
literature also follows the philosophical concepts of valuation or

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beauty particularly. A study of theology or an interpretation of

the philosophy of religions would, again, give enormous
resources to the researchers who explore religion or religious
texts. And, those doing research in any area of philosophy itself
would of course be privileged to have basic access to any of
these branches of philosophy.

XIII. Concluding remarks

Now, besides the above, the significant role of Philosophy

in Research may be grasped from the intimate relation of
Philosophy to different other disciplines. For example,
Mathematics, the Deductive or Abstract Science is a correlate
of the branch of Philosophy known as Deductive Logic. All the
different Natural Sciences, the Inductive Sciences or
Experimental Sciences, again, correspond to the premises and
principles of Inductive Logic dealing with the law of causality,
with the principle of uniformity in nature, with probability and
etc. The Social Sciences or the Evolutionary Sciences, further,
has reference to the concepts and ideals of Social & Political
Philosophy. Literature, a world of Art, is also in conformity with
the branch of Philosophy of Art or Aesthetic.

Thus, from the above we may sum up in conclusion that

since philosophy is the mother of different disciplines with its
unique nature as mostly a rational enterprise, and not a mere
subject itself, and since research in any discipline is closely
connected to the execution of different philosophical methods
research of any kind is not at all possible without recognition to
the role of philosophy. In other words, the extensive use of the
different methods of philosophy forms the basic criterion of any
research work. Hence, the worth of a research is dependent on
the mode of its application of the philosophical methods. In fact,
the initial academic research degree as awarded to a researcher
is in the title of “Doctor of Philosophy”. The reason behind such

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a use of an academic degree is that the research of any kind, in

any discipline, is nothing but the way of undergoing
philosophical activity of analysis, criticism, and deduction, for
instance. Thus, as a rational enterprise every research includes
philosophizing and as such enquires after the knowledge of
truth and reality, aspires after the ‘love of wisdom’ and at a final
stage presents a vision (darshan) of reality or what is actually
existent. It is, in this way, that we can understand the
inseparable relation between the role of philosophy and acts of
research.

References:

Ammerman, R. R. (Ed.). (1994). Classics of Analytic Philosophy,

U.S.A.: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Anscombe, G. E. M. (1981). Metaphysics and the Philosophy of
Mind, vol.2, Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Bhattacharya, S. (2007). Tattvagata Nitividya o Vyavaharik
Nitividya, Kolkata, India: Book Sindicate Private
Limited
Bhattacharya, S. (2010). Samajdarshan o Rastradarshan,
Kolkata, India: Book Sindicate Private Limited
Blackburn, S. (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Chakraborti, S. P. (1992). An Introduction to Philosophy,
Calcutta, India: J. N. Ghose & Sons
Chakravarty, D. K. (2000). Fundamental Questions of
Epistemology and Metaphysics, New Delhi, India:
Omsons Publications
Ghatak, B. (2012). Uttoroney Darshan, Kolkata, India: Navoday
Publications
Graham, G. (1998). Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction,
Malden, Massachusetts, USA: Blackwell Publishers

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Hick, J. H. (2015). Philosophy of Religion: Pearson Education

India
Hospers, J. (2001). An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis,
New Delhi, India: Allied Publishers Ltd.
Kothari, C. R. (2010). Research Methodology Methods and
Techniques, New Delhi, India: New Age International (P)
Limited.
Kumar, R. (2005). Research Methodology: a step –by-step guide
for beginners, Delhi, India: Pearson Education Pte. Ltd.,
Indian Branch
Miri, M. (Ed.). (2010). “Logic and the Philosophy of Science”.
Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Vol.
XXVII, No. 2, (45)
Pietersma, H. (2000). Phenomenological Epistemology, New
York, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Roy, B.N. (1977) Text Book of Deductive Logic, Calcutta, India:
S. C. Sarkar & Sons Private Ltd.
Roy, B. N. (1986). Text Book of Inductive Logic, Calcutta, India:
S. C. Sarkar & Sons Private Ltd.
Russell, B. (1962). The Problems of Philosophy, London: Oxford
University Press
Sanyal, J. (2012). Paschatya Darshan, Kolkata, India: Sribhumi
Publishing House
Shaffer, J. A. (1994). Philosophy of Mind, New Delhi: Prentice-
Hall of India Private Ltd.
Sinha, J. N. (1994). A Manual of Ethics, Calcutta, India: New
Central Book Agency
Sinha, J. N. (2009). Introduction to Philosophy, Kolkata, India:
New Central Book Agency (P) Ltd.
Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to Phenomenology,
Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press
Solomon, R. C. (ed.) (1972). Phenomenology and Existentialism,
New York: Harper & Row Publishers Inc.

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Chapter - 8

ETHICAL TEACHING AND LEARNING

Richa Baghel *

I. Introduction

As students navigate through their educational

journey, it's important that they seek guidance from a diverse
range of ethical personalities who hold different values. It's
crucial to avoid teachings that may divide orthodox schools
and stay away from current social or political issues. The
foundation for faith, divinity, and ethics should be strong so
that students can construct their lives upon it. To cater to
their intellectual and emotional temperaments, it's best to
focus on more specialized principles. Ultimately, the main
goal is to develop a character that is upright, righteous,
gentle, powerful, self-reliant, pious, and well-balanced.

In order to become a good human being and a

responsible citizen, it is essential to embrace fundamental
principles of values that shape our perception of life and
obligations. It is important to be mindful of promoting
tolerance and respect for different thoughts and practices
across all faiths. Developing an open-minded attitude
towards diverse perspectives is crucial for building a strong
character that embodies traits such as kindness, empathy,
honesty, and responsibility. By prioritizing these values, we
can create a positive impact on our own lives and the lives of
those around us.

* Assistant Professor, FMS Sri Sri University, Cuttack, India

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As per the University Grants Commission's policy

framework, "Mulya Pravah – Guidelines for Inculcation of
Human values and Professional Ethics in Higher Educational
Institutions," it is crucial for all stakeholders of an
institution, including faculty, students, administrators, and
others, to be guided by core values such as integrity,
dedication, trusteeship, sustainability, inclusiveness,
commitment, respectfulness, harmony, and belongingness.
The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 also emphasizes
the importance of ethical reasoning, traditional Indian
values, and basic human and Constitutional values such as
seva, ahimsa, swachchhata, satya, nishkam karma, shanti,
sacrifice, tolerance, diversity, pluralism, righteous conduct,
gender sensitivity, respect for elders, and respect for all
people and their inherent capabilities, regardless of
background. By prioritizing these values, we can create a
positive and inclusive educational environment that
promotes responsible citizenship and prepares students for
success in all aspects of life.

The National Education Policy of 2020 sends a

powerful message about the importance of ethics and
happiness in personal and professional growth. It highlights
the significance of ethical, human, and constitutional values
such as respect, empathy, scientific temper, responsibility,
equality, and justice. The policy aims to instill a sense of pride
in being Indian and cultivate a culture of responsibility and
commitment to global well-being among learners. It stresses
the development of knowledge and skills that enable students
to make informed decisions and contribute to creating a
sustainable world. The NEP recognizes that cultural diversity
is a unique feature of India and emphasizes that without
ethicality, diversity cannot flourish.

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It is crucial for teachers and educationists to pay

attention to these aspects and to encourage a broad mindset
of respect for all cultures. Cultural diversity is a unique
feature of India, and it is essential to nurture collective well-
being and broadmindedness in our children and society as a
whole. It should be encouraged and celebrated the
metamorphosis that children go through as they grow up,
and must ensure that their ego is Sattvic, meaning it is
coupled with compassion. This will enable them to take on
challenges and draw more energy from themselves to
contribute to creating a sustainable world.

It is important to recognize the value of ancient

scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, not just as religious
texts, but as a source of valuable life lessons. The teachings
within these texts can help individuals understand the
tendencies of their own minds and behaviors, as well as how
to correct them through specific activities and diet. It is
crucial for teachers and educators to observe the nature and
tendencies of each child and provide them with the necessary
tools to excel in all facets of life. By establishing a strong
communication line between the tutor and the taught, we can
ensure that progress happens in the right direction and that
our youth are inspired to become innovators and leaders in
their own right.

II. Ethics

Ethics: As rational beings, it is important that we

behave towards each other and other creatures with integrity,
honesty, adaptability, compassion, forgiveness, and a spirit
of moving forward with vision. Human relationships are
crucial, and prejudice against religious, cultural, or racial
groups should be handled with care and inner strength.
Learning about different cultures through descriptions,

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explanations, and reflections is both a science and an art that

can help us better understand each other and build a more
harmonious world. As H. H. Sri Sri Ravishankar wisely said,
"Ethics is what you don't want others to do to you, you don't
do it to others." Let us strive to embody these values in our
daily lives and interactions with others.

Morality: Understanding and following ethical

principles is crucial for promoting morality and right
conduct. In order to determine what is right, it is important
to have knowledge about human behavior and the
environment. Following social norms and laws is a key aspect
of morality and promotes the safety and well-being of all
beings. Living in harmony with one another and our
surroundings is essential to maintaining peaceful
relationships. By embodying integrity and having a strong
consciousness, we can cultivate focus, clarity, and sincerity
in our daily lives. Let us strive to uphold these values and
promote ethical behavior in all that we do.

Discrimination: It's important to remember that the

right thing to do isn't always the most pleasant, and vice
versa. However, focusing on conduct that follows
righteousness can lead to lasting happiness. While the fruit
of wrong doing may seem sweet at first, it often leads to
poison and pain in the long term. This ability to distinguish
between what is changing and what is non-changing, what is
temporary and what is permanent, and what is sustainable
and what is perishable is known as discrimination, or Vivek.
Having a sense of discrimination is crucial for avoiding
misery and achieving long-term benefits in life.

Conduct: As a teacher or moral guide, it is important

to help students understand the importance of discernment
and good conduct. These virtues, known as Dharma, are

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crucial in leading a fulfilling life. Good conduct, or Achara, is

a mark of righteousness and should be prioritized above all
else. By demonstrating and promoting good conduct, we can
guide others towards lasting happiness and success.III.
Doctrine of ethics

Diversity: It is important to understand that ethical

science recognizes unity and the absence of an "I" and "You"
mentality. The foundation of right conduct lies in reasoning,
and students must first take moral precepts from great sages
and saints taught in scriptures because they may not have
the time or power to think them out for themselves. By
applying these perspectives in their lives, they can develop a
sense of belongingness and oneness to everybody, which is a
unique feature of India. The ego is just a feeling of having a
wall between you and others, but in reality, there is no wall.
You belong to me, and I belong to you. When we wish good
for others, good things come back to us, and this is the law
of nature. We all belong to one human family with one cause,
which is to bring more happiness and more smiles on the
planet. India has an ancient saying, 'Vasudeva
Kutumbakam,' which means the world is one family. When
we are well-educated and have a larger heart, the world
becomes our family.

Consciousness: The mind is a fascinating thing, and

it is an essential part of our consciousness. We perceive the
world through our senses, and the mind helps us process
that information. But it is crucial to understand that the
mind is just a wave in the vast ocean of consciousness. Our
consciousness is what allows us to experience life. When we
learn to let go and attain higher states of consciousness, we
can experience cosmic consciousness, where we perceive the
whole universe as part of ourselves. Love flows strongly
between us and the world, and we can overcome the opposing

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forces and disturbances in life. Nurturing the sapling of

consciousness through spiritual practices like meditation
can help us grow into higher states of consciousness. As we
elevate ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually, we
become delicate and beautiful individuals capable of
accommodating different values in life without any
conditions. Our lives become worth living, and we become
strong yet soft.

Knowledge and Harmony: As humans, we are blessed

with the ability to gain knowledge in various ways. We can
use our senses to perceive the world around us, and our
intellect to understand it better. Science is one such example
of knowledge gained through intellect. However, sometimes
we experience moments when we feel something beyond our
intellect has taken over, and we gain intuitive knowledge.
This type of knowledge is beyond our understanding, but it
helps us grow and learn more about ourselves and the
universe. Our body is made up of matter, but our spirit or
consciousness is made up of beautiful qualities like joy,
energy, peace, and happiness. When we nurture our spirit
through spirituality, we can experience harmony in our
material life. Spiritual knowledge enhances our intuitive,
innovative, and communicative abilities, making us better
individuals. Therefore, it is essential to cultivate spirituality
in our lives and strive towards a higher state of
consciousness.

To achieve a state of balance and inner peace, it is

important to cultivate harmony in all aspects of our lives.
Whether it be through music, dance, meditation, or
celebration, finding harmony within ourselves and with the
world around us is key to achieving a higher state of
consciousness. The Bhagavad Gita offers a beautiful
philosophy of action, devotion, and knowledge, harmoniously

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blending the three yogas of Karma, Bhakti, and Gyan. By

aligning our thoughts, speech, and actions with each other,
we can achieve a sense of harmony and fulfillment in our
lives. Let us strive towards this goal, and cultivate spirituality
in our lives to enhance our intuitive, innovative, and
communicative abilities.

IV. Right and Wrong

Experience: In order to grow and develop our bodies

and minds, we must actively seek out experiences and work
to incorporate them into ourselves. Life is a balance between
turning inward and recognizing that everything is under
divine intervention, and actively seeking perfection in the
details of our work. When we turn inward, we must trust in
the divine plan and accept what is. However, when we are
working in the world, we must strive for perfection and
constantly seek ways to improve upon what we are doing. By
cultivating these two attitudes, we can find a sense of balance
and harmony in our lives.

Evolution: When we are actively engaged in the world,

it's important to constantly seek ways to improve upon what
we are doing. We should examine our actions and see where
we can bring improvement and what we can change.
However, when we turn inward, we must trust in the divine
plan and accept what is. Instead of finding faults in
everything, we should say to ourselves, "Everything is fine."
This attitude will allow us to connect with ourselves and go
deep within ourselves. This balance between action and
introspection will help us develop our capabilities, strengths,
intellect, and enthusiasm to work. With this mindset, we can
work with both awareness and enthusiasm.

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Right decision: Sometimes, we just know when we've

made the right decision. Even if it turns out to be the wrong
one, there's always something to learn and grow from it.
Having a peaceful and satisfied mind gives us the power to
bless others. When we're happy, we can give blessings to
those around us. On the other hand, when we're filled with
desires and our minds are agitated, it's hard to give blessings.
It's important to have contentment, not just for ourselves, but
for the benefit of others too.

Remember that even if you make a wrong decision, it's

not the end of the world. You always have the opportunity to
grow and learn from your mistakes. In life, it's important to
have a balance between passion, dispassion, and
compassion. Passion is necessary for pursuing your goals
and interests, while dispassion allows you to let go and find
relief. Compassion should be a part of your nature, as it
allows you to bless others and spread happiness. So, keep
these three qualities in mind as you navigate through life:
passion, dispassion, and compassion.

Correcting self and others: When it comes to correcting

both yourself and others, it's important to remember that
mistakes happen all the time. While it can be tempting to
immediately correct every mistake you see, it's important to
consider your intentions before doing so. Correcting mistakes
simply because they bother you is not an effective approach.
Instead, corrections should come from a place of authority
and love. These two qualities may seem contradictory, but
they are actually complementary. When you are able to find
the right balance between authority and love, you can
successfully correct mistakes while also being compassionate
and understanding. Remember, it's okay to make mistakes
and to allow room for growth and learning.

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V. Standards and Virtues

Virtues: As human beings, we all possess incredible

qualities and virtues within us. These virtues can be moral,
social, or intellectual and are seen as a fundamental principle
of our existence. However, sometimes we get so caught up in
the stress of our daily lives that we forget about these virtues.
It's important to remember that we are the source of all these
virtues. It's like a seed that has a membrane around it,
preventing it from sprouting. But when the seed is given the
right environment and nourishment, the membrane loosens
and the seed begins to sprout, eventually growing into a tree.
So, take the time to cultivate and refine your virtues and let
them shine through in all that you do.

It's interesting to explore the ways in which we can

cultivate and refine our virtues. Sadhana is a great way to
soak the seed, while yoga can help us manifest all the
perfections that are already within us. However, it's
important to remember that our virtues can sometimes be
covered by impurities, a veil of ignorance, or wrong concepts
that cause disturbance. Fortunately, meditation and yoga
can help us come out of all of this and experience full
enthusiasm, energy, joy, and all of our virtues shining
through.

Duty: When we approach our responsibilities with love

and joy, we transform the heavy stone of duty into a beautiful
flower. Instead of seeing our duties as a burden or bondage,
we can view them as opportunities for service and expression
of our virtues. For example, taking care of children can be
seen as a service to the Divine, as we are helping to guide and
nurture these young souls. By shifting our perspective and
embracing the beauty of our actions, we can experience a
sense of fulfillment and purpose in all that we do.

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One of the most empowering things you can do is take

responsibility for all your experiences in life. When we do this,
we put an end to negative tendencies such as grumbling and
making excuses. By setting a time-bound goal, we give
direction to our life force, and imagination is essential for
this. It can be frustrating when we have a limited
imagination, but as a devotee, we can surrender to the Divine
and step lightly towards our goals. It's important to make a
distinction between surrendering to God and taking
responsibility for our actions, as stated in the Bhagavad Gita.
By taking responsibility for uplifting those around us, we can
use our actions as opportunities for service and expression of
our virtues.

Truth: Finding true and long-lasting happiness is our

duty, and we can achieve this by identifying the truth. The
truth is something that doesn't change, and by examining
our lives, we can identify what is not true. This outlook helps
us realize that we are surrounded by untruth. It's essential
to identify what appears as untruth to become free from it.
Our life experiences help us identify our own untruth, and as
we mature, we realize that everything, including events,
situations, people, emotions, thoughts, opinions, concepts,
and our bodies, is untruth. It is only then that we can
experience true satsang, or company of truth and good.

Self-regarding virtues: In our scriptures, self-control is

emphasized as the most valuable virtue. Our actions are born
from our mind, speech, and body, and it's important to be
free from the influence of our five senses and sense organs -
including eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. While we have
the ability to enjoy sense objects, it's important to recognize
that our ability to do so is limited. When desire becomes
unlimited, it creates an imbalance that can lead to

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dissatisfaction. Through practices like yoga and meditation,

we can replenish our energy reserves and achieve a better
balance between spending and conserving energy through
our senses. By mastering our senses, thinking before we
speak, and having control over our physical body, we can
achieve a greater sense of self-mastery and fulfillment.

Relation with superior, equal and inferior: When it

comes to relationships, it's important to consider the different
levels of connection that exist. There are intellectual
connections, emotional connections, and soul connections.
While emotional connections are important, soul connections
take things to a deeper level where you surpass all emotions
and connect on a much more profound level. Even if there
are disagreements or misunderstandings on an intellectual
or emotional level, recognizing that everyone and everything
is part of us can help us evolve our consciousness and
achieve a greater sense of connection with the world around
us. By prioritizing soul connections, we can create more
meaningful and fulfilling relationships with people from all
walks of life.

It's true that the mind and intellect can create a sense
of separation and ego. This can make it difficult to feel love
and connection with others. It's important to recognize this
and work towards breaking down those barriers in order to
create more harmonious relationships. Whether it's in the
office or at home, prioritizing meaningful connections and
recognizing that we are all part of the same consciousness
can help us achieve a greater sense of fulfillment and
connection in our lives.

It's important to treat our superiors with respect and

honor, as this can lead to a healthy life, knowledge, fame, and
strength. When it comes to our relationships with equals, it's

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important to prioritize love, compassion, friendliness, and

sweet speech. As for our interactions with inferiors,
tenderness, compassion, gentleness, and kindness are key.
And let's not forget the importance of forgiveness - a truly
noble nature is one that is able to forgive wrongs and do what
is right.

VI. Emotional Intelligence

Emotions: It's very important to use wisdom when it

comes to our emotions. Knowing which emotions to express
and when to express them is key. Emotional intelligence
involves understanding our own emotions and the emotions
of others, and how they affect behavior. Being able to listen
without an agenda, maintain a positive attitude, take
responsibility for our actions, develop self-awareness,
connect our breath to our emotions, and empathize with
others are all important steps towards becoming more
emotionally intelligent. This can lead to more successful
relationships in both our personal and professional lives. It's
worth noting that emotional intelligence is different from IQ
and can have a huge impact on our overall success and
happiness.

i) It's important to be an attentive listener when

communicating with others. Instead of waiting for a
chance to interject with your own opinions, try to listen
without any preconceived notions or agendas. By doing
so, you can foster a more positive and productive
conversation, and help to bring out the most important
points of the speaker. In turn, this can help to create a
more fulfilling and satisfying relationship with the
person you are speaking with. Remember to choose the
behavior you want to see in others, and try to mirror it
yourself.

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ii) Maintaining a positive attitude can go a long way in

improving communication and relationships, both in
the workplace and in our personal lives. It's important
to remember that even when faced with difficult or
irritable colleagues or loved ones, exuding positivity can
help to ease tensions and create a more conducive
atmosphere. By choosing to approach situations with a
positive outlook, we can promote open communication
and build stronger, more fulfilling relationships.

iii) It's important to take responsibility for your actions,

whether it's at work or at home. Emotionally intelligent
people understand this and are honest when they make
a mistake. By focusing on the issue at hand instead of
your own mistakes, you can connect with others and
build more meaningful relationships. When you take
responsibility for your actions, you'll find that people are
more forgiving and accepting of you. Remember that
honesty and accountability go a long way.

iv) It's important to develop self-awareness in order to

better understand yourself and others. Spending time
alone and practicing meditation can help you gain
perspective and observe your thoughts and emotions
objectively. This can lead to a greater level of emotional
intelligence and the ability to relate to others' needs and
feelings. By taking responsibility for your actions and
focusing on the issue at hand, you can build meaningful
relationships with others. Honesty and accountability
are key to creating an environment of forgiveness and
acceptance.

v) It's important to be aware of how your emotions impact

your interactions with others. Expressing emotions at

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the right time and in the right way is key to building

meaningful relationships. One way to control your
emotions is by connecting them to your breath.
Observing your breath can help you become more aware
of your emotional state and regulate it better. When
you're angry, your breath is typically fast and heavy.
Practicing breathing exercises can help you manage
your emotions in a healthy way.

vi) It’s important to be able to see things from others'

perspectives, especially when managing a large team.
What may seem right to you might not be the same for
someone else, so it's important to empathize and
understand their point of view. This is where being
emotionally intelligent comes in handy - it allows you to
see things from different angles and act accordingly. The
right perception happens when you put yourself in the
other person’s shoes. And don't forget, one way to
regulate your emotions is by connecting them to your
breath. By observing your breath, you can become more
aware of your emotional state and manage it in a
healthy way.

To increase Emotional Quotient, it's crucial to be in

tune with emotions and own sense of self-awareness. This
allows to better understand and connect with others.
Remember, Emotional Intelligence is a quality that develops
gradually throughout your life, and nurture plays a huge role
in its cultivation. Practicing meditation and gaining
knowledge can facilitate healthy development of Emotional
Quotient. The more consistent we are with our practice, the
easier it becomes to tap into our inner strength, creativity,
self-esteem, and intuitive ability - all of which contribute to
Emotional Intelligence.

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VII. Conclusion

If one wants to become a true master of something,

one must teach it to others. One cannot give to others what
they do not have their-self. Teaching is an effective way to
learn deeply. It is important to provide students with training
in moral values and life skills, as they will encounter new
situations that will challenge their judgment and sense of
morality as they grow older. Ancient wisdom can help instill
a strong moral compass in children and youth based on
rationality and inner strength.

Having received a lot of education, it is important to

contribute to society. Education is not just about acquiring
knowledge, but also about utilizing that knowledge to create
a beneficial influence. Regrettably, education is frequently
misconstrued and misapplied, causing issues in the world.
We must educate ourselves and those nearby about the
actual purpose of education, which is to embody high ethical
standards and promote harmony and compassion in society.
By doing this, we can genuinely make a positive impact on
the world.

Education should be focused on developing strong,

well-rounded personalities that possess the ability to give and
receive constructive criticism. Having a sense of humor and
a feeling of belongingness can also go a long way in creating
friendliness and promoting harmony in society. Additionally,
Free thinking is crucial in encouraging creativity and
innovation. It's unfortunate that many people are boxed in by
narrow ideologies, but by continuing to educate ourselves
and those around us, can break free from these limitations
and expand our perspectives.

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References:

Arora, J. R. (2004). Management Mantras in Emerging India-

Extract of the Talk Delivered by his Holiness Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar. Review of Professional Management,
2(1), 60-62.
Dada, C. (2020). Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Art of Living, and
the International Association for Human Values. New
Religious Movements in Modern Asian History:
Sociocultural Alternatives, 39.
Gooptu, N. (2016). New spirituality, politics of self-
empowerment, citizenship, and democracy in
contemporary India. Modern Asian Studies, 50(3), 934-
974.
Mishra, T. K. (2022). Happiness and Ethics in the New
Education Policy 2020 of India. Education Journal,
11(4), 174-179.
Ravishankar, S. S. (2019). An intimate note to the sincere
seeker. Aslan Business Solutions.
Shankar, S. S. R. (2014). Management Mantras. Arktos.
Tripathi, R. (2014). The science and art of learning about
cultures: Descriptions, explanations, and reflections
in conversation with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder,
Art of Living. IIMB Management Review, 26(2), 122-
129.

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Chapter - 9

DECODING SELF-ARCHIVING RIGHTS: HOW

SHERPA/ ROMEO SHAPES RESEA RCH
DISSEMINA TION
Mukut Sarmah*

I. Introduction

Online resources for checking publisher copyright and

self-archiving policies, play a crucial role in the academic
community by providing comprehensive and up-to-date
information on publishers' open access policies. These tools
enable researchers and authors to quickly ascertain their rights
and obligations regarding the self-archiving of scholarly
articles. They offer detailed insights into various aspects of
copyright compliance, such as versions of articles that can be
archived, potential embargo periods, and the specific conditions
under which works can be shared in institutional or subject-
based repositories. By simplifying the complex landscape of
publisher policies, these online resources significantly aid in
the legal and ethical dissemination of academic work, fostering
wider access to knowledge and supporting the open access
movement.

II. What is SHERPA/RoMEO?

Sherpa Romeo is a web-based platform that compiles

and displays open access policies from publishers and journals
globally. Utilized by researchers, repository personnel, and

* Associate Professor and Head, Department of Library and Information Science, Assam
University (A Central University), Silchar, Assam

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research support groups worldwide, it aids in deciphering the

intricate open access policies of publishers and journals. Each
publisher or journal in Romeo undergoes a thorough
examination by a dedicated team, who provide detailed
summaries of the self-archiving rights and conditions granted
to authors, on an individual journal basis. This policy
information is primarily targeted at the academic research
community.

Figure 1: Home page Sherpa Romeo

(Source: https://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo)

Over the past 15 years, since its inception, there have

been significant changes in publisher policies and the open
access field, presenting challenges in accurately conveying the
full spectrum of open access options allowed by publisher
policies, in a user-friendly manner.

III. Updated Sherpa RoMEO

When Sherpa Romeo was initially developed, the

landscape of open access was markedly different, presenting
unique challenges to researchers and library professionals.

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With the evolution of the open access sector, there has been a
noticeable increase in the complexity of publishers' open access
policies, a complexity that the old Romeo struggled to
accurately represent. The revamped Romeo is designed to tackle
this issue, ensuring it remains a reliable resource for
researchers and repository staff. Acknowledging the need for an
improved solution to help users navigate intricate policy details,
Jisc's open access team embarked on an ambitious redesign
project, tapping into the expertise of both their team and
professionals from the sector. Their goal was to create a
platform with a refreshed interface, better equipped to address
the sector's current and future requirements, thus enhancing
their support to users in understanding the ever-evolving open
access policy environment.

Key enhancements in the user experience of the revamped

Sherpa Romeo encompass:

 A refreshed, more contemporary interface that offers

enhanced compatibility with mobile devices.
 An upgraded search and navigation system, allowing for
quicker access to desired information.
 A restructured layout for publisher policies, simplifying
the understanding of various open access choices
permitted by these policies.
 The introduction of an iconography system to visually
represent the features of publisher policies.

IV. Exploring and Finding Information

The updated Sherpa Romeo offers an expanded array of

search and browse options compared to its predecessor. This
enhancement aims to expedite your information retrieval
process, catering to the diverse needs of the service's users.

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V. Methods for Searching and Browsing

From the Sherpa Romeo homepage or the dedicated search

page, you have multiple ways to look up the information you
require. To perform a search on Sherpa Romeo
(https://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo), the website offers specific
search options. These new search and browsing features
include:

i) Journal Title or ISSN: Search by typing the title of the

journal or its International Standard Serial Number
(ISSN).
ii) Publisher Name: If you're looking for policies from a
specific publisher, you can search using the publisher's
name.
Additionally, the site offers options to browse by country and
by publisher, providing a more comprehensive way to explore
open access policies

Figure 2: Search Options

Example:

Following is an example of search result on the journal “Library

Hi Tech”

Title : Library Hi Tech [English]

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ISSNs : Print: 0737-8831

URL : https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication
/issn/0737-8831
Publishers : Emerald [Commercial Publisher]

Figure 3: Search Page of Sherpa Romeo

Figure 4: Display of Searched Journal

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I. Policy Structure on Sherpa RoMEO

Policies are organized as a series of pathways, each

delineating a method for achieving open access for a document.
Authors can use these pathways to understand the steps to
make their articles open access. Icons are used within these
pathways to provide a succinct overview of the publisher's
policies.

Each article version may have multiple open access

pathways, influenced by various elements like funding sources,
publisher stipulations, or article availability. Take, for instance,
the accepted version of an article which might have two open
access pathways. The author can choose either Pathway a or
Pathway b, based on the article's funding source.

 Pathway a stipulates that the article must be funded by

specific research councils. It includes a 2-year embargo
and a CC BY-NC license, allowing availability on any
repository or non-commercial website, along with two
specific conditions.
 Pathway b is applicable for articles funded by different
councils or departments. This also involves a 2-year
embargo, a CC BY-NC license, and availability in any
repository or non-commercial site, with two associated
conditions.

II. Iconography for Publisher Policies

In its latest update, Sherpa Romeo introduces an

iconography system to symbolize various facets of publisher
policy. Publisher policies in Sherpa Romeo are organized as
distinct pathways, each illustrating a unique method for a
document to achieve open access. These pathways encompass
a range of policies, and the icons are designed to depict the
specific properties within these pathways. Jisc's team of open

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access experts carefully chose these icons, and their

effectiveness was validated through user testing with a group of
professionals from the industry. They may have the following
properties, with associated icons:

Icon
Icon Description
Name/Property
Requirements that must be met to
allow the pathway to be used, this
includes:
 Prerequisites: General
prerequisites.
Prerequisites  Prerequisite Funders: The
pathway applies when funded by
these funders.
 Prerequisite Subjects: The
pathway applies to research of
these subjects.
The pathway requires the payment of
a fee (in addition to any normal
OA Fee publication fees that may be
required) to make the article Open
Access.
The pathway includes Open Access
OA Publishing
Publishing.
The pathway does not allow
availability of the item until the
Embargo embargo period has ended. Unless
stated otherwise, the embargo starts
on the date of publication.
The licences that the pathway
Licence
requires.
Copyright The copyright owner that the
Owner pathway requires.

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The repositories in which the journal

Publisher
publisher will automatically deposit
Deposit
the article version.
The websites on which the pathway
allows the article version to be
available. This includes self-
Location
archiving and publisher-deposit
locations, including the website of
the journal.
Conditions that apply to the
Conditions
pathway.

Notes Notes about the pathway

No Open Access pathway exists for

Not Permitted
the article version.

III. Registering a New Open Access Policy

To add a new open access policy for a publisher or journal

not listed in Romeo, one must complete the detailed form on
their Contact Us page. It's important to ensure the publisher or
journal aligns with their inclusion criteria. Their team will
evaluate the submission by reviewing the publisher and policy
websites, and if they meet their criteria, they will add them to
the directory, including related journals, and notify upon
completion.

IV. Updating an Existing Open Access Policy on Romeo

They welcome updates to publisher and journal records

from their community. To modify an existing record, one should
use the 'Update Record' form accessible through the 'Suggest
an update for this record' button at the bottom of each record.
Publishers updating multiple titles can send a spreadsheet with
the required information to [email protected]. Their team will

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verify all updates with the publisher, so changes might take

some time to reflect.

V. Inclusion Criteria for Journals and Publishers:

Journals:

 Must have a valid ISSN (including serial publications and

conference proceedings).
 The editorial board must be clearly listed on the website.
 Licenses, open access policies, and copyright statements
should be easily accessible online.

Publishers:

 The governing body should be clearly stated on the

website.
 Contact information must be readily available.
 Publication ethics policies should be transparent on the
website.
 They use the COPE Guidelines on publication ethics as
a standard for evaluating publishers.

VI. Sherpa Services

Sherpa Services, provided by Jisc, comprise several tools

designed to assist authors and institutions in open access
publication and compliance. These services include:

a) Sherpa Fact: It checks if compliance with funder open

access policies can be achieved with a particular journal,
using data from Sherpa Romeo, Sherpa Juliet, and other
sources.
b) Sherpa Romeo: This service summarizes publishers'
open access archiving conditions for individual journals,

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aggregating and analyzing publisher open access policies

globally.
c) Sherpa Juliet: A searchable database providing
information on funders’ conditions for open access
publication, including policies and requirements on open
access, publication, and data archiving.
Additionally, OpenDOAR, part of the Sherpa services family,
facilitates the identification, browsing, and search for
repositories

A. Journals

 Journals must have a valid ISSN listed on their website

— to be valid it must appear on the ISSN portal.
 Each website must clearly state its editorial board.
 All licences, open access policies and copyright
statements must be readily available online
 Your open access policy should include at least one way
that an article (any version Published/Accepted/
Submitted) can be made open access.
B. Publishers

 Contact details must be readily available

 Publication ethics policies must be clearly stated on the
website
They use COPE Guidelines on publication ethics as a guide
to best practice when evaluating publishers for inclusion. They
recommend that publishers follow these guidelines.

VII. RoMEO Statistics

Sherpa Romeo, a comprehensive resource for open access

publishing policies, provides vital statistics that reflect its
extensive database and usage. The platform showcases a vast
collection of publishers and journals, each with detailed open

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access policies. These statistics not only highlight the number

of journals and publishers included but also offer insights into
user interactions, such as the frequency of searches and
updates to policies. This data underscores the platform's role in
aiding authors, researchers, and librarians worldwide in
navigating the complex landscape of open access publishing,
emphasizing its significance in the academic and research
community.

Following is an overview of the data held in Romeo:

Figure 5: Publisher by Country

Figure 7: Growth of Publishers in Romeo (Source:

https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/view/romeo_visualisations/1.html)

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VIII. Conclusion

Sherpa Romeo, is a globally utilized service that analyses

open access policies of publishers worldwide, with over 80% of
its usage coming from outside the UK. Collaborating with The
Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services
(SCOSS), a funding initiative aimed at sustaining essential non-
commercial, open access infrastructure services, Sherpa Romeo
has received a positive response, garnering support from
various consortia and institutions. It is an indispensable online
resource for researchers, offering detailed information on
publisher copyright and self-archiving policies. It allows
researchers to understand and comply with these policies while
ensuring their work's broader accessibility. The database's
standardized format aids in comparing policies across
publishers and includes specifics about article versions eligible
for self-archiving, permissible deposit locations, and applicable
embargo periods. This tool is particularly useful for researchers
looking to share their work in institutional or personal
repositories, or other platforms, ensuring they adhere to the
relevant copyright and self-archiving policies, thereby
increasing the visibility and impact of their research.
SHERPA/RoMEO is a key asset in navigating the complex
landscape of academic publishing, making it an essential tool
for the research community.

References:

Jenkins, C., Probets, S., Oppenheim, C., & Hubbard, B. (2007).

RoMEO Studies 8: self-archiving: The logic behind the
colour-coding used in the Copyright Knowledge Bank.
Program, 41(2), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1108/
00330330710742908

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Sherpa Romeo. (n.d.). About Sherpa Romeo version 2. Retrieved

January 3, 2024, From https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/
about.html

SHERPA Services. (n.d.). Juliet Statistics - SHERPA Services.

Retrieved January 3, 2024, from https://v2.sherpa.
ac.uk/juliet/statistics.html

SHERPA Services. (n.d.). SHERPA Services has joined Jisc.

SHERPA Services Blog. Retrieved January 3, 2024 from
[URL of the SHERPA Services Blog]

SHERPA/RoMEO. (n.d.). FAQ - Publisher copyright policies &

self-archiving. Retrieved January 3, 2024, from [URL of the
FAQ page on SHERPA/RoMEO]

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Chapter - 10

GUIDELINES AND TOOLS ENGAGED IN

PUBLICATION ETHICS
Gautam Kumar Sarma *

I. Introduction

Ethics encompasses the moral concepts that dictate an

individual's conduct. Publication ethics is careful observance of
the scholarly publication's ethical and legal standards. These are
standards of action that differentiate between acceptable and
objectionable behavior, as well as right and wrong.

A publication is a medium designed for the purpose of

disseminating information to a wide audience. Books, magazines,
journals, and other printed materials are commonly referred to as
publications. Online publications are distributed over the
Internet. In the context of academics and research, publications
pertain to a certain mode of communication employed by scholars
and researchers to delineate the intellectual parameters of their
respective fields and areas of proficiency. Academic and research
articles are distinguished by their adherence to a formal tone and
reliance on evidence-based arguments.

Consequently, there has been a notable surge in

endeavors, discourse, and deliberation aimed at enhancing
consciousness regarding research integrity while concurrently
advocating for ethical norms, fairness, and inclusivity within the
realm of academic publishing. The examination of the duties and
obligations of authors, editors, publishers, societies, and funders

* Deputy Librarian, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam

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in upholding trust and augmenting transparency is of particular

significance. It is also essential to always acknowledge the source
of any words, ideas, data, or quoted text that an academician or
researcher has used in his/her writing as a defense against
allegations of plagiarism.

The academic environment has undergone substantial

changes in the last few years. These changes include
advancements in publishing technology, the emergence of open
science practices, the rise of predatory publishing, the
globalization of academic endeavors, the growing reliance on
research assessment exercises, and the widely discussed
replication crisis.

Consequently, there has been a notable surge in

endeavors, discourse, and deliberation aimed at enhancing
consciousness regarding research integrity while concurrently
advocating for ethical norms, fairness, and inclusivity within the
realm of academic publishing. The examination of the duties and
obligations of authors, editors, publishers, societies, and funders
in upholding trust and augmenting transparency is of particular
significance.

Publication ethics is governed by-

Reseach ethics is governed •Editorial policy
by- •Committee on Publication Ethics
•Regulatory authority (e.g., (COPE)
UGC) policy •World Association of Medical Editors
•Institutional ethics policy (WAME)
•Institutional regulations •Consortium for Academic and
Research Ethics (CARE)

Figure 1: Research Ethics vs Publication Ethics

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

II. Publication Misconduct

Research misconduct is also applicable in the field of scholarly

publishing. In scholarly publishing misconduct encompasses
fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.
(https://ori.hhs.gov/definition-research-misconduct).
Publication misconduct violates publication ethics.
 Fabrication refers to the act of generating fictitious facts
or outcomes and subsequently documenting or
presenting them.
 Falsification involves manipulating study supplies,
equipment, or techniques and altering or omitting data
or conclusions to misrepresent the research in the
official research record.
 Plagiarism refers to the act of appropriating another
individual's ideas, procedures, results, or words without
providing proper attribution.

Table 1: Types of plagiarism

(https://www.ithenticate.com/resources/reports/deco
ding-plagiarism-and-attribution)
Types of Definition How to avoid
plagiarism
Complete Complete plagiarism Never copy someone
Plagiarism occurs when an else's work. Do
author steals a original research
study, article, or and write papers
other work and yourself.
resubmits it under
their name.
Verbatim Verbatim plagiarism Cite other people's
Plagiarism is duplicating words and works if
someone else's you have utilized
words without them. If the source
is cited precisely, it

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

credit, indentation, should be enclosed

or quotation marks. in quotation marks.
Misleading An incomplete or Refrain from taking
Attribution erroneous list of out co-authors who
authors contributed to the
contributing to a study or adding new
paper is known as co-authors who did
misleading not participate.
attribution.
Replication Replication involves Manuscripts should
submitting an only be sent to one
article to various publisher at a time.
publications and Please cancel
having it published submissions
twice. submitted to
numerous outlets by
mistake.
Salami Slicing Salami slicing One scientific article
divides data from a should report one
single research study. The second
concept into smaller publication should
publishable parts or focus on new
slices. understanding
rather than
rehashing data from
the first.
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing It is possible to
means modifying paraphrase while
someone else's properly crediting
words and using the authors.
them on your own. It
includes basic
rephrasing to total
rewriting while

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

retaining the
original idea.
Self-plagiarism Authors commit Proper citation
self-plagiarism should be provided
when they when utilizing data
reproduce work and text from one's
from their prior own previously
studies without published work.
appropriately
attributing the
source.
Invalid Source When an author Keep track of
cites a false, sources and verify
nonexistent, or correctness before
inaccurate source, it submitting an
is considered invalid academic paper.
source. Never lie about a
source.

III. Predatory Publishing

Predatory publishing is commonly used to define the

deliberate and profit-driven dissemination of supposedly
scholarly material, such as journal articles, monographs,
books, or conference proceedings, in a manner that is dishonest
or fraudulent and without any consideration for ensuring the
quality of the content. Predatory publishers have the potential
to deceive authors, as well as their sponsors and institutions,
by imposing costs associated with publication without
delivering the anticipated or industry-standard services
(Kearney, 2015). The growth of predatory publication has been
widely acknowledged due to the rise of online publishing,
combined with a prevalent academic environment emphasizing

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

research assessment tied to the prestige of journal titles and

journal-level metrics.
Predatory publishing may often be identified by the presence of
several commonly co-occurring elements, which include hidden
or ambiguous author fees, inadequate peer review conducted
by individuals without expertise in the relevant subject, and the
assurance of article approval and/or very rapid publication
timelines.

Figure 2: Predatory Publishing

Illustration by David Parkins

Additional potential signs of predatory publishing may

encompass the following aspects:

 Insufficient or deceptive disclosure of policies (such as

copyright and user licenses), procedures, editorial staff,
achievements, and affiliations on the journal's website or
in communication
 The journal's description and requirements, along with
several published papers, exhibit deficiencies in
language usage, characterized by poor grammar and
substandard production quality.
 The current situation reveals a conspicuous need
for complete ethical guidelines and the obligatory

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

inclusion of ethics statements, specifically in research

involving animals and people, conflicts of interest, and
research financing.
 There is a lack of mechanisms for correcting or retracting
articles that may contain errors or misleading
information.
 Articles included in a table of contents may only be
retrievable on electronic search systems for a while.

The identification of indicators that may suggest the

presence of counterfeit academic journals is derived from the
comprehensive framework encompassing the “16 Principles of
Transparency” (COPE, 2019). They are as follows-

 Website: The journal's website misrepresents indexing,

metrics, and scientific publishing organization affiliation,
needs an ISSN, borrows one from another publication,
and copies another journal/publisher's site.
 Name of journal: The journal name may be like another,
causing confusion regarding scope or relationship.
 Peer review process: Insufficient or no peer review is
provided for submitted papers.
 Ownership and management: Information regarding the
ownership and/or management will be missing,
confusing, misleading, or incorrect.
 Governing body: Information regarding the editorial
board will be missing, confusing, misleading, or
incorrect.
 Editorial team/contact information: Information
regarding the editorial team will be insufficient,
confusing, misleading, or incorrect.
 Copyright and licensing: Missing or confusing copyright,
publication, and user licensing policies.
 Author fees: There is no clear mention of submission
fees.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

 Process for identification of and dealing with allegations

of research misconduct: There will be no explanation of
how cases of claimed misconduct are dealt with.
 Publication ethics: No guidelines exist for publication
ethics, including authorship, data sharing, data
replication, intellectual property, ethical oversight,
conflicts of interest, and corrections/retractions.
 Publishing schedule: No publication frequency is
specified, and the publishing timeline looks inconsistent
based on journal content.
 Access: Access to material and related prices are not
specified, and some pieces are unavailable.
 Archiving: Journal material is not backed up
electronically.
 Revenue sources: There are no explicit business models,
partnerships, or sources of revenue.
However, publishing fees or waiver status are tied to
editorial decisions.
 Advertising: Advertising policy is unknown or tied to
editorial decisions.
 Direct marketing: Direct marketing is obtrusive and
deceptive.

IV. Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

Several prominent organizations, including the

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association
of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Open Access Academic
Publishing Association (OASPA), have collaborated to develop a
comprehensive framework of principles about transparency
and optimal methodologies in the context of academic
publishing.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

A. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

COPE was created to advise journal publishers on ethical

concerns. After initially targeting academic journal editors and
publishers, COPE today welcomes universities, research
institutions, organizations, and individuals interested in
publishing ethics. The COPE was established in 1997 by a
collective of medical journal editors who expressed
apprehension about instances of misconduct in academic
publishing. These instances encompassed various unethical
practices such as plagiarism, attempted and actual duplicate
publication, fraudulent data manipulation, unethical research
conduct, breaches of confidentiality, and similar
transgressions. COPE is now a registered charity after being a
loose group. COPE encourages the publishing culture to
embrace ethical practices. COPE influences via education,
resources, member support, and professional debate in the
community.
Journals, publishers, organizations, universities, or research
institutes that are members of COPE must embrace ethical
practices in scholarly publishing and must apply COPE
principles of publication ethics defined in the “Core Practices of
COPE”. The “Core Practices of COPE” includes
(https://publicationethics.org/core-practices):

 Allegations of misconduct: Journals should have a

defined mechanism for resolving accusations, but they
are brought to their notice. Journals must investigate
wrongdoing before and after publication. Policies should
address whistleblower charges.
 Authorship and contributorship: Clear authorship and
contributorship norms and dispute resolution
mechanisms should clarify who contributed and in what
capacity.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

 Complaints and appeals: Journals should explicitly

explain how to handle complaints against personnel,
editorial boards, or publishers.
 Conflicts of interest / Competing interests: Authors,
reviewers, editors, journals, and publishers require
apparent conflict of interest definitions and policies
before and after publication.
 Data and reproducibility: Journals should promote data
availability, reporting criteria, clinical trials and other
research design registration according to professional
standards.
 Ethical oversight: Monitoring of permission to publish,
publication on vulnerable populations, ethical research
using animals and humans, management of sensitive
data, and ethical business/marketing practices is
necessary.
 Intellectual property: Copyright, publication, and other
intellectual property regulations should be clearly stated.
Authors and readers should also know about publication
fees. Policies should define pre-publication that
precludes consideration. Define plagiarism and
redundant/overlapping publishing.
 Journal Management: The business model, rules,
practices, and software of an editorially independent
publication and the administration and training of
editorial team must be well-defined and executed.
 Peer review processes: The peer review process must be
transparent and well-managed. The editors and
reviewers should learn the rules on many areas of peer
review, including suitable review models and methods for
resolving conflicts of interest, appeals, and disputes.
 Post-publication discussions and corrections: Post-
publication discourse should be there in the journal site,
also should have provision via letters to the editor, or in

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an authorized platform. They must have post-publication

corrections, revisions, and retractions.

B. World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)

WAME (pronounced “whammy”), a nonprofit volunteer

association of peer-reviewed medical journal editors worldwide,
was founded in 1995 to promote worldwide collaboration and
education. WAME has the following goals (https://www.
wame.org):

 To facilitate worldwide cooperation and communication

among editors of peer-reviewed medical journals.
 To improve editorial standards and promote
professionalism in medical editing through education,
self-criticism and self-regulation.
 To encourage research on the principles and practice of
medical editing.

Member journals (medical journals) of WAME must undergo

some recommendations as per its publication ethics policies.
Medical journals strive to ensure the inclusion of the most
rigorous scientific research by employing a peer-review process.
To achieve this goal, the entire peer review and publication
process must be carried out with care, objectivity, and equity.
Most elements within this process include significant ethical
concepts and judgements, frequently left implicit and seldom
disclosed to the public. The credibility of academic journals
relies on the level of trust they get from many stakeholders,
such as readers, authors, researchers, reviewers, editors,
patients, study participants, funding agencies, and public
health policy administrators. Trust may be enhanced by
thoroughly explaining the journal's rules and guaranteeing the
ethical treatment of all parties engaged in the publication
process.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

The following are the areas of recommendation as per

Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals by WAME
(WAME, n.d.):

 Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals:

When an individual's private interests (competing
interests) conflict with their scientific and publishing
responsibilities, a reasonable observer might question
whether the individual's behaviour or judgement was
motivated by competing interests. COI in medical
publications impacts journals, research institutes,
funding agencies, the media, and the public who care
about research integrity. Journals care about
manuscript-specific COI.
 Study Design and Ethics: Good research should be well-
justified, planned, and geared to answer the research
topic.
 Authorship: Journals should publish authorship
guidelines. Authorship usually involves drafting and
evaluating the document and contributing intellectually,
although roles might differ. Participants should decide
who will be an author and in what order early in the study
process to minimize disagreements and
misunderstandings that might delay or prohibit article
publication. All writers must pledge to write the paper
accurately, and one must be the guarantor and assume
responsibility for the job.
 Peer Review: Scientific publishing and dissemination
depend on peer review. Editors choose Peer reviewers to
evaluate written research's strengths and flaws to
enhance journal reporting and discover the best and most
acceptable information. Article reviewers should be
scientific specialists and picked for their objectivity and
scientific understanding.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

 Editorial Decisions: The evaluation of a submission should

rely only on its significance, novelty, transparency, and
alignment with the journal's objectives and subject
matter. It is essential to have a well-defined written policy
outlining the specific method that will be adhered to.
 Originality, Prior Publication, and Media Relations: It is
essential for academic journals to clearly articulate their
editorial standards on the selection criteria for content to
be considered for publishing. In academic publishing, it is
typically expected that journals prioritize
including original research that has yet to
be disseminated.
 Plagiarism: When publishing original works, journals
must adhere to established guidelines against plagiarism.
 Advertising: Advertising and reprints generate significant
revenue for many scientific publications, creating a
conflict of interest. Ad income and reprint possibilities
should not affect editorial decisions. Journal editing and
advertising should be separate. Advertisers and sponsors
should never control editorial content.
 Responding to Allegations of Possible Misconduct:
Journals need a well-defined protocol for addressing
grievances or accusations of wrongdoing against writers,
editors, reviewers, and other relevant parties.
 Relation of the Journal to the Sponsoring Society (if
applicable): The journals' governance and ties to the
sponsoring society should be stated in their policy.
Because disagreements may affect the journal's
intellectual integrity, reputation, and financial success,
owners and editors-in-chief should respect, trust, and
recognize each other's authority and obligations.

C. Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA)

The goal of OASPA, a varied network of organizations involved in
open scholarship, is to support and facilitate open access as the

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primary means of distribution for academic works. As a reputable

convenor of a wide range of international open-access
stakeholders and a tried-and-true location for fruitful cooperation,
OASPA promotes the adoption of Creative Commons licenses by
publishers with the following missions (https://oaspa.org)-

 Leadership and Development: To draw attention to the

advantages of open-access publishing and to policies that
strengthen and encourage it.
 Collaboration and Convening: To bring together interested
parties from the community to exchange stories, talk about
issues, and find ways to promote open access.
 Setting Standards: To advance open access best practices
and ethics, rigorously evaluate membership, and
collaborate on significant academic communication efforts.
 Promoting Innovation: To support the creation and use of
cutting-edge methods for academic publication and the
associated benefits made possible by open-
access material.
 Supporting the OA Ecosystem: To stimulate the creation of
various frameworks, business plans, and regulations that
back open-access publishing and, in the long run, foster a
thriving, competitive market for open-access publishing
exclusively.

OASPA engaged in a collaborative effort with the Committee on

Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals
(DOAJ), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) to
establish guidelines for transparency and optimal practices in
scholarly publications. The objective was to identify these
principles and emphasize that they constitute a crucial
component of the evaluation criteria for membership applications.

 Peer review process: Journal material must indicate peer-

review status. Reviewers and specialists outside the

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journal's editorial staff provide feedback on articles. The

journal's website will fully explain this approach and any
peer review policies.
 Governing Body: Journals must have editorial boards or
other governing bodies with subject-matter experts. The
journal's website will provide its editors' complete names
and affiliations.
 Editorial team/contact information: Journals must provide
their editors' names and affiliations and the editorial
office's contact information on their website.
 Author fees: The journal's manuscript processing and
publishing fees must be clearly stated where potential
authors can find them before submitting their manuscripts
for review or explained to authors before they start
preparing their manuscripts.
 Copyright: Copyright and licensing information will be
prominently stated on the journal's website and all HTML
and PDF articles.
 Process for identification of and dealing with allegations of
research misconduct: Publishers and editors must identify
and prevent research misconduct, including plagiarism,
citation manipulation, and data falsification or fabrication.
A journal or its editors cannot approve of such
misbehaviour. If a journal's publisher or editors learn of a
research misconduct claim related to a published paper,
they must follow COPE's standards (or similar).
 Ownership and management: Journal websites must
explicitly state ownership and management. Editorial
board of a journal should be free from the influences of the
ownership of the publication.
 Web site: A journal's Web site and texts contains must
show high ethical and professional standards. It cannot
imitate another journal or publisher's site or include
deceptive information.

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 Name of journal: The journal name must be original and

not deceive potential writers and readers about its origin or
affiliation with other publications.
 Conflicts of interest: A journal must explicitly define its
procedures for managing editor, author, and reviewer
conflicts of interest.
 Access: How the journal and articles are available to
readers and if there are subscription or pay-per-view costs
must be indicated.
 Revenue sources: The journal's website must explicitly
disclose its business models or income streams, such as
author fees, subscriptions, advertising, reprints,
institutional funding, and organizational support.
 Advertising: If necessary, journals must declare their
advertising policy, including what sorts of ads will be
accepted, who makes the decisions, and whether they are
tied to content or reader behaviour (online only) or
presented randomly.
 Publishing schedule: Journal publishing frequency must be
stated.
 Archiving: The journal should explicitly outline its strategy
for electronic backup and preservation of access to its
material if it ceases publication.
 Direct marketing: Direct marketing, including manuscript
solicitation, by the journal must be relevant, well-targeted,
and unobtrusive.

D. Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a public

notice on November 28, 2018, officially announcing the
establishment of the Consortium for Academic and Research
Ethics (CARE) to address the issue of predatory publishing. The
primary objective of CARE was to strengthen and enable the
scholarly community in India across all fields by executing its

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

"Quality Mandate" to conform to global standards of rigorous

research. The UGC's "Quality Mandate" lays considerable
emphasis on promoting high-quality research and
producing novel knowledge by academics.

The objectives of the UGC-CARE are (https://ugccare.unip

une.ac.in):

 To promote quality research, academic integrity, and

publication ethics in Indian universities.
 To promote high-quality publications in reputed journals
that would help in achieving higher global ranks.
 To develop an approach and methodology for the
identification of good-quality journals.
 To prevent publications in predatory, dubious, or
substandard journals that reflect adversely and tarnish the
image of Indian academia.
 To create and maintain a “UGC-CARE Reference List of
Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List) for all academic
purposes.

Organization of the UGC-CARE

UGC-CARE Empowered Committee (UGC-CARE EC): UGC

has formed the Empowered Committee (UGC-CARE EC) to
supervise the functioning of UGC-CARE. The same committee will
govern the activities of the UGC Cell for Journal Analysis at
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Pune.
UGC-CARE Council members: Council Members are
representatives from Statutory Councils / Academies/
Government bodies in Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts and Fine
Arts, Science, Medical, Agriculture, Engineering and the
Association of Indian Universities.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

UGC-CARE Universities-

 Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Northern Zone

consists of Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand)
 The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara (Western Zone
consists of Chhattisgarh, Dadara and Nagar Haveli,
Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra)
 University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (Southern Zone
consists of Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana)
 Tezpur University, Assam (Eastern Zone consists of
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura,
West Bengal)

UGC-CARE Lists

The UGC-CARE List is established and sustained by the

"Cell for Journals Analysis" at Savitribai Phule Pune University
(SPPU) inside the Centre for Publication Ethics (CPE), with
assistance from the INFLIBNET Centre located in Gandhinagar,
Gujarat.

UGC-CARE prepares two approved lists of journals. Indian

journals are included in List Group I, focusing on those from the
humanities, arts, languages, culture, and Indian knowledge
systems. Journals from all disciplines that are indexed in widely
recognized databases, such as Web of Science (Arts and
Humanities Citation Index Source Publication, Science Citation
Index Expanded Source Publication, and Social Science Citation
Index Source Publication), or Scopus (Source list), are included in

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List Group II. The UGC-CARE List is dynamic. Quarterly updates

will occur in January, April, July, and October annually.

Procedure for Submitting a New Journal in UGC-CARE

 Universities and Colleges: Teachers at universities are the

only ones who can suggest journals that follow the correct
filing process. For submission of journals of a university,
the IQAC cell of the university may suggest the titles to
regional UGC-CARE Universities. For colleges, IQAC cells
of the concerned colleges may suggest journal titles to
parent university IQAC cells. If found suitable, parent
university IQAC cell may suggest journal titles to any of the
four UGC-CARE Universities, whichever is nearest.
 Individuals: Individuals can suggest a journal title/s to a
UGC-CARE University through the nearest university's
IQAC cell by following the submission process.
 Publishers: Publishers can propose journal titles to the
IQAC Cell of a university by completing the submission
process.
 UGC-CARE Universities: Each UGC-CARE University
should follow the UGC-CARE protocol to add journal titles
from regional universities, colleges, people, and publishers.
The UGC-CARE University shall evaluate the journal as per
UGC-CARE protocol Part II (Primary Criteria). If the title is
suitable, the UGC-CARE University has to submit the
necessary information through the CARE portal.
 UGC-CARE Council members: Each UGC-CARE Council
member should validate the academic quality of journal
and must justify their recommendations to add journal
title/s. Also, members must provide basic details of the
journal title/s on UGC-CARE if found suitable.

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

Addition criteria of journal Title/s in UGC-CARE list

The UGC Cell at Savitribai Phule Pune University will look at

every title sent in by UGC-CARE Council members and UGC-
CARE universities, following the rules for journal analysis set by
the UGC-CARE Empowered Committee.

The analyzing methodology for new titles consists of three

parts (https://ugccare.unipune.ac.in):

 UGC-CARE Protocol Part I: Basic information

 UGC-CARE Protocol Part II: Primary Criteria
 UGC-CARE Protocol Part III: Secondary Criteria

Protocol Part I is designed to acquire basic details about the

journal from universities/ colleges/ individuals or publishers. The
basic information includes the title of the journal, focus subject,
publisher, address, language, publishing frequency, editorial
details, ISSN/eISSN and membership of organizations like COPE,
WAME, etc.

Part II and III of the protocol are intended to conduct internal

analysis and assessment. This involves thorough examinations,
conducting extensive research, and critically evaluating the
subject matter utilizing a systematic, algorithmic elimination
process and metrics based on weighted criteria on a scale ranging
from 1 to 10.

V. Publication Ethics Checklist

The proliferation of predatory journals poses a significant

threat to the integrity of scientific communication. Authors may
use checklists to ensure adherence to publication ethics when
submitting journal papers, research articles, and other scholarly
works. Several publishers have created checklists to assist writers

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

and editors in identifying possible predatory journals. Also,

authors can independently review their manuscripts before
submission to avoid predatory publishing.

•Have you obtained the necessary approvals from the

relevant regulatory authorities, institutional review
Approval and board, and ethics committee?
Concent •Have you completed the registration process for your
clinical trial?
•Have you obtained documented informed consent?

Data Accuracy •Is material, equipment, process, or data manipulated?

Falcification
Fabrication •Have you verified the validity of the data once more?

•Have you used your own prior work or copied others'

work?
Plagiarism and
•if so, have you cited these correctly?
Self-Plagiarism
•Do you have written permission for reproduced
material, figures and tables?

•Is there simultaneous submission to two publication

houses?
Submission
•Have you published the entire work or part of it
Fraud
(salami-slicing) already?
•Have you excessively cited your own publications?

•Have you included all the authors in a specific pre-

agreed order?
•Do you have an agrement with co-authors?
Ethics of •Are the co-authors aware of the contents of the
Authorship publication?
•Have they had access to, and hold themselves
responsible for the data and its interpretation?
•Is there is any ghost author or a guest author?

•Have you disclosed any relevant affiliations or

Conflict of
interests that may be thought to have an impact on
Interest
your research findings (scientific or financial)?

Figure 3: Publication Ethics Checklist (Sengupta & Honavar,

2017)

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 R esearch an d P u blic ation Eth ics

VI. Conclusion

The significance of ethical issues has been increasingly

recognized within the scientific community. The growing public
apprehension over the boundaries of investigation and legal
modifications in human rights and data protection has brought
ethical issues to the forefront of research. The authors engage in
various unethical practices, which may be deliberate or
unintentional. Knowing publishing ethics enables authors to
deliberately avoid engaging in such misbehaviour and conduct
their research honestly and ethically while striving to publish
their work. It is also considered advantageous for publishers to
implement publishing rules to guarantee ethical and responsible
research dissemination. Publishers must guarantee that authors
have obtained the necessary consents and licenses
before publishing their work.

References:

Committee on Publication Ethics. (2019). COPE Discussion

document: Predatory publishing. https://doi.org/
10.24318/cope.2019.3.6
Kearney, M. H. (2015). Predatory publishing: what authors need
to know. Research in Nursing & Health, 38(1), 1-3.
https://doi.
org/10.1002/nur.21640
Sengupta, S., & Honavar, S. G., (2017). Publication ethics. Indian
Journal of Ophthalmology, 65(6), 429-432. https://www.
doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_483_17
World Association of Medical Editors. (n.d.). Recommendations on
Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals. https://
wame.org/recommendations-on-publication-ethics-
policies-for-medical-journals

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Chapter - 11

BEYOND COPYRIGHT WALLS : AN INTRODUCTION

TO CREA TIVE COMMONS, COP YLEFT, AND OPEN
EDU CATIONAL RESOURCE S
Badan Barman*

I. Introduction

The concepts of creative commons, copyleft, and Open

Educational Resources (OER) involve the sharing and reuse of
creative works; however, they have distinct meanings and
purposes at some points in time, while in others they overlap.
Creative Commons (CC) is a global non-profit organisation that
provides a suite of open licenses for creators with varying
degrees of sharing and reuse permissions. Copyleft denotes a
specific type of licensing that ensures derivative works of a
copyrighted creation inherit the same licensing obligations,
which means content can be copied and modified provided the
user preserves the freedom of use and modification for all
versions. OER materials include textbooks, lesson plans, and
multimedia that are openly accessible for use, reuse, and
adaptation without significant restriction. Therefore, copyleft
licenses are stricter, enforcing derivative works to be open,
while CC offers a spectrum of open licenses with different
permissions, and OER is a range of materials that can be used,
reused and adapted without significance restriction.

* Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University

Guwahati, Assam

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II. Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit

organization and international network devoted to educational
access and expanding the range of creative works available for
others to build upon legally and to share. It was founded on
January 15, 2001 by Lester Lawrence Lessig III, Hal Abelson,
and Eric Eldred with the support of Center for the Public
Domain. Creative Commons is located at Mountain View,
California, United States.

The organization has released several copyright-licenses,

known as Creative Commons licenses, free of charge to the
public. The initial set of Creative Commons licenses was
published on December 16, 2002. These licenses, depending on
the one chosen, restrict only certain rights or none of the work
instead of traditional copyright, which is more restrictive.

Creative Commons licenses are built on three core

principles and they are:

i) Attribution: Properly crediting the original creator

when using their work.
ii) Sharing: Allowing others to freely copy, distribute,
and adapt the work, with or without restrictions
depending on the chosen license.
iii) Remixing and Building Upon: Enabling users to
create derivative works based on the original, again
within the boundaries of the specific license chosen.

A. Conditions in Creative Commons Licenses

All the creative commons licenses comprise a selection of

four conditions:

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i) Attribution (by): Licencees may copy, distribute,

display and perform the work and make derivative
works based on it only if they give the author or
licensor the credits in the manner specified by these.
ii) Non commercial or NonCommercial (nc):
Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform
the work and make derivative works based on it only
for noncommercial purposes.
iii) No Derivative Works or NoDerivs (nd): Licensees
may copy, distribute, display and perform only
verbatim copies of the work, not derivative works
based on it.
iv) ShareAlike (sa): Licensees may distribute derivative
works only under a license identical to the license
that governs the original work.

Figure 1: Conditions in Creative Commons Licenses

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B. Types of Creative Commons Licenses

Mixing and matching the four conditions of creative

commons produces 24 combinations, of which 16 are unique.
Out of the sixteen, five include both the “nd” and “sa” clauses,
which are mutually exclusive and are therefore not valid
Creative Commons licenses. This is because ND forbids any
modifications, while SA requires derivative works to be shared
under the same license, creating a contradiction. Out of the
eleven valid licenses, five lack the Attribution element and are
phased out because 98% of licensors requested Attribution,
but they are still available for viewing on the website. There
are thus six regularly used licenses:

i) Attribution alone (BY);

ii) Attribution + Noncommercial (BY-NC);
iii) Attribution + NoDerivs (BY-ND);
iv) Attribution + ShareAlike (BY-SA);
v) Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivs (BY-NC-ND);
vi) Attribution + Noncommercial + ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA).
vii) CC0: Creative Commons sought to provide a standardised,
global solution for public domain dedication because creators
used to face difficulties releasing their works into the public
domain due to varying copyright laws across jurisdictions.
This resulted in the origin of the CC0 license. Contents
declared under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) are the content
in which copyright is absent and the material is released into
the public domain. This type of content does not even require
attribution.

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Figure 2: Six Most Commonly Used Creative Commons

Licences

Creative Commons offers the above six international

licenses, which are called unported licenses. However, the
organisation provides “ported” versions of their core licenses for
some jurisdictions. These versions incorporate local legislation
and legal terms into the existing license text, making them more
readily enforceable in specific countries. However, these ported
versions are not a distinct category of licenses and are still
considered variants of the core six licenses. As of February
2008, there are 43 jurisdiction-specific licenses.

The Attribution (BY) is the most permissive option offered

by Creative Commons and are part of all six regularly used
creative commons licenses. The only requirement under the BY
license is to provide proper attribution to the original creator.
Therefore, one could consider the permissions granted by the
BY license as a kind of “baseline” in the sense that any other
Creative Commons license will either add restrictions or
maintain all of these baseline permissions. It allows anyone to:

i) Share and copy the work,

ii) Adapt and build upon the work,
iii) For any purpose, and
iv) Even commercially.

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III. Copyleft

Copyleft is the practice of granting the right to freely

distribute and modify intellectual property with the
requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative
works created from that intellectual property. So, intellectual
property that is released under copyleft cannot be redistributed
by adding additional restrictions. This means that every copy of
the intellectual property, even if it has been modified, must be
released under the same initial licence.

Li-Chen Wang, an American computer engineer, made

early use of the word copyleft in Palo Alto Tiny BASIC’s
distribution notice “@Copyleft All Wrongs Reserved” in June
1976. Tiny BASIC was not distributed under any formal form of
copyleft distribution terms but was presented in a context
where source code was being shared and modified. Tiny BASIC
was designed in response to the open letter published by Bill
Gates complaining about users pirating Altair BASIC, which
sold for $150.

Richard Matthew Stallman, who worked for a few years

on a Lisp interpreter- a software, supplied a public-domain
version of his work to Symbolics Inc. Symbolics extended and
improved the Lisp interpreter, but when Stallman wanted
access to the improvements, Symbolics refused. This incidence
prompted Stallman to work towards eradicating this emerging
behaviour and culture of proprietary software. Again, later on,
Stallman was influenced by the letter from Don Hopkins in
1984 or 1985, who used the phrase “Copyleft – all rights
reversed”. All of these influenced Stallman to work on the
concept of copyleft and he pioneered the concept, which uses
the principles of copyright law to preserve the right to use,
modify, and distribute free software. He is also the main author

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of several copyleft licences, including the GNU General Public

Licence, the most widely used free software licence.

A. Definition: The concept of copyleft was described in Richard

Matthew Stallman’s GNU (a reflexive acronym for GNU’s Not
Unix) Manifesto in 1985 as “GNU is not in the public domain.
Everyone will be permitted to modify and redistribute GNU, but
no distributor will be allowed to restrict its further
redistribution. That is to say, proprietary modifications will not
be allowed. I want to make sure that all versions of GNU remain
free.” Thus, Richard Matthew Stallman uses the principles of
copyright law to preserve the right to use, modify, and distribute
free software.

Copyleft.org (https://copyleft.org) describes copyleft as “a

strategy of utilizing copyright law and licensing to pursue the
policy goal of fostering and encouraging the equal and
inalienable right to copy, share, modify and improve creative
works of authorship.”

According to Dictionary.com (https://www.dictionary.

com/) copyleft is “the right to freely use, modify, copy, and share
software, works of art, etc., on the condition that these rights
be granted to all subsequent users or owners”.

The copyleft symbol is a mirrored version of the copyright

symbol, i.e., a reversed C in a circle, and the copyleft is based
legally on copyright, so the work should have a copyright notice
or symbol along with the copyleft licence. Therefore, to copyleft,
we first state that it is copyrighted; then we add distribution
terms, which are a legal instrument.

B. Copyleft and Other Licences: The Public Domain (PD)

consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive
intellectual property rights apply because those rights may have

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expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be

inapplicable. Because no one holds exclusive rights, anyone can
legally use or reference those works without permission, and
therefore it grants all rights to all people. PD does not require
users to distribute derivative works under the same license and
therefore, it allows uncooperative people to convert the program
into proprietary software. Whereas a permissive licence is a
free-software licence that carries only minimal restrictions on
how the software can be used, modified, and redistributed,
usually including a warranty disclaimer. It grants use rights,
including the right to relicense, and allows proprietization.
However, copyleft licences grant use rights but prevent
proprietization, and copyright is the provision where all rights
are reserved.

Open access accepts some licences that are considered

too restrictive. In the case of OER, they are either licenced
under the open licence, public domain, or copyleft licences.

C. Foundation: The foundation of copyleft can be seen from the

following three angles:

i) Free to Use: The content released under copyleft

licence is free to use, remix, tweak, and build upon the
work, even for commercial purposes.
ii) Gives Due Credit: The people who will use the content
need to give credit to the original creator;
iii) Release Modified Content under Similar Licence:
The people who will remix, tweak, or build upon the
content released under copyleft licence need to release
their new creations under identical terms.

The copyleft content treats reciprocity as the base.

Instead of allowing a work to fall completely into the public
domain, where no ownership of copyright is claimed, or under

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copyright, where all rights are reserved, copyleft allows authors

to impose restrictions that derived works from their work must
also be released under a compatible copyleft licence. The basic
principle is that if you freely benefit from the work of others,
you must likewise freely grant others the same benefits.

The copyleft content emerges due to:

i) Gift Culture: Copyleft is in line with gift culture,

where social power is determined by an individual’s
contributions.
ii) Recognition is Considered More Important than
Econimic Benefit: By opting for copyleft to work,
content creators may seek complementary benefits
like recognition from their peers rather than prefer the
economic benefit.

D. Types of Copyleft Licences: Richard Matthew Stallman, in

1985, created his own copyright licence, the GNU Emacs
General Public License, the first copyleft license. This later
evolved into the GNU General Public License.

i) Based on How the New or Modified Code or Document is

Released: Copyleft licences can be categorised into two
categories based on how the new or adjacent code is subject to
the copyleft licences: strong and weak.

 Strong Copyleft Licences: A strong copyleft licence

requires that any work used to modify, enhance, or
add to the original work must also inherit all the
original work's licence requirements, like the new
document or software that must be made publicly
available. For example, GNU General Public License
(GPL), Sybase Open Watcom Public License, and
Affero General Public License (Affero GPL).

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 Weak Copyleft Licences: Weak copyleft licences refer

to licences where not all derivative works inherit the
copyleft licence. Weak copyleft licences are often used
to cover software libraries. For example, Mozilla Public
License 2.0, Common Development and Distribution
License (CDDL), and GNU Lesser General Public
License (LGPL).

ii) Based on the Type of Content Covered: Although the

notion of copyleft began in the software world, it exists outside
as well, like in written work, visual art, etc. The use of software
licences for non-software work is generally discouraged.
Therefore, based on the type of content covered, copyleft
licences can be of the following types:

 Copyleft Licences for Software: For example, GNU

General Public License (GPL), GNU Lesser General
Public License (LGPL), Sybase Open Watcom Public
License, Affero General Public License (Affero GPL),
Mozilla Public License, and Common Development
and Distribution License (CDDL).

 Copyleft Licences for Document: For example, GNU

Free Documentation License, Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 4.0)

 Copyleft Licences for Artistic Work: For example,

Free Art License (FAL).

E. Examples of Copyleft Licences: A few common copyleft

licences are described below:

i) GNU General Public License (GPL): The GPL was originally

written by Richard Matthew Stallman in 1989. It was the first

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software copyleft licence to see extensive use, and continues to

dominate the licencing of copylefted software.

ii) GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL): GNU Library

General Public License was first published in 1991. In 1999, it
was renamed as the GNU Lesser General Public License which
is mainly used for free software and was published by the Free
Software Foundation (FSF). The LGPL was developed as a
compromise between the strong copyleft of the GNU General
Public License (GPL) and more permissive licences such as the
BSD licenses and the MIT License. The word “Lesser” in the title
shows that the LGPL does not guarantee the end user’s
complete freedom in the use of software.

iii) Sybase Open Watcom Public Licence: The Sybase Open

Watcom Public Licence appears to have been written in 2002,
but was publicly released in 2003. It is a software licence that
has been approved by the Open Source Initiative. The Sybase
Open Watcom Public License is one of the strongest copyleft
licences, as this licence closes the so-called private usage
loophole of the GPL and requires the publishing of source code
in any use case.

iv) Affero General Public License (Affero GPL): The Affero

General Public License (Affero GPL and informally Affero
License) was first published by Affero, Inc. in March 2002. It is
a free software license. It was based on the GNU General Public
License, version 2 (GPLv2).

v) Mozilla Public License (MPL): MPL is a free and open-

source, weak copyleft licence for most Mozilla Foundation
software. The MPL license is developed and maintained by
Mozilla.

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vi) Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL):

CDDL is a free and open-source software licence produced by
Sun Microsystems, based on the Mozilla Public License (MPL).

vii) Microsoft Reciprocal License (Ms-RL): Ms-RL license is

Microsoft’s copyleft licence, which only allows one to sublicence
with other licences that comply with this one. Files that are
entirely their own work stay unaffected, but the users must
receive access to any files that contain code under the Microsoft
Reciprocal License.

viii) Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL): Initially titled Microsoft

Permissive License, it was renamed to Microsoft Public License
while being reviewed for approval by the Open Source Initiative
(OSI). The licence was approved on October 12, 2007. The Ms-
PL is a copyleft licence because it requires the source code of
the software it governs to be distributed only under the same
licence (the Ms-PL).

ix) GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL): The GNU
AGPL licence is especially for projects that will be run over a
network to ensure that the source code is available to users of
software over a network. This is a free, copyleft licence
published by the Free Software Foundation in November 2007.

x) The Eclipse Public License (EPL): EPL is a free and open

source software licence most notably used for the Eclipse IDE
and other projects by the Eclipse Foundation. EPL is designed
to be a business-friendly free software licence and features
weaker copyleft provisions.

xi) Open Software License (OSL): OSL is a copyleft software

license created by Lawrence Rosen. The Open Source
Initiative (OSI) has certified it as an open-source licence.

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In some countries, it is acceptable to sell a software

product without warranty in the standard GNU General Public
License style, while in some other countries, it is not permitted.
This resulted in the origin of the European Union Public Licence
(EUPL) and the CeCILL licence, which allow one to use GNU
GPL in combination with a limited warranty.

xii) European Union Public Licence (EUPL): EUPL is a free

software licence that was written and approved by the
European Commission and was first published in January
2007.

xiii) CEA CNRS INRIA Logiciel Libre (CeCILL): CeCILL is a

free software licence adapted to both international and French
legal matters, in the spirit of and retaining compatibility with
the GNU General Public License (GPL).

xiv) GNU Free Documentation License: GNU Free

Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft
licence for free documentation, designed by the Free Software
Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It was designed for
manuals, textbooks, other reference and instructional
materials, and documentation that often accompanies GNU
software. However, it can be used for any text-based work,
regardless of the subject matter.

xv) Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA

4.0): In 2001, Lester Lawrence Lessig III founded Creative
Commons, a non-profit organisation that initially released
Creative Commons Licenses on December 16, 2002. CC-BY-SA
licence opens the provision of sharing, i.e., copying and
redistributing the material in any medium or format for any
purpose, even commercially; adapting, i.e., remixing,
transforming, and building upon the material for any purpose,
even commercially, under the condition of attribution

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(appropriate credit). However, if anyone remixes, transforms, or

builds upon the material, they must distribute their
contributions under the same licence as the original. This
licence is especially used in text-based work.

xvi) Free Art License (FAL): The FAL [French: Licence Art Libre
(LAL)] is a copyleft licence written in July 2000 that grants the
right to freely copy, distribute, and transform artistic and
creative works. The Free Art License is equivalent to the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA) licence.

xvii) Open Database License (ODbL): ODbL is a copyleft

licence agreement intended to allow users to freely share,
modify, and use a database while maintaining the same
freedom for others. ODbL is published by Open Data Commons,
which is part of Open Knowledge Foundation.

E Websites for Copyleft Contents: In the following, a few

websites are listed that release their content under copyleft-
compatiable licences.

i) Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a free-content online

encyclopaedia written and maintained by a community
of volunteers using MediaWiki software and hosted by
the Wikimedia Foundation, an American nonprofit
rganization. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry
Sanger on January 15, 2001. As of October 2023,
6,729,745 articles under the CC BY-SA licence are
available on Wikipedia. The wikis, which are launched by
Wikimedia and are available in other languages, also use
the same licences.

ii) WikiEducator (https://wikieducator.org): was created

in 2006 by Wayne Mackintosh. It is an international
online community project for the collaborative

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development of learning materials. The content in

WikiEducator is available under the Creative Commons
Attribution Share Alike Licence, unless otherwise noted.

iii) Citizendium (https://en.citizendium.org): is an

English-language wiki-based free online encyclopaedia
launched by Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, in
2006. All contents of Citizendium are available under a
CC-BY-SA licence.

iv) Stack Overflow (https://stackoverflow.com): is a

question-and-answer website for programmers. As of
March 2022, Stack Overflow has over 2 crore registered
users and has received over 2.5 crore questions and 3.50
crore answers. All user-generated contents are released
under the CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.

v) RationalWiki (https://rationalwiki.org): is an online

wiki that is written from a scientific, sceptic, secular, and
progressive perspective. Its stated goals are to analyse
and refute pseudoscience and the anti-science
movement, document crank ideas, explore conspiracy
theories, authoritarianism, and fundamentalism, and
analyse how these subjects are handled in the media.
The contents are released under a CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.

vi) Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-

sa-2.0/): Flickr is an image and video hosting service, as
well as an online community, founded in Canada and
headquartered in the United States. It hosted about 5
crore photos which are released under the CC BY-SA
licence.

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vii) Mapillary (https://www.mapillary.com): is a service for

sharing crowdsourced geotagged photos. It was launched
in 2013 and developed by remote company Mapillary AB,
based in Sweden. It was acquired by Meta Platforms in
2020.

viii) Fortepan (https://fortepan.hu): is a community photo

archive based in Budapest, Hungary, established in
2010. As of May 2023, the database contained 180,000
photographs under a CC-BY-SA licence.

ix) Anatomography (http://lifesciencedb.jp/bp3d/?lng=en):

is an interactive website that supports generating
anatomical diagrams and animations of the human
body. Anatomography, and 3D polygon data used on the
website (called BodyParts3D) are freely available under
the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence.

x) OpenStreetMap (OSM) (https://www.openstreetmap.org):

is a free, open geographic database available in 96
languages, updated and maintained by a community of
volunteers via open collaboration. The data in OSM is
available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

D. Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) refers to educational

resources that include lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi,
instructional modules, simulations, etc. that are freely available
for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing. OER are free and
openly licensed educational materials that include text, media,
and other digital assets that can be used for teaching, learning,
assessment, research, and other purposes and are freely
accessible. OER has emerged as a strategy for lowering barriers
to students’ access to high-quality material, specifically by

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ensuring that all students have access to course materials

regardless of their financial situation. The term open
educational resources was first coined at UNESCO’s 2002
Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education
in Developing Countries. With the advent of growing
international awareness and implementation of open
educational resources, a global OER logo was adopted for use
in multiple languages by UNESCO. The design of the Global
OER logo creates a common global visual idea, representing
“subtle and explicit representations of the subjects and goals of
OER”. Its full explanation and recommendation of use is
available from UNESCO.

i) Definition: UNESCO defined OER as “teaching, learning and

research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that
reside in the public domain or have been released under an
open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and
redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defined OER

as “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium –
digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have
been released under an open license that permits no-cost
access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or
limited restrictions”.

OER Commons defined OER as “teaching and learning

materials freely available for everyone to use, whether you are
a teacher or a learner. This includes full courses, modules,
syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab activities,
pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many more
resources contained in digital media collections from around
the world.”

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The Commonwealth of Learning defined OER as

“materials offered freely and openly to use and adapt for
teaching, learning, development and research”.

OpenContent.org defined OER as “any copyrightable

work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by
other terms like open source) that is either (i) in the public
domain or (ii) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with
free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities”

David Wiley proposed 5R Activities/Permissions i.e.

Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute.

 Retain: The right to own and control copies of the

content i.e. download, duplicate, store, and manage.
 Reuse: The right to use the content in settings like
classes, study groups, on websites, in videos, etc.
 Revise: The right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the
content or translate the content to another language.
 Remix: The right to combine the original or revised
content with other material to create something new.
 Redistribute: The right to share copies of the original
content, revisions, or remixes with others.

ii) Advantages of OER: According to an NBC News study,

textbook costs have increased more than 1,000% since 1977. It
simply means the cost of educational materials has risen
dramatically. Expensive course materials can be detrimental to
students as they may struggle to keep up in classes and may
be more likely to drop out when they cannot readily access the
high-cost textbook material. The advantages of OER can be
looked from the following points

 Free or low-cost: OER materials are available with zero

cost provided the Internet connection is there.

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 Can be accessed before the start of the course: OER

materials can be accessed before or from the start of
course and therefore provide the learners with every
opportunity to perform better.
 Available in ready to consume form: OER that meets
a particular topic or course can be readily used by the
faculty members without devoting their valuable time in
its preparation.
 Can be customized: The teachers as well as students
can customize the OER materials without any legal
bindings.
 Extend the boundaries of the course: OER extend the
learning boundaries of the student beyond the lecture
and textbook by providing access to more reference
material.
 Provide lifelong learning: Because OER are open, they
allow people to return to course content again and again-
-before and after the courses.
 Support rapid dissemination: The OER material can be
distributed rapidly in comparison to the conventional
printed book.

iii) Licences of OER: The OER are either licensed under the
open licensed or public domain resources or copyleft contents.

 Open Licensed: The exact meaning of open license may

vary, but a common idea of an open license is one that
requires attribution but otherwise lets people use the
content in any way completely free, including
commercially, sometimes requiring them to share their
modifications under the same license.

 Public Domain: The public domain is not actually a

license, but it is the absence of any copyrights, license, or
restriction of any kind. Public Domain is a range of

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creative works whose copyright has expired or was never

established; as well as ideas and facts which are ineligible
for copyright. The resources under Public-Domain
License (PD) have been identified as being free of known
restrictions under copyright law, including all related and
neighbouring rights.

 Copyleft: Copyleft is the practice of granting the right to

freely distribute and modify intellectual property with the
requirement that the same rights be preserved in
derivative works created from that property.

Following are some of the popular licences for OER

resources.

 CC-BY: Creative Commons, By Attribution license.

 CC-BY-SA: Creative Commons, By Attribution, Share
Alike license.
 GFDL: The GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).
GFDL is a license similar to the Creative Commons
ShareAlike Attribution license.
 CC0: Contents declared under Creative Commons Zero
(CC0) are the content in which copyright is absent and the
material which are released into the public domain. It is
like the content under public domain (PD).

iv) Creating OER: As noted by David Wiley, OER creation

typically entails the following:

 Find: Searching for OERs may involve use of search

engines, repositories, and individual websites, as well as
offline materials.
 Compose: Piece together resources that you have found
with others.

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 Adapt: If you are using other resources, you will likely

need to adapt them for your students and your local
context. Be sure that borrowed materials have licenses
allowing modifications.
 Use: Use the resource in a class, workshop or other.
 Share: Publish your OER in other OER repositories like
Pressbooks, Research Exchange, Scalar, Open Textbook
Library, etc. so others can find and reuse it.

v) Assessing OER: OER assessing will help in judging the quality

of OER. Different OER promoters set their own assessing criteria
for OER. Some of them are as follows-

BCcampus: BCcampus is an open education project in British

Columbia. They set 6 review criteria for OER material and they
are-
 Relevance
 Accuracy
 Production Quality
 Accessibility
 Interactivity and
 Licensing

Open Textbook Library: Open textbooks can be defined as

“textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be
freely used, adapted, and distributed.” Open Textbook Library is
supported by the Open Education Network. OTL has accepted
the following review criteria.

 Comprehensiveness
 Content Accuracy
 Relevance/Longevity
 Clarity
 Consistency
 Modularity

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 Organization/Structure/Flow
 Interface
 Grammatical Errors
 Cultural Relevance
 Other Comments and
 Target Group

MERLOT: MERLOT is a repository of open educational

resources that adds new resources via a peer review process.
MERLOT evaluation revolves around three criteria and they are

 Quality of content
 Potential effectiveness as a teaching tool and
 Ease of use

vi) OER Initiatives: Some of the major OER initiatives are

listed below

OpenStax CNX (formerly Connexions) (https://cnx.org),

came out of Rice University starting in 1999. In the beginning,
the Connexions project focused on creating an open repository
of user-generated content. The content licenses are required to
be open under a Creative Commons Attribution International
4.0 (CC BY) license.

Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online

Teaching (MERLOT) (https://www.merlot.org) is an online
repository and international consortium of institutions and
systems of higher education, industry partners, professional
organizations and individuals. MERLOT partners and members
are devoted to identifying, peer reviewing, organizing and
making available existing online learning resources in a range
of academic disciplines for use by higher education faculty and
students. The MERLOT project began in 1997.

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SkillsCommons (https://www.skillscommons.org) was

developed in 2012 under the California State University
Chancellor's Office. SkillsCommons open workforce
development content was developed and vetted by 700
community colleges and other Trade Adjustment Assistance
Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT)
institutions across the United States. It is considered to be the
world’s largest repository of open educational and workforce
training materials.

MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) (https://ocw.mit.edu) is an

initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to
publish all of the educational materials from its undergraduate-
and graduate-level courses online, freely and openly available
to anyone, anywhere. The project was announced on April 4,
2001, and uses Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

OER Africa (https://www.oerafrica.org), an initiative

established by the South African Institute for Distance
Education (SAIDE) to play a leading role in driving the
development and use of OER across all education sectors on the
African continent. It was established in 2008.

OER Commons (https://www.oercommons.org) is a freely

accessible online library that allows teachers and others to
search and discover open educational resources (OER) and
other freely available instructional materials.

WikiEducator (https://wikieducator.org) is an international

online community project for the collaborative development of
learning materials, which educators are free to reuse, adapt and
share without restriction. WikiEducator was launched in 2006
and is supported by the non-profit Open Education Resource
Foundation (OER).

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Writing Commons (WC) (https://writingcommons.org) is a

peer-reviewed open education resource (OER) for college-level
writers. It was founded in 2008 by Joseph M. Moxley.

Curriki (https://www.curriki.org) is an online, free, open

education service. Curriki is structured as a nonprofit
organization to provide open educational resources primarily in
support of K-12 education.

Open Education Consortium: The Open Education

Consortium (OEC) (https://www.oeconsortium.org) is a non-
profit, global, members-based network of open education
institutions and organizations.

Norwegian Digital Learning Arena: Norwegian Digital

Learning Arena (NDLA) (Norwegian: Nasjonal digital
læringsarena) (https://ndla.no) is a joint county enterprise
offering open digital learning assets for upper secondary
education. In addition to being a compilation of open
educational resources (OER), NDLA provides a range of other
online tools for sharing and cooperation.

CK-12 Foundation (https://www.ck12.org) is a California-

based non-profit organization which aims to increase access to
low-cost K-12 education in the United States and abroad.

Searching Tools for OER: The following tools can be used to

search the OER.

Google Advanced Search: The Google Advanced Search

(https://www.google.com/advanced_search) by going through
Settings -> Advanced search and then navigating to “usage
rights”.

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OASIS: OASIS (https://oasis.geneseo.edu/index.php) can be

used to search 388,707 records from 117 sources.

Table 1: Some of the Search Tools for OER

Website Name Website Address

The Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/educatio
n
Digital Public Library http://dp.la
of America
Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/
Digital Collections
National Science https://nsdl.oercommons.org
Digital Library
New York Public https://www.nypl.org/research/coll
Library -Public ections/digital-collections/public-
Domain Collections domain
Open Osmosis https://www.osmosis.org
Public Domain Review https://publicdomainreview.org/coll
ections/
The Directory of Open https://www.doaj.org
Access Journals
(DOAJ)
Open Knowledge https://openknowledge.worldbank.o
Repository [The World rg
Bank]

Table 2: Some of the Websites for Open TextBooks

Website Name Website Address

BCcampus Open https://open.bccampus.ca/find-
Textbook open-textbooks/
Center for Computer- https://www.cali.org/the-elangdell-
Assisted Legal bookstore
Instruction (CALI)

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Lumen Learning https://lumenlearning.com

Luminos https://www.luminosoa.org/site/boo
ks/
MERLOT https://www.merlot.org/merlot/inde
x.htm
OASIS https://oasis.geneseo.edu/index.php
OER Commons https://www.oercommons.org
Open Textbook Library https://open.umn.edu/opentextbook
(OTL) s/
OpenStax https://openstax.org
Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org
Purdue e-Pubs https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/press_e
books/
SUNY Open Textbooks http://textbooks.opensuny.org
Teaching Commons http://teachingcommons.us
UC Press E-Books https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpress
Collection ebooks/
University of https://digital.library.pitt.edu/collec
Pittsburgh Digital tion/university-pittsburgh-press-
Editions digital-editions

Table 3: Some of the Search Tools for OER Images

Website Name Website Address

Flickr https://www.flickr.com/commons
Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Commons - Images Commons:Featured_pictures
Los Angeles County https://collections.lacma.org/search/si
Museum of Art te/?f[0]=bm_field_has_image%3Atrue&f[
(LACMA) 1]=im_field_classification%3A24
NASA Images https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/ima
gegallery/index.html

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Open Content https://search.getty.edu/gateway/sear

Program - The Getty ch?q=&cat=highlight&r="Collection+Hig
hlights"&highlights="Collection%20High
lights$Open%20Content%20Images"&r
ows=10&srt=a&dir=s&dsp=0&img=0&p
g=1
Creative Commons https://search.creativecommons.org/
Search

Table 4: Some of the Search Tools for OER Music

Website Name Website Address

ccMixter http://ccmixter.org
Jamendo https://www.jamendo.com

Table 5: Some of the Search Tools for OER Videos

Website Name Website Address

YouTube Advanced Search https://www.youtube.com
The Periodic Table of Videos http://www.periodicvideos.com
(University of Nottingham) /videos/001.htm

Table 6: Some of the Search Tools for OER Simulation

Website Name Website Address

PHET Interactive https://phet.colorado.edu
Simulations

viii) Declaration and Policy on OER: Open educational

resources policies are principles adopted by governing bodies in
support of the use of open content and practices in educational
institutions. Many of these policies require publicly funded
resources to be openly licensed. Such policies are emerging
increasingly at the country, state/province and more local level.

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OER World Map maintained a registry of OER Policies

and as on 24th November, 2020, it listed out 5756 OER policies.

In September 2007, the Open Society Institute and the

Shuttleworth Foundation convened a meeting in Cape Town to
which thirty leading proponents of open education were invited
to collaborate on the text of a manifesto. The Cape Town Open
Education Declaration was released on 22 January 2008,
urging governments and publishers to make publicly funded
educational materials available at no charge via the internet.
This is a major international statement on open access, open
education and open educational resources and till 2014 over
2,400 individuals and 250 organisations have signed the
declaration.

The UNESCO 2012 Paris OER Declaration popularly

known as the Paris Declaration on Open Educational Resources
is a ten (10) point declaration urging governments to promote
the use of open educational resources (OERs) and calling for
publicly funded educational materials to be released in a freely
reusable form. This declaration is the outcome of the June 2012
World OER Congress held by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the
Commonwealth of Learning (COL).

ix) Disadvantages or Challenges of OER: The challenges for

OER can be looked from the following points-

 Lack Surety of Access: Unless it is backed by a trusted

agency, institute the OER material can disappear from a
website at any moment of time sometimes even without
even a notice.
 Quality may not be so good: OER materials may be
produced with little or no support for copy editing or
language editing, resulting in the lack of quality.

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 May not be updated frequently: Some OER materials

may not be updated so frequently as the education
community might like it to see.
 Time Consuming for search and retrieval: Locating an
existing OER material may be time consuming for the
users.
 Technological access barriers: People from remote
locations or without proper devices and internet
connection may face problems in accessing and using
the OER.

V. Conclusion

Creative Commons has revolutionised the way creators

share and users access creative works in the digital age, and in
the days to come, Creative Commons will continue to be a vital
force for empowering creators and promoting a more open and
accessible internet. As the digital world evolves, its role in
shaping a future where creativity thrives for all becomes
increasingly important. However, it is to be noted that Creative
Commons is only a service provider for standardised license text
and not a party in any agreement. No central database of
Creative Commons works controls all licensed works, and the
responsibility of the Creative Commons system rests entirely
with those using the licences. As of May 2018, there were 1.4
billion works licensed under the various Creative Commons
licenses. Wikipedia also uses one of these licenses i.e., CC-BY-
SA. As of May 2018, Flickr alone hosted over 415 million
Creative Commons-licensed photos.

Copyleft is a general method for making an intellectual

property free, and requiring all modified and extended versions
of the intellectual property to be free as well. It means releasing
the content with permission for anyone to use, copy, and
distribute, either verbatim or with modifications. However, one

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needs to proceed with caution if he or she wants to include some

text from the copyleft licences in his or her copyright work, as
it is a direct violation of the rules.

Copyleft ensures that rights cannot be later revoked and

therefore, requires the work and its derivatives to be provided
in a form that allows further modifications to be made. So,
basically, copyleft licences require the same rights for all works
that use the already-published content under copyleft licences.

Open educational resources (OER) are freely accessible,

openly licensed text, media, and other digital assets that are
useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for
research purposes. Types of open educational resources include
full courses, course materials, modules, learning objects, open
textbooks, openly licensed or often streamed videos, tests,
software, and other tools, materials, or techniques used to
support access to knowledge.

Copyleft prioritises freedom; CC emphasises creator

control and flexibility; and OER focuses on improving access to
educational materials. In case of similarities, CC-BY-SA is a
copyleft license that is released by CC, is used as a copyleft
license, and is also used in the materials that are intended to
be released as OER materials.

References:

Boyle, J. (2008). The public domain: Enclosing the commons of

the mind. Yale University Press.

Copyleft.org. (n.d.). What is copyleft? [https://www.gnu.org

/licenses/copyleft.en.html].

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Copyleft definition. [https://www.

dictionary.com/browse/copyleft].

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Creative Commons. (2002). Creative Commons Attribution-

ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creative
commons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

Creative Commons. (2023). About Creative Commons:

https://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons. (2023). Licenses: https://creativecommons

.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/

Creative Commons. (2023). What is CC0? https://creative

commons.org/public-domain/cc0/

Creative Commons. (2023). What is Creative Commons?

https://creativecommons.org

Flickr. (n.d.). Creative Commons by-sa-2.0. https://www.flickr

.com/creativecommons/by-sa-2.0/

Free Software Foundation. (2023). What is copyleft?

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html

Heller, M. A. (2014). Remix: Copyright and culture in the digital

age. Yale University Press.

Lessig, L. L. (2001). The future of ideas: The fate of the commons

in a connected world. Random House.

Lessig, L. L. (2004). Free culture: How big media uses technology

to control creativity and stifle democracy. Penguin Books.

Stallman, R. M. (1985). The GNU manifesto. ACM SIGCOMM

Computer Communication Review, 15(2), 19-23.

Wang, L.-C. (1976). Palo Alto Tiny BASIC distribution notice.

https://archive.org/details/Palo_Alto_Tiny_BASIC_Version
_3_Li-Chen_Wang_1977

Wiley, D. A. (2007, December). Open education: Definition,

opportunity and imperative. International Review of
Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2), 10-21.

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Chapter - 12

P LAGIARISM DETECTION SOFTWARE :

AN OVERVIEW
Kankana Baishya*

I. Introduction

The quality of an academic enterprise relies on the

quality of its research outputs. And the quality of a research
work primarily based on its originality. But at present the
major problem of academic research is ‘plagiarism’ which
means “the practice of taking someone else’s work or idea and
passing them as one’s own.” Due to the advent of internet,
researchers find ‘cut and paste’ as instant solution while
conducting research. To foster the original thinking and to
curb the plagiarism HEIs take help of Plagiarism Detection
Software (PDS) or anti-plagiarism software now- a-days. PDS
are the tools to detect the instances of plagiarised content and
copyright infringement within a research work. However, in
actual, those tools basically match similarities of texts of one
document with others. Anti-plagiarism software are widely
available in the form of proprietary software and open access
software.

II. Evolution of PDS

Plagiarism Detection tools have significantly developed

over the years. During the pre-internet period the educators
relied on their expertise and knowledge to trace the plagiarized
contents. But with the growth of the internet, it became

* Assistant Librarian, National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, Guwahati,
Assam

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imperative to shift the manual task to automated one to check

similarity. During that time Turnitin came into the picture and
it used to compare the submitted contents against the
available academic databases and publications. The tools have
become more sophisticated due course of time and their
content coverage increased ranging from academic databases
to social media content with generation of cross reference. The
most recent development involves integration of AI. The
software allows real time checking including AI generated
contents and even paraphrased contents and today, the
software offers the provision of integrating the LMS system of
academic institutes enabling educators to examine student
submissions seamlessly and provide instant feedback. As
technology advances, these tools become more powerful with
more compatibility with multimedia and regional languages.

III. Evolution of PDS: Indian Scenario

The UGC Notification on “Minimum Standards &

Procedure for Award of M.Phil. / Ph.D Degree, Regulation,
2009 mandated the submission of electronic version of theses
and dissertations in universities with an objective of making
the Indian theses and dissertations openly available
worldwide. The regulation entrusted the task of hosting and
maintaining the digital repository of Indian Theses and
Dissertation (named Shodhganga: a reservoir of Indian
theses) of all the Universities in a single platform to
INFLIBNET Centre, an autonomous inter-university centre of
University Grants Commission. Accordingly, the center
established the repository in the year 2011. With the growth
of the theses in the repository, considering the necessity of
checking plagiarism of the theses openly available to the world,
INFLIBNET centre started providing web based antiplagiarism
software namely Turnitin and i-thenticate to 100 universities

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those have signed MoU with Shodhganga from 1 st February,

2014 onwards.

In June, 2019, University Grant Commission came up

with a regulation on "Promotion of Academic Integrity and
Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions
Regulations, 2018”. The regulation emphasised on
establishing technology based modern system to detect
plagiarism by Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). It is stated
in the clause 6(a) of the regulation that “HEI shall declare and
implement the technology-based mechanism using
appropriate software so as to ensure that documents such as
thesis, dissertation, publications or any other such documents
are free of plagiarism at the time of their submission.”

Based on the recommendation of the regulation,

Ministry of Education, Government of India launched E-
ShodhShuddhi Programme and provided access to a web
based Anti-Plagiarism software Ouriginal (previously known as
Urkund) to all the universities since September 1, 2019 to
September 30, 2023. The M/S Ouriginal has been acquired by
Turnitin pvt ltd. Thereafter, INFLIBNET continued to provide
the facility of checking plagiarism with DrillBit-Extreme
Plagiarism Detection Software' since October 1, 2023
onwards till date.

IV. PDS Used in Higher Education Institutes in India

A. Turnitin: Turnitin is an Internet-based similarity

checking software provided by Advance Publications, Inc.
Turnitin was founded in 1998. It sells its licenses to schools,
colleges and universities who use it as software as a service
(SaaS) to check documents against its database, already
submitted contents by others and the content of other
websites with the aim of identifying similarities in text.
Turnitin’s similarity checking solutions are used by 34 million

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students and 16,000 institutions worldwide (140 countries),

including 80 of the top 100 universities globally The submitted
texts also match with commercial and/or copyrighted pages
from books, newspapers, and journals. Every day, more than
300 million pages are re-crawled for updates and 50 million
new pages are added in Turnitin.

The pricing for Turnitin depends on several factors like

the tool and volume of usage. Turnitin has various integrity
tools (e.g. Feedback Studio including Grademark and
Peermark features, iThenticate, Turnitin Originality Check,
etc) which are used by different subscribers as per their
workflow requirement and hence the pricing also varies
accordingly.

Students typically upload their papers directly to the

service for teachers to access. Teachers may also submit a
student’s papers to Turnitin.com. Teachers can also set
assignment-analysis options so that students can review the
system's “originality reports” before they finalize their
submission. A peer-review option is also available.

Some virtual learning management systems can be

configured to support Turnitin, so that student assignments
can be automatically submitted for analysis. Blackboard,
Moodle, ANGEL, Instructure, Desire2Learn, Pearson Learning
Studio, Sakai, and Studywiz integrate in some way with the
software.

Turnitin software checks for potentially unoriginal

content by comparing submitted papers to several databases
using a proprietary algorithm. It scans its own databases and
also has licensing agreements with large academic proprietary
databases. The results obtained from Turnitin can identify
similarities with existing sources and can also be used in

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formative assessment to help students learn to avoid

plagiarism and improve their writing.

Turnitin has acquired the Ourginal (Urkund) software

which was provided free of cost to the Indian Universities by
INFLIBNET Centre.

Turnitin provided AI detection tools free of cost upto

October, 2023 and from 2024 onwards they have made it an
add on service for its subscribers. Turnitin mentioned in their
website that “Turnitin's AI writing detection capability is
designed to help educators identify text that might be prepared
by a generative AI tool. Our AI writing detection model may not
always be accurate (it may misidentify both human and AI-
generated text) so it should not be used as the sole basis for
adverse actions against a student. It takes further scrutiny
and human judgment in conjunction with an organization's
application of its specific academic policies to determine
whether any academic misconduct has occurred.”
However, the AI writing detection feature of Turnitin was
named a winner of Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence Best
of 2023 for demonstrating outstanding innovation in the last
12 months in artificial intelligence to help educators identify
when AI writing tools may have been used to write any part of
a student’s submitted work, helping them safeguard academic
integrity.

B. Drillbit: DrillBit Plagiarism detection software is a

India based similarity checker. From 1st October
2023 onwards, the INFLIBNET Centre is providing Drillbit-
Extreme 'Plagiarism Detection Software' to Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) under the ShodhShuddhi Programme.
Drillbit claims to have 200K+ global users and 65 Million+
pages crawled in real-time.

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The software covers Internet sources: Live & Archives,

Open & Subscribed Publishers content, student’s database
and institutional repository for plagiarism check. It supports
other national and international languages, detects
paraphrases. Supervisors can upload the contents from their
accounts. However, students don’t have access to it as there
is some limitations in uploading students’ projects,
assignments and dissertations.

The software can trace unfair means like hidden

characters or symbols, files illicitly modified using
alphanumeric characters, small fonts in between the words
which shall be not visible to naked eyes, supports Multiple
File, supports exclusion of reference and quotations, supports
Integration capabilities with Learning Management System
(LMS) including google classroom, provides QR code to
download plagiarism report on mobile, centralized Admin
Panel Monitoring and has the provision of automated grading
system.

As Drillbit has been recently launched it has many

limitations e.g. insufficient database coverage, limited clients
from other countries, limitation in creation of user accounts,
delayed reports etc. Drillbit also claims to have AI detection
mechanism. However, it is too early to judge the reliability and
accuracy of the AI detection mechanism of the software.

C. Google Originality Report: Google’s Originality

Report uses the power of Google in comparing the text of
submitted assignments with crore and crore of web pages
available through Google Search and over 4,00,00,000 books
available in Google Books to find out possible matches.
Google’s Originality Report is especially helpful in finding out
missing citations quickly and thus helps in avoiding
plagiarism. Originality reports are only available for Google

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Workspace for Education accounts set to: Danish, English,

Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish
and Swedish.

Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is free

for eligible institutions. Instructors using Classroom and
Assignments in Google Workspace for Education
Fundamentals can enable up to five originality reports per
class, for free and the students can run 3 reports on that
assignment before submitting their work.

Google Workspace for Education Standard is a priced

version of Google Workspace and costs around Rs. 210.00 per
user per annum and provides the same number of originality
report to that of Google Workspace for Education
Fundamentals.

Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Google Workspace

for Education Plus are priced versions of the Google
Workspace which is priced in between Rs. 280.00 to Rs.
350.00 per user per annum. The Instructors with the Teaching
and Learning Upgrade or Education Plus licenses get
unlimited originality reports and the ability to make student-
to-student comparisons on the domain-owned repository of
past submissions.

There are two ways to use Google’s Originality Report.

The 1 stis to access it through Google Classroom - all-in-one
place for teaching and learning and the second is to through
Assignments - a free add-on application for the Learning
Management System (LMS).

To turn the Google Originality Check on, the teacher

with Google Workspace for Education need to create a

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classroom at the address http://classroom.google.com and

then under Classwork need to Create Assignment with
the Check plagiarism (originality) box checked. If the
teacher “Turned on” originality reports for an assignment, the
student can run up to 3 reports on their work.

To enable Google’s Originality Report in the Learning

Management System (LMS) one needs to click on the course.
Create an assignment in the LMS and then select Google’s
Assignments as the External tool. After that one needs to
check the Enable originality reports box.

To check Google’s Originality Check Report, the

students, need to join the class and then need to go to
the Classwork and then View Assignment. Now under Your
work, create a Google Doc file and in that file copy and paste
their text. Then next to Originality reports, they need to click
on Run. Under the file name, they need to click on View
originality report to see the report. To save or print the
originality report, at the top, they need to click on
the Print icon and choose an option from Save as PDF, Save
to Google Drive or Print the report.

Google displays the percentage of flagged content to

review and show how much source material is used. For
example, if the report shows 9% flagged content, it means 9%
of the document matches source material that wasn’t cited or
quoted. It is exactly what is called plagiarism by definition and
sometimes other software only show the similarity and include
the text that even were cited and does not fall under
plagiarism. This is the point in which Google stands out among
their competitors. Google’s Originality Report consists of the
following components-

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In the originality report, Google shows the number or

percentage of flagged contents and the user can switch views
between the number of flagged passages and the percentage of
flagged content.

The report flags passages are text which are similar to

text found on a webpage that the student didn’t cite or quote.
The flagged passage shows the text from the external source
and a link to the webpage.

Cited and quoted passages are excerpts of text that are

similar to text found on a webpage that were cited or quoted
by the student.

Google’s Originality reports don’t evaluate citation

formatting or verify the source of the text. However, originality
reports determine if a student used tricky text or notify the
instructor / teacher if multiple scripts are present in an
assignment when 6 or more non-text characters are found.
The originality reports are automatically deleted after 45 days.

Table-1: Parameters of Drillbit and Turnitin

Sl. Items DrillBit Turnitin

No
1 Origin 2016/India 1998/US
Academic Journals, Academic Journals,
Web Content, Student Books, Conference
Content Paper Archives; Proceedings, Student
2 Coverag Depth: Extensive and Papers (Through Turnitin),
e diverse Web Content; Depth:
Massive, Global and
Comprehensive

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3 Cost Free for Universities Varies based on the

those signed MoU with features/ tools needed and
INFLIBNET. usage volume

In case of other
institutes varies based
on the factors like usage
volume, user type,
number of reports,
individual vs
institutional etc.
4 Features  Contents can be  Contents can be
submitted by submitted by uploading
uploading in the web in the web server
server and email.

 Detection of hidden  Detection of hidden

characters, symbols, characters, symbols,
files illicitly modified files illicitly modified
using alphanumeric using alphanumeric
characters, detection characters, detection of
of small fonts in small fonts in between
between the words the words which shall
which shall be not be not visible to naked
visible to naked eyes eyes

 Longer time required  Report generates within

for Report generations a few minutes

 Originality  Originality report with

report with a colour a colour coded text
coded text highlighting potential
highlighting potential plagiarism instances
plagiarism instances and source links
and source links
 Grademark, stream for
 LMS integration,
cloud based
Multilingual
collaboration, feedback
similarity check.
studio, text analysis
tool, LMS integration

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 Report can be  Report can be

customized customized and
downloaded or downloaded
emailed directly.

 Customer support  Customer support is

service is rendered via provided by phone,
phone, email, live email.
chat.

5 AI Inbuilt feature Add on feature.

detection

6 Data DrillBit is Compliant to Turnitin has procedural

Privacy the European Data safeguards in place to
Protection Compliance protect personal data,
i.e. GDPR,various data including the use of SSL
protection legislations encryption, redundant
of the United States of servers, and SOC2
America and based on certified data centers
the industry set
standards in India.

V. Required Features of PDS

To detect and prevent plagiarism has become the challenge for

Plagiarism Detection Software. However, PDS requires the
following features to measure similarity percentage in the
present-day context,

A. Compatible with multiple file types: PDS software supports

various file types e.g. PDF, MS Word, Open Office (ODT), RTF,
Latex, Word XML, WordPerfect, PostScript, TIFF, HTML, and
plain text
B. It allows bulk uploading of contents for similarity checking
C. Users can upload contents for similarity by directly logging
into their accounts or email the content in the prescribed
email id of the software.

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D. PDS software allows real-time review of the similarity reports

by instructors
E. Side by side comparison can be done from the similarity
report by viewing submitted work alongside original material,
i.e., block text / paragraph copy / paraphrased text shown
multiple colours.
F. The software supports similarity check of the works in
regional and translated languages.
G. The PDS tools generates similarity report with content
tracking and summary report which can be retrieved either
downloading via QR code or sending through email.
H. Standard repository of PDS software comprises of subscribed
contents, open access contents, academic IRs, webpages,
document submitted by the client subscribers, newspaper
databases, academic social networks etc.
I. It can exclude quoted materials, references and portion of
words as required.
J. The software detects AI generated contents.
K. The software flags the unfair means used in the submitted
contents.
L. The software identifies images, Tables, Equations, Formulas,
videos, music, audio and video.
M. Plagiarism Detection Software supports integration with
Learning Management Software, Content management
software, IR and other web contents of the institution.
N. Supports administrative control remotely.
O. Support administrators to create bulk user accounts.
P. Supports generation of user and usage statistics.
Q. Removal of documents from its repository at institute and
users level.

VI. How to Reduce Plagiarism

i) Contents require to be typed rather than copying and

pasting.

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ii) The information needs to be read and put into

researchers’ own words. It should be ensured that copy
verbatim more than two words in a row from the text may
lead to plagiarism.
iii) Paraphrased contents are to be properly acknowledged
and cited.
iv) Proper citation style like APA, MLA, Bluebook etc. is to be
followed, enabling PDS to automatically exclude contents
under specific headings like Bibliography and Reference
within a submission.
v) PDS excludes quotations between double quotation
marks. The double quotes used should be similar in
nature when used as an opening quote and closing quote
(dissimilar style should not be used) when applied in the
text. Else, this can cause the problem. The similarities of
open and close quotation mark can be checked in word
file by coping the opening quote from the document and
using 'Find and Replace' from Find bar in the Edit menu.
Then Without clicking 'Replace', the number is to be
noted. Again, the same procedure has to be repeated for
the closing quote. Then to check differences comparison
of the two numbers needs to be done. If the numbers are
different this will cause the issue. However, too many
quotations are also need to be avoided

VI. Some of the Challenges for PDS Software in

Combating Plagiarism

Previously the PDS couldn’t detect some minor tricks used

by the students and scholars to hide plagiarism. However,
now a days the PDS tools are become more sophisticated as
they identify those means by their powerful algorithms.

i) Insertion of special characters in between words

ii) Use of numeric or symbols e.g., “O” with “0” (Zero), “l”
with 1 etc.

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iii) Use of software for manipulating plagiarism/similarity

detection (like non printable characters, etc.)
iv) Image(s) of text inserted in the formatted / unformatted
text
v) Use of AI/paraphrasing tools e.g. ChatGPT, Bard,
Grammerly etc. Very limited AI detection software are
available till date. GPT4.0 is the example of widely used
AI detection tool as of now. However, Drillbit and
Turnitin also claim to have the facility of AI detection.
However, reliability of those software is the topic of
debate. There are also possibilities to trace the AI
contents by asking whether the contents are generated
to the AI tools or not.

VII. Conclusion

In the era of generative AI, it is the need of the hour of

every HEI is to set AI policies and guidelines along with
Plagiarism Policy. As a baseline, the academic institutes
should emphasize the students that, along with use of
uncredited ideas and content created by persons, use of
uncredited AI-generated content will be treated as plagiarism.
Many major citing and referencing styles e.g. APA citation
style, Chicago citation style, Harvard, MLA etc. have already
published guidelines on how to cite and reference artificial
intelligence technology sources. The policies of using AI
generative tools may vary course to course. Therefore,
understanding this shift of education, educators can define
policy statement many ways, e.g. Prohibited use of advanced
automated tools, Students are allowed to use advanced
automated tools with the prior permission of the instructor,
students can use AI if properly acknowledged etc. The AI
detection products available today are unreliable. The latest
research on AI detection software from MIT highlights the false
positive and negative rates. OpenAI (the company behind

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ChatGPT) recently withdrew its own detection software due to

the software’s unreliability again detection software is biased
against non-native speakers, as research from Stanford
shows, detection software cannot keep up with the rapid
change of AI. But despite of all this challenges, the researcher
should always adhere to the academic integrity and avoid
unethical measures to conduct responsible research.

References:

Barman, B. (2023). A Comprehensive Book on Library and

Information Science. LIS Links
Drillbit. (n.d.). A plagiarism checker that reads between the
lines. plhttps://www.drillbitplagiarism.com/
Google Workspace for Education. (n.d.). Originality reports in
Google Classroom. support.google.com
Google Workspace for Education. (n.d.). Turn on originality
reports. support.google.com
Google Workspace for Education. (n.d.). What originality
reports show. support.google.com
Turnitin. (n.d.). Turnitin originality reports. https://tur
nitin.com/

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Chapter - 13

A CADEMIC INTEGRITY, PLAGIA RISM AND THE

IMPA CT OF AI IN EDUCATION
Purna Bose *

I. Academic Integrity & Plagiarism

Academic Integrity is critical to the success of any

educational endeavour. What do we mean by Academic
Integrity? By definition, it is the “commitment, even in times of
adversity, to honesty, trust, justice, respect, courage and
responsibility” in learning and education. The terms that are
most closely associated with Academic Integrity are original
writing and plagiarism; some even view them as the opposite of
each other!

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to

"plagiarize" means:

● to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as

one's own
● to use (another's content) without crediting the source
● to commit literary theft
● to present as new and original an idea or product derived
from an existing source

Essentially any piece of writing that shares the author’s

original ideas, thoughts or perspectives can be termed as
original writing. In case, it needs to refer to some existing

* Sr. Solutions Engineer, Turnitin

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content, then providing a valid reference or citing the source

can help safeguard against plagiarism.

II. Effects of Plagiarism

The effects of plagiarism are multi-fold and can have an

impact at multiple levels. At the individual level, the very
purpose of education and learning gets impacted. If detected,
there is a loss of reputation, both at the individual and at the
institutional level. Capital cost (financial loss) is almost a
certainty for the individual (loss of job, degree, etc), along with
legal costs. The institution may also need to incur legal costs as
well as suffer loss due to retraction of grants, etc.

Please understand that even one instance of academic

misconduct in your educational endeavors can have major
impacts long after you have actually completed the journey of
formal education. There are several instances (any internet
search can give the details) where academic misconduct has
come to light several years after the actual incident. However,
time may not dilute the severity of the implications like loss of
job or powerful positions in the private or public sectors.

III. Does the Similarity Report Help?

What is similarity? Is it the same as plagiarism? No it is

not, and we need to understand that if we want to leverage the
Similarity report to improve our quality of content. Text
similarity is the “amount of ideas or words of another that is
present in your work”. There are tools available which can help
instructors get an idea of the amount of similarity a student’s
content has with existing sources; however, a similarity index
is not an index of plagiarism. The types of plagiarism can vary
between extremes of “inadvertent plagiarism” to “contract
cheating”. What makes text similarity an instance of plagiarism
is the absence of proper citation or attribution to the source. It

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is also important to be aware of the concept of “expected

similarity” wherein some forms of text, e.g. quotation, reference
list, are expected to show up as text similarity as they are likely
to be there in other sources of content but are certainly not
“plagiarism”. Along the same lines, a higher text similarity does
not imply higher plagiarism and vice versa.

It is also critical to understand that there is no “MAGIC''

number as the acceptable level of similarity. How much text
similarity is acceptable is highly subjective and depends on
various factors including (but not limited to) the kind of subject
& assignment and the academic integrity policies governing the
institution. If a student is ever in doubt, they should connect
with a project guide, instructor, educator, etc who can help
guide them in this.

From another perspective, the Similarity report can be a

useful tool for the student to understand if there is a good
balance of original writing and supporting content/evidence
(references) in their papers/submissions, and they can self-
correct to a large extent before actually submitting their papers
for review. This, in turn, can help the instructors spend the
review time providing more qualitative feedback, rather than
issues that can be corrected by the students themselves.

IV. Where Does AI Fit into the Scheme of Academic

Integrity?

Now that we have some clarity on the basic aspects of

Academic Integrity and plagiarism, let us look at the latest trend
that is causing a lot of (ethical) concerns among educators. Let’s
take a step back and review the possible impacts of AI in
education:

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Positive Impacts:

● Personalized Learning
● Automated Grading and Feedback
● Language Learning & Translation
● Content Creation
● Proactive Analytics
● Administrative Support

Likely concerns:

● Compromise with academic integrity

● Likelihood of bias creeping in (depending on the data
used to train the model)
● Data security may be compromised

When it comes to AI in writing, the most common terms that

come to the forefront are NLP (Natural Language Processing),
Deep Learning and GPT-vx. We need to understand a few
concepts to be able to make more sense of this term. Natural
Language Processing (NLP) is a subfield of artificial intelligence
(AI) that deals with the interaction between computers and
human language. It involves using algorithms, statistical
models, and linguistics to enable computers to “learn”
(understand and interpret) and produce human language. GPT
stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer; GPT-3 (GPT
version 3) uses advanced algorithms, a set of rules for problem-
solving that computers follow, and lots of data to create original
human-like text and other output.

GPT-3, or any other generative large language model, is

usually fed loads of content, data and information (also known
as training data) from a variety of open sources. Very simply
put, the model is able to “generate” the content based on the
prompt that is provided based on this “pre-training”. The more

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(and varied) this training data, the more efficient the output
from the model. If the training data is “biased” (e.g. few
geographical or culturally specific data is used to train the
model), the content output is likely to carry forward that bias
as well. It is pretty similar to how we, as humans, get trained in
our mother tongue (by hearing what people are speaking
around us) and we tend to pick the same patterns and words!

The strength and weaknesses of AI generated content need

to be delved into and understood.

Strengths:

● The biggest strength of AI based writing is that it can

understand and generate simplified texts based on the
input (prompt) e.g. representing a complex concept or
text in a more “understandable” format.
● It is pretty versatile in its functionality in terms of
generating images, working with different languages,
subjects and concepts.
● The technology is continuously evolving (with more and
varied training data) which implies its capabilities being
more efficient as we move forward.

Weaknesses:

● GPT doesn't think in the sense that humans think, it

uses clever algorithms and data to give the illusion of
thought.
● The output essentially depends on the specific prompt
(input) and there is always a possibility of bias creeping
in, depending on the kind of data that has been used to
train the language model and how the prompt is written.
● The quality of output is likely to fall if it needs to produce
large amounts of text with some complexity.

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● There is no validation of the data or accuracy of the

content that is generated.
● Another big concern is the training data being outdated.
Since AI takes content from pre-set data sources, the
relevancy of the document to current context may go
amiss.

V. Role of Educators

As with other Academic Integrity issues, educators play a

crucial role in defining and executing strategies that can help
minimize unauthorized AI writing:

1. Define what is “acceptable” (similar to text similarity),

document those parameters as part of the overall
academic integrity policies and explicitly communicate
them to your students as a continuous endeavor.
2. Design assessments and assignments in a way that they
become “AI-proof”.
3. If you think there might be an issue (maybe the AI
detector has indicated some level of AI generated text),
have a discussion with the student.

While detection is a tool to help you have a discussion with

your students, let us focus on what is possible for us to ensure
the students’ objective of getting effective education remains
unhindered. It is very important for us to acknowledge that AI
text generators like ChatGPT and so many other similar tools
like BARD, etc are here to stay. And they may not always be a
threat. AI can have so many useful applications in various fields
like medicine, etc. Like any other technology, the benefit or
threat comes from how we choose to leverage the technology.

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IX. Turnitin and AI

Turnitin’s association with AI goes a long way back to

2014, when we engaged in research and began leveraging AI to
provide various useful features for both our integrity and
assessment solutions. Turnitin initiated research and
development around detecting paraphrased writing, AI writing,
and the next generation of AI powered item authoring as well as
grading and feedback tools for all assessment types from 2020
(as Open AI released GPT 3). When ChatGPT got released in
November 2022, we, at Turnitin, could hear the concerns from
our fellow educators. To support, Turnitin released a preview of
its AI writing detection capabilities for educators and
institutions into existing workflows in April 2023.

Turnitin has built the GPT detection experience into our

existing workflows, starting with a detection ‘button’ and report.
Our detectors are unique to Turnitin, and are specifically
optimized to detect AI writing in student writing, based on 20+
years of experience in safeguarding academic integrity. We try
to detect the distinct statistical signature that comes with the
Large Language Model applications like ChatGPT. As with AI,
this detection technology is also evolving.

Turnitin only flag something as AI-written when we are

reasonably sure (with less than 1% false positive rate) it is
actually written by AI.

The software’s intention is to give educators the

information and tools they need to investigate and work with
the student to determine next steps. Just like with similarity, it
is NOT our objective or purpose to determine if the student is
plagiarizing or cheating. A figure in the AI detector DOES NOT
necessarily indicate misconduct by the student. Similar to the
concept of expected text similarity, it is an indicator to the

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educator to explore further (if it was completely unexpected),

have a conversation with the student and then come to a
conclusion if any further action is required.

X. Develop the Culture of Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity is not a one-time intervention; on the

contrary, it is an ongoing culture that needs to be inculcated
early in the journey of education and nurtured as a student
continues to move forward. Educators and students need to
work together to ensure originality, accurate citation, and
authentic references. Students should seek support in
acquiring efficient research skills and reach out to their guides
whenever in doubt. And, if scholars can imbibe this culture of
Academic Integrity in their education system, they can combat
the threats of plagiarism, using AI or contract cheating more
effectively.

References:

Turnitin. (2023, April). Turnitin AI writing detection. https://

turnitin.com/

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Chapter - 14

JABREF: A REFEREN CE MA NAGEMENT TOOL

Miteshkumar Pandya

I. Introduction

Research is one of the important activities to ameliorate

societal changes. Research may be conducted in scientific labs
and in society too. It is essential to identify and accumulate all
the resources on chosen/given areas of research. This requires
studying past research conducted on similar or related areas of
research. Researchers have to note down past events and
identify the problem to bridge the gap. During the research
journey, researchers are coming across considerable resources
of different types. It is quite difficult to remember how many
resources are referred to derive the statement of the problem
and conduct an extensive literature review. Moreover, these
different types of resources have their own structure of
information and one has to gather all the metadata fields and
store them somewhere for future use during the research cycle.

Managing information resources wisely is one of the

basic strategies of research. The researcher comes across many
useful resources during his research lifecycle. It would be
difficult for researchers to remember which source was referred
to for different topics. The reference management software
helps a researcher to accumulate all the literature for different
research topics in a single window under different groups. Many
researchers are not aware of the scholarly databases and from
where they can get relevant literature on their area of research

 Miteshkumar Pandya, Scientist - C (Library Science), INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar,

Gujarat

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work. Few reference management software help in finding out

literature without even visiting the source Website of the
desired resource. The in-built feature of searching from various
databases can help in organizing literature along with full-text
in reference management software. Reference management
software also helps to follow the principles and ethics of
research. There are many open-source and proprietary software
solutions available in the market. Some of these software are
developed using FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)
enabling freelancers to contribute to the development process.
JabRef is one such software developed using FOSS technology.

II. What is JabRef

JabRef is open-source reference management software

available in the form of desktop applications for Windows, Linux
and Mac operating systems. The software uses the BibTex file
format for storing bibliographic information of resources. The
BibTex is one of the international standard bibliographic data
exchange formats (Bibtex Entry Types, Field Types and Usage
Hints, 2020).

III. Functions and Features of JabRef

JabRef is reference management software that is being

used by many researchers. The software has a variety of
functions and features that are expected from modern reference
management software (Kopp, 2020a). Some of the major
functions and features are:

● Search and extract metadata of scholarly

communications from across the different databases;
● Software facilitates extraction of metadata in BibTeX
format from most of the databases;

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● It provides an add-on for the Firefox browser known as

JabFox to directly download bibliographic information in
software;
● It allows users to import bibliographic information in
different well-accepted international standards such as
RIS, Endnote, Pubmed(XML), Refworks, BibTeX etc.;
● The software provides the feature to conduct extensive
literature search using an in-built function and fetch
desired literature along with softcopy in the local JabRef
database;
● The software facilitates users to classify the bibliographic
entries according to the subjects, author or any other
fields of their choice;
● The software has integrated appropriate external
applications to browse the full-text resources in a PDF
viewer or Web browser;
● JabRef allows users of various text editors such as Vim,
LyX, TeXstudio, and Windows Word to insert citations
directly in the manuscript under preparation;
● The software automatically generates BibTeX keys using
author names, titles and year of individual resource;
● It allows users to annotate the PDF files and share it with
other stakeholders;
● The software has an in-built function to export
all/selected bibliographic data in HTML, BibTeXML,
RTF, Endnote, etc.;
● Users may customize the JabRef interface as per their
choice;
● The software also provides the facility to add new
customized fields which are not available in the default
input sheet; and
● JabRef allows users to choose their preferred language
for working in their own language using JabRef
translation available from Github.

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IV. Managing References and Inserting Citations through

JabRef

One has to first install JabRef software in the local

system in any of the operating systems i.e. Windows, Linux and
Mac. Researchers can download an executable file from the
official website of https://www.jabref.org/ under the download
menu. As soon as the installation is completed successfully the
JabRef application will be launched as shown in figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Main Screen of JabRef

One has to understand the internal structure and

mechanism of the software before it is used for storing
references and inserting citations while preparing the

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manuscript. Let us first understand the flow of work and the

use of various menus in the software.

Figure 2: Organization of JabRef

A. Resource Collection

The resource collection allows users to create a collection

of various types of resources that are required to be used for
research work. On top of the software interface, you can see the
menus which allow users to create New BibTeX Library. As soon
as the BibTeX library is created users can create resources by
entering it manually, by resource ID, parsing references and
through a browser add-on. Let us see each one of the options
for creating a resource collection.

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Figure 3: Creating New BibTeX Library

i) Add Resource Manually

To create a new manual entry for different types of

resources, one must choose the ‘Library’ menu and click the
‘New entry’ option. The ‘New entry’ menu action will display a
dialogue box having a list of multiple types of resources where
you may choose the type of resource which you would like to
enter as a resource.

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Figure 4: Add New Entry of Resource

ii) Add Resource Using ID

To add resources using a unique identifier, one must

choose the ‘Library’ menu and click the ‘New entry’ option. The
‘New entry’ menu action will display a dialogue box in which the
lower portion shows a list of unique identifiers in the dropdown
box. Select the desired identifier such as ISBN, DOI, ArXiv and
many more unique identifiers. As soon as the unique identifier
for the desired resource is entered, press generate button to
fetch metadata in the Library as shown in Fig 5 below.

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Figure 5: Creating New Resource Using Unique Identifier

Figure 5: Creating New Resource Using Unique Identifier

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The software comes with well-accepted citation and

referencing styles. In the default installation, only a few
referencing styles will be displayed. In case, you would like to
use some more citation and referencing styles then it can be
enabled from the ‘Preferences’ under the ‘Option’ menu as
shown in figure 6 below:

Figure 6: Changing Citation Style

iii) Search in External Sources

According to (Kopp, 2020b) metadata of various

resources that are available in online databases can be
searched from within the JabRef interface. To enable the search
toolbar in the left pane of the screen, choose the 'View' menu
and click 'Web search, the search interface will be displayed on
the left pane of the software interface. JabRef provides a Web
search facility for GORBID, GVK, Google Scholar, IEEEXplore,

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INSPIRE, MathSciNet, Medline/PubMed, SAO/NASA

Astrophysics Data System, Springer and zbMATH online
databases. One has to select the pre-defined database from the
dropdown list one at a time (e.g. Google Scholar) and type
keywords related to the research area and press the ‘Enter’ key
or click on the ‘Search’ button to retrieve the results from the
selected online database as shown in figure 7 below:

Figure 7: Search from External Source

The JabRef will fetch metadata of all the resources that

are available in the selected online database irrespective of the
document type. As soon as the query is fired, a list of available
resources will be displayed on a dialogue box having a function
to select the desired resource by clicking on ‘+’ symbol in the
right corner of each resource. Once resources are selected press
the ‘Import entries’ button to bring all the selected resources to
the library as shown in figure 8 below.

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Figure 8. Search Results from External Source

iv) Add Resource Using Browser Extension

JabRef provides an extension for Firefox, Chrome, Edge

and Vivaldi browsers. This extension automatically identifies
and extracts metadata on the websites and imports it into
JabRef in a single click. One has to configure the browser
extension with the preferred browser as shown in figure 8
below. To enable an extension to fetch metadata and associated
files a small configuration is to be done by typing the following
command to the command prompt of the Windows machine.
Detailed and step-by-step instructions for other operating
systems are available on the JabRef Website.

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Fig 9. Configuring Browser Extension

Whenever the researcher is searching some scholarly

databases and comes across relevant literature the browser
extension helps the researcher to add references to JabRef
library. It also fetched embedded full-text files with metadata
provided that the scholarly database offers open access to a
selected article or they are subscribed at the researcher’s end.
The researcher has to search resources and click on an add-on
to download selected or group of resources available on the
Webpage. As soon as the resource is sent to the JabRef, it will
be displayed in separate dialogue box allowing users to import
in the library as shown in Figure 10 below.

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Figure 10: Extracting Metadata from Scholarly Databases

v) Resource Organization

The resource organization helps users to make necessary

corrections in collected resources. Resources are gathered from
a variety of sources and there are chances of typo errors as well
as duplicate entries of resources. Many times users have PDF
files, but they are not linked with their respective resources.
Therefore, it is essential to organize the resources to avoid
wrong entries by editing resources, linking associated PDF files,
creating & managing groups and removing duplicate resources.

B. Edit Resource

The resource editor can be opened by double-clicking on

the selected resource. This pane will help users to modify
relevant information about a selected resource. It will be
displayed at the bottom of the library/resource panel. One can

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edit/modify, the relevant information and the changes will take

place automatically. The panel will be displayed as shown in
figure 11.

Figure 11: Edit Resource Panel

i) Create and Manage Group

JabRef allows users to organize resources according to

project or research work as per requirement. All the collected
resources can be distributed in groups according to relevancy.
Groups allow structuring a BibTeX database in a parent-child
relationship way that is similar to organizing files and folders
on the hard disk. The resource entries can be then segregated
into different group.

ii) Manage Linked Files

JabRef allows users to attach full-text PDF files with

respective metadata which is being stored on the local computer

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system. The JabRef uses a field known as 'Linked Files' and

each entry can have multiple file links. These linked files can
be opened from JabRef instantly.

Figure12: Managing Associated Files

iii) Find and Merge Duplicate Resources

JabRef comes with a function to find out duplicate

entries within the database. This option is available under the
'Quality' menu. The 'Find duplicate' option can be used to find
and remove duplicate entries. This can also be used while
importing records in a referencing format or directly from the
Web. Users can merge duplicate entries by selecting the merge
entry option. This option will be enabled by right click only after
selecting both the prospective duplicate entries.

C. Cite Resources

One of the crucial tasks in research reporting is to cite

the resources that are used in the research work according to

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the style manual accepted by the publishers. Most of the

publishers are using internationally recognized standard
citation and referencing styles. JabRef facilitates inserting in-
text citations while preparing the manuscript and generates
references for the sources that are cited within the text of the
manuscript.

i) BibTeX and BibLaTeX

JabRef software works on the BibTeX and BibLaTeX

standardized structured metadata exchange formats. It uses
the same file format as a database when it is saved with .bib
extension. The file with.bib is a structured file format that is
being used in JabRef.

ii) Export to MS-WORD

One can use an in-build export function for MS Office

2007 XML format. This file will store all the metadata in the
compatible format of MS-WORD 2007. This is the same as it is
used in the 'Reference' menu of MS-WORD that can be directly
accessed by citing and creating references. This can only be
used in office 2007 in the latest version of MS Office this feature
will not work. To export the selected resources in office 2007
XML format, the option is available under the File menu. Please
ensure that save as type is selected as MS Office 2007 (.xml).
This exported file is required to be pasted under the following
path:
C:\Users\Mitesh\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Bibliography

All the exported resources will be available in the MS-

WORD bibliography database and can be used for citing while
preparing the manuscript.

iii) MS-WORD Integration

Researchers can insert in-text citations while preparing

manuscripts in MS-WORD. This requires to be downloaded an
add-on available on the external website which allows

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integrating plug-in within the MS-WORD. Users have to visit

the following website to get the bibtex4word plug-in:
http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/hp/staff/dmb/ perl/index.html

The system will download a zip folder which needs to be

extracted. On extraction, users will find some files that are
useful in different ways. To insert the in-text citation in MS-
WORD this add-in would help researchers to communicate
between JabRef and MS-WORD. This requires some
configuration in local MS-WORD start-up folder available in the
computer system. While working on Windows operating system,
the settings related to add-in could be done in the following
path: C:\Users\Mitesh\AppData\Roaming\ Microsoft\Word\
STARTUP

One has to copy bibtex4word template file from the

extracted folder and paste it in the aforementioned path. As
soon as it is pasted, MS-WORD will display some menus under
Add-Ins menu as shown in figure 13 below:

Figure 13: Integrating Add-In bibtex4word

If it does not display the bibtex4word add-in, please

make sure that you are switching off and then switching on the
MS-WORD to reflect the changes.

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D. Sharing Resources

JabRef has a feature to connect with a shared database

in MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle. To share a database in an
external database some configuration is required for connecting
it with the database as shown in figure 14 below:

Figure 14: Connection Shared Database

i) Sharing BibTeX Database

It is essential for a researcher to share the resources with

co-researchers that are being used in a research project. The
JabRef facilitates sharing Bib(La)TeX database, in .bib file

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format. To make the sharing easy and comfortable, it is required

to set the properties of the database in the file menu.

ii) Export/Import

JabRef facilitates exporting and importing entries in a

variety of formats. It is important to keep a backup of the
resources that are collected in the BibTeX library. The backup
can be restored as and when required in the same computer
system or any other computer system. In case some addition
and deletions are done in the file while importing the file one
has to choose an option to append the file.

Figure 15: Export and Import of Entries

V. Summary

Reference Management Software helps researchers to

collect useful resources, organize them and cite them while
writing the manuscript. JabRef is one of the free and open

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source reference management software having many features

and helps researchers to optimize their research skills. It also
comes with an extension to a few well-known browsers enabling
researchers to fetch embedded metadata while browsing
resources.

References:

Bibtex Entry Types, Field Types and Usage Hints. (2020).

https://www.openoffice.org/bibliographic/bibtex-efs.html

Kopp, O. (2020a). JabRef—Free Reference Manager—Stay on

top of your Literature. JabRef. https://www.jabref.org

Kopp, O. (2020b). User Documentation. https://docs.jabref.org

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Chapter - 15

REFERENCE MANAGEMENT TOO L: A BOON FOR

MANAGING RESEARCH RE FEREN CES
Tonmay Sabhapandit*

I. Reference and Reference Management Tool

Reference and referencing are an acknowledgment of the

sources that a writer has read, analysed, and consulted to
support their hypotheses and theories throughout the research.
Every source we used for our research, including theories,
websites, images, quotes, diagrams, statistics, and more, needs
to be cited in our assignment. So, reference management
software gives us the ability to gather, arrange, and credit
sources for our writing, making it a practical tool for keeping
track of Researcher’s reading.

Reference management software can be defined as "any

software product used for storage and retrieval of bibliographic
records." It is often referred to as bibliographic software,
citation management software, or personal bibliographic file
managers. Scholarly research requires bibliographic citations
(references), which reference management software generates
and keeps in a database of bibliographic records.

Reference management software and technologies make

it easier for researchers to find the work of others by rapidly
and precisely citing it. These solutions can serve as a safe
source repository for ongoing projects or be used as a one-time
resource where users submit material and receive a complete
citation. Large teams can be connected by reference

* Head Librarian, National Institute of Design, Jorhat, Assam

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management software or tools via cloud servers, giving entire

organizations access to reliable publications and resources.
Reference management systems frequently can interface with
portions of web browsers, file-sharing and storage systems, and
document-authoring software. Instead of stumbling upon
resources later, users can now preserve them as they are now
located.

II. How Reference Management Tools Work

The following are the ways that reference management

tools work:
i) Storing and organizing references.
ii) generating citations and bibliographies in the
style anyone prefer; and,
iii) easily converting referencing styles to suit
publication requirements.
(Bolitho, n.d.)

III. Common features of Reference Management tools

i) Store references in a searchable database.

ii) Attach PDFs and other files.
iii) Auto-generate citations and bibliographies/
reference lists in document in chosen style.

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iv) Share collections of references with others.

v) Sync required references across multiple devices.
(Bolitho, n.d.)

IV. Why Reference Management Tool is Needed

Reference managers are software tools designed to help

researchers to organize reference materials and create citations
and bibliographies for their academic writing. These tools can
have a significant impact on the accuracy and completeness of
citations in academic writing. Here are some key points:

A. Efficient Organization of References: Reference

managers allow researchers to collect, organize, and store
references from various sources in a centralized database.
This streamlines the process of managing a large number
of citations for research papers.

B. Automated Citation Generation: One of the main

benefits of reference managers is their ability to
automatically generate citations and bibliographies in
different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). This
feature reduces the chances of citation errors and ensures
adherence to the required formatting guidelines.

C. Reduced Risk of Plagiarism: By providing accurate

citation details and automatically generating citations,
reference managers help researchers avoid accidental
plagiarism. Properly citing sources gives credit to the
original authors and prevents issues related to academic
integrity.

D. Version Control and Collaboration: Some reference

managers offer version control features, allowing
researchers to track changes in their references and

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collaborate with others in real time. This enhances research

transparency and facilitates collaborative writing projects.

E. Cross-Platform Access and Synchronization: Many

reference managers offer cloud-based services, enabling
researchers to access their reference libraries from multiple
devices. This ensures continuity and ease of use across
different platforms.

F. Metadata Retrieval and PDF Management: Some

reference managers can automatically retrieve metadata
(e.g., title, author, publication year) for imported references,
making the data entry process more efficient. Additionally,
they may offer PDF management features to organize and
search through PDFs of research papers.

G. Time Savings and Increased Productivity: By

automating citation tasks, reference managers free up
researchers' time, allowing them to focus more on their
research and writing process.

Despite these benefits, researchers need to double-check

the accuracy of the automatically generated citations. While
reference managers can greatly assist in citation management,
they are not infallible, and manual review is necessary to ensure
the correctness of citations.

V. Limitations of Reference Management Tools/Software

A reference management program:

i) may not create a perfect bibliography or reference list

according to the researcher’s preferred style (or the
researcher’s supervisor’s or tutor’s: i) Researcher still
need to be familiar with the referencing style to be used;

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ii) Refer to Style Manuals; iii) In some programs it is

possible to adjust or edit output styles.

A. will not correct typos errors or omissions from references

manually entered or downloaded from databases. The
researcher will always need to proofread references for
accuracy: punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

B. may not always know what reference type is

downloading: For example, they cannot always
distinguish a conference proceeding from a book; Also,
some information may be inserted in the wrong format
requiring editing. (Bolitho, n.d.)

VI. Reference Management software

There are several tools available which are important to

choose the one that suits researchers’ needs.

Mendeley:
Mendeley is a desktop and web application for online
collaboration, finding research data, and organising
and sharing research articles. (Mendeley - Reference
Management Software, n.d.)

Find, use, and share research with EndNote. It's for

more than bibliographies. Sync EndNote library across
desktop, iPad, and online. Work on research from
anywhere. (EndNote FAQs, n.d.)

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help to collect,

organize, cite, and share research sources. (Zotero |
Your Personal Research Assistant, n.d.)

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ReadCube is a leader in scalable literature

management solutions enhancing research-driven
teams by transforming the way scholarly literature is
accessed, organized, and shared. Information overload
and outdated workflows can impede progress and grind
innovation to a halt. ReadCube’s adaptive literature
management solutions have helped thousands of
organizations get back to the breakthrough work that
matters most. With a focus on efficiency, security,
collaboration, and interoperability, ReadCube is the
literature management solution that scales from
biotech startups to global pharmaceutical companies -
making it possible to stay focused on tomorrow’s
breakthroughs and world-changing discoveries. (Home,
n.d.)

EasyBib.com provides citation, note-taking, and

research tools. EasyBib offers free and premium
services for individuals and institutions. (EasyBib®:
Free Bibliography Generator - MLA, APA, Chicago
Citation Styles, n.d.)

Sciwheel is an award-winning tool providing library

patrons with an easy way to discover, read, annotate,
and write. Part of Technology from SAGE.
(Sciwheel, n.d.)

The Only All-in-One Writing and Referencing Solution

Streamlines research writing process with the only tool
designed to organize, track, and format writing and
references. With features designed to methodically
manage notes and articles and automatic citation
formatting for over 10,000 styles, Citavi brings calm to
the chaos of writing. With Citavi, researcher’s
presentation is half-written before even begin. Buy now

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or request a free trial to start improving research writing

process. (Citavi - Best Reference Management Software
for Writing and Note Taking, n.d.)

Reference Manager is a powerful bibliographic solution

for workgroups, networks, and collaborative projects.
Search online databases, organize references easily,
and watch the bibliography appear as the researcher
write. (The G2 on Reference Manager, 2022)

Paperpile is a Clean, simple reference management for

the web. Sync the library to all used devices and read
and annotate like on paper on iPad, iPhone, or Android
device. Cite papers in Google Docs and Microsoft
Word. (Paperpile Reference Manager, n.d.)

RefWorks is an online research management, writing,

and collaboration tool that is designed to help
researchers easily gather, manage, store, and share all
types of information, as well as generate citations and
bibliographies. (ProQuest RefWorks, n.d.)

The revolutionary Microsoft Word integration displays

references and notes inside Word. Cite references by
drag-and-drop and see the results instantly. (Add
Citations in a Word Document - Microsoft Support, n.d.)

JabRef is an open-source, cross-platform citation and

reference management tool. It uses BibTeX and
BibLaTeX as its native file formats and provides
therefore a premier bibliography solution for typesetting
with TeX/LaTeX. JabRef allows users to collect, edit,
organize, and cite literature references. (JabRef - Free
Reference Manager - Stay on Top of Your Literature, n.d.)

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Cite4me.org is a free research and reference tool

designed to help users cite sources, check content for
plagiarism, format, and keep papers in one place. (Cite
This For Me: Harvard, APA, MLA Reference Generator,
n.d.)

Capture Anywhere, Use It Everywhere- Sorc’d provides

the most efficient and effective way to save, share, and
apply snippets of relevant content, creating smarter,
more productive teams, flourishing thought leaders,
and individuals who discover something new every day.
Sorc’d empowers content creators to build stronger
content, faster through a cloud-powered knowledge
database of digestible snippets of relevant content,
substantially decreasing research time and giving users
more time to focus on what matters. Sorc’d seamlessly
integrates with numerous content creation systems,
such as Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, &
Outlook) and Google Docs/Sheets. (Ltd, 2024)

Citationsy is a no-nonsense reference collection and

bibliography creation tool for people who value
simplicity, privacy, and speed. There’s no tracking, and
we don’t sell or give data to anyone. (Cenk, 2019)

VII. Some Popular Reference Management Software

From these available reference managers, the following

three popular tools have been chosen that are described in more
detail below.

A. Zotero: Zotero is open source and developed by an

independent, non-profit organization that has no financial
interest. With Zotero, the researcher always stays in control of

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their data. Zotero automatically senses research as the

researcher browses the web. Zotero has covered, everywhere.
Zotero helps the researchers organize research any way they
want. They can sort items into collections and tag them with
keywords. Or create saved searches that automatically fill with
relevant materials as work goes on. Zotero instantly creates
references and bibliographies for any text editor, and directly
inside Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. With support for
over 10,000 citation styles, the researcher can format their
work to match any style guide or publication. Zotero can
optionally synchronize data across devices, keeping files, notes,
and bibliographic records seamlessly up to date. Zotero also
allow researchers to co-write a paper with a colleague,
distribute course materials to students, or build a collaborative
bibliography. Anyone can share a Zotero library with as many
people as the researcher like, at no cost. (Zotero | Your Personal
Research Assistant, n.d.)

B. Mendeley: “The strength of Mendeley, however, is what adds

to that. Mendeley is also an academic social network that
enables to share research with others. Researchers can
collaborate online in public or private groups, and search for
papers in the Mendeley group database of over 30 million
papers. Mendeley can help to connect with other scholars and
the latest research in their subject area. Because Mendeley is
now owned by Elsevier, the leading provider of science and
health information, it integrates with ScienceDirect.

By using Mendeley, the researcher can:

 Collect references from the Web and UCI databases.

 Automatically generate citations and bibliographies
 From within citation library, read, annotate, and
highlight PDFs
 Collaborate with other researchers online.

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 Import papers from other research software.

 Find relevant papers based on what are read.
 Access the scholar’s papers from anywhere online.
 Read papers on the go with the scholars iPhone or iPad.
 Build a professional presence with Mendeley profile.
 Mendeley works with Windows, Mac and Linux”
(Mendeley, n.d.)

C. Endnote: “EndNote is a commercial reference management

software package produced by Thomson Reuters. Endnote is
one of the most popular reference managers and has been
around for more than 20 years. EndNote is a reference
management software package, also known as bibliographic
software, which enables researchers to:

 Create a personal database of references relevant to the

scholar’s research, along with associated files.
 Insert references into a Word document and format them
automatically in a citation style of the scholar’s choice.
 De-duplicate references retrieved from multiple sources.
 Share references with others” (“EndNote,” 2023)

Endnote software features

 Store up to 1 million references.

 Unlimited storage of references and attachments.
 Share the library with up to 100 people.
 Shared library activity feed logs changes made by
collaborators.
 Insert citations and references from your library into
your document and automatically build a bibliography
(in over 7,000 styles) directly in Word.
 Add subheadings and categories to bibliographies in
Word.
 Directly import references from online databases.

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 One-click find full-text feature.

 Citation report (with Web of Science subscription).
 Read and annotate PDFs attached to references.

EndNote is available as:

A desktop software application, for which UCL has an

institutional licence; The current version available at UCL is
EndNote 20. It is also possible to download the previous version
X9 (view our guide to EndNote X9). The latest version is
EndNote 21. Our guidance will be updated for EndNote 21 once
it is made available at UCL. A web-based application called
EndNote Online (previously called EndNote Web) which may be
accessed by anyone from any device with internet access.
Access to the full version of EndNote Online is included in UCL's
EndNote licence. A free iPad app. There is no app available for
Android or other mobile operating systems. (Young, n.d.)

Everyone can use them independently or synchronise

them and can work with EndNote references from any device:
own computer, on the Web or on iPad. The online and iPad
versions do not have all the functionality of EndNote Desktop
(Young, n.d.)

D. A comparative status on the features of these three

software

A status of comparison has been presented through the

following table for better understanding of Zotero, Mendeley,
and Endnote (Librarian, n.d.).

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Comparative analysis of Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Features Zotero Mendeley Endnote
A commercial
Desktop reference
application, management
Zotero software but can sync program called
with browser with an EndNote is used to
Access
add-on (Firefox online organize references
and Chrome). account and bibliographies
which is when producing
editable articles, reports,
and essays.
Source
Open Source Open Source Closed Source
Code Type
Local
computers Data can be stored
Where is
Local computer with web- locally or on cloud-
my
with web-based based based platforms
database
syncing. syncing like OneDrive,
stored?
between Google Drive, etc.
computers
can be added to a
library manually,
through exporting
Detects
or importing,
citations that
copying from
can be
Import from another EndNote
captured from
many library, or
databases or
popular connecting from
web pages.
How does databases. EndNote, among
Search and
it work? Extract other methods.
import records
citation The application
using PMID,
information shows the user a
DOI, or ISBN.
from PDFs. window with fields
Extract citation
that range from
information
general (author,
from PDFs.
title, year) to those
specific to the type
of reference

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Comparative analysis of Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Features Zotero Mendeley Endnote
(abstract, author,
ISBN, running
time, etc.) and a
dropdown menu
from which to
choose the type of
reference they
need (e.g., book,
congressional
legislation, film,
newspaper article,
etc.).

Ability to
work Yes Yes No
offline
Subscription-
Cost Free to anyone Free.
based access
Word-
MS Word, MS Word, Compatible with
processor
Google Docs, Open Office, MS Word
compatibi
Open Office LaTex application.
lity
Import
from
Yes Yes Yes
Library
databases
Import
As of summer
from
2022, no, but Yes No
Library
expected.
Catalogue
Find It!
Yes, via Library
Integratio No No
Lookup feature
n

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Comparative analysis of Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Features Zotero Mendeley Endnote
Yes, with a
bookmark
Yes, also Yes through Web
Import for a limited
archives the Importer Option
citation number of
page and you citation info can be
info from sites (mostly
can add collected about the
web pages publishers
annotations web pages.
or
databases)
Manage
Moderate to
large Easy Easy
difficult
libraries
Unlimited
local storage
and data
syncing;
One can keep up
2GB
to 50,000 records
personal and
and 2 GB of
100MB
attachments with
group free
EndNote Basic.
Storage Unlimited local Mendeley file
EndNote 20 to X7.
capacity storage. syncing
2 offer limitless
(larger
storage for records
syncing
and attachments.
plans
available for
purchase;
must sign in
to view
prices)
PDFs and other
items can be
Attach Yes, and can
attached to the
associate Yes, with option highlight
matching citation
d files to attach it and
in the EndNote
(PDFs, automatically annotate
library in several
etc.) PDFs
ways. Drag and
drop a file over the

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Comparative analysis of Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Features Zotero Mendeley Endnote
relevant record to
attach several files
to an EndNote
citation.

Search
full text of Yes Yes Yes
PDFs
PDF
Annotatio
Yes Yes Yes
n and
Notes
Yes, but limit
Create
of 3
group or
Yes members in Yes
shared
a private
libraries
group
Yes, a limited
Create a
number
bibliograp
included by
hy in
default; Yes Possible
different
hundreds can
styles/for
be downloaded
mats
from Zotero.org
Edit
Extremely
output No No
difficult
styles
- Automatic
-Easy to learn
citation
- Easy to learn with many tutorial
extraction
videos
from PDFs
Strengths
- Sync EndNote includes
-Quick for
library over powerful search
collecting
multiple and retrieval tools
citations and
computers that make it easy

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Comparative analysis of Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Features Zotero Mendeley Endnote
organizing to find specific
PDFs references within a
large library,
enhancing overall
efficiency.
EndNote is
available for both
Windows and
- Free unlimited - Sync with
macOS, making it
storage and Zotero
accessible to a
syncing with library
wide range of
UChicago automaticall
users, regardless of
address. y
their operating
system.

EndNote allows
users to create and
maintain a
- User friendly centralized library
features such of references,
as tagging, making it easy to
attachments, access and
and notes. manage citation
information for
various projects.

VIII. Ways to Get the Most Out of Reference Management

Software

Researchers may stay organised and avoid having to

perform time-consuming chores by using reference
management software. But if the researcher doesn’t
comprehend the fundamentals of what a reference management
software can and cannot achieve, they may also be a major

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source of avoidable troubles. According to the author Jennifer

Schultz, the following are some ways that a deeper
understanding could be helpful to the researcher to get the
most out of the selected Reference management software (Rules
for Reference Management - Lumivero, n.d.):

A. Garbage in, garbage out: If the source data is recorded

accurately, a reference management program can
generate perfectly formatted citations and bibliographies.
Especially if you're entering information manually, make
sure that you're putting it in the correct fields. This will
ensure that your citation style will output the
information where it needs to go.

B. Avoid using common abbreviations for citation

styles. When adding reference information to research,
it can be tempting to add supplementary information.
For example, "ed." in front of the editor's name, "pp." in
front of the page range, "vol." in front of a volume
number, etc. This isn't necessary since the citation style
controls which abbreviations and supplementary
information is inserted. So be sure to always enter only
the information itself and no designations of what it is.

Be skeptical in a constructive way: The ability to input

source data and automatically add citation information
using ISBN and DOI codes is a fantastic feature of
reference management software. While most of the
information is correct, mistakes do happen. Additionally,
even if the data the researcher import is correct, it could
still be in an unfavorable format.

C. Understand why some sources import better than

others. Citation software users are often disappointed

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when they see that a PDF or webpage that they imported

has incomplete information. You can copy and paste the
necessary information from the webpage or PDF by
opening it in the preview pane of your tool, if it has one.

D. Use Word plug-in wisely: Most referencing tools that

have a Word plug-in will insert references in fields or
content controls. It's important not to manually make
changes to these fields. So, make sure to be extra careful
not to type information into a field or content control.
There will always be some way to add the information
you need in the Word plug-in you're using.

E. Read citation style descriptions: Most reference

management programs will include additional
information about the citation styles they provide.
Double-check that you are using the correct citation style
edition. Citation styles can sometimes change a great
deal from one edition to the next, so always use the exact
edition required.

F. Use software to search for new sources: Many people

only use their referencing software to collect sources and
then create bibliographies. Most of the reference
management tools can do so much more! Most reference
management programs will search online catalogues and
databases that the parent institutions subscribe to for
additional sources, so there's no need to leave your
software.

G. Get organized: The majority of reference management

systems provide groups or folders. This enables
researchers to arrange references the way they want by
topic or by section in your paper.

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H. Save notes: Most reference management tools have a

notes field where you can record information about a
source. Use this to save a short summary or evaluation.
Some tools have PDF annotation tools as well, so you can
look back at your notes whenever you need to.

I. Attachment of Files: Another crucial aspect is to

explore and utilize the software's capabilities for
managing attachments, especially PDFs. Many reference
management tools allow users to attach full-text articles
directly to references, making it convenient to access
relevant material while working on a project.

J. Take caution when customising: Make a thoughtful

choice about working with custom options or using a
field for a purpose other than what it was designed for,
even though the templates in a reference management
programme or the citation styles might not always be a
great fit. Of course, sometimes customization cannot be
avoided if you need to obtain a certain output result.

K. Ensure that bibliography is always accurate and up to

date: Errors can still happen in reference management
software, even if you take great care to enter data
accurately. It's also possible that your programme hasn't
updated to reflect the latest changes to the citation style
guidelines. Seek to obtain the style rules for the format
you're using, and double-check the formatting across a
few sources. Once you're satisfied nothing sticks out as
odd, the researcher can go through the remaining
sources.
(Rules for Reference Management - Lumivero, n.d.)

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IX. Conclusion

Choosing a reference management solution that

complies with the particular guidelines of the study field and
the preferred citation style is essential while producing
academic papers. Additionally, staying updated with the latest
versions of reference management tools/ software can ensure
access to new features and improvements in citation
management. However, everyone must be consistent and follow
the guidelines specific to that style, regardless of the reference
management systems or style that researchers are employing.

References:

Bolitho, C. (n.d.-a). Expert help guides: EndNote 20 for Windows:

Get started. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://latrobe.libguides.com/c.php?g=937911&p=67872
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Bolitho, C. (n.d.-b). Expert help guides: Reference management for
researchers: Introduction. Retrieved January 17, 2024,
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ent/tools
Cenk. (2019, March 9). Citationsy—Product Information, Latest
Updates, and Reviews 2024. Product Hunt. Retrieved
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com/products/citationsy
Citavi. (n.d.-a). Best reference management software for writing and
note taking. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://www.citavi.com/en
Cite this for Me: Harvard, APA, MLA Reference Generator. (n.d.).
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Crozdesk.Com. (2024, January 17). Sorc’d | Software Reviews &

Alternatives. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
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Crozdesk.Com. (2024, January 17). Sorc’d | Software Reviews &
Alternatives. https://crozdesk.com/
Das, A. K. (2015). Online Citation and Reference Management
Tools. In S. Mishra & B. K. Sen (Eds.), Open Access for
Researchers, Module 4: Research Evaluation Metrics (pp.
92-120). UNESCO. (Note that the editors' names and the
module title have been added.)
EasyBib®. (n.d.). Free Bibliography Generator—MLA, APA, Chicago
citation styles. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://www.easybib.com/
EndNote FAQs. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://support.clarivate.com/Endnote/s/article/EndNote
-FAQs?language=en_US
EndNote. (2023, January 17). In Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EndNote
Fenner, M. (2010a). Reference management meets Web 2.0.
Cellular Therapy and Transplantation, 2(6), 1–13.
Fenner, M. (2010b). Reference manager overview. Gobbledygook.
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manager-overview/
G2. (2022, September 6). The G2 on Reference Manager.
https://www.g2.com/products/reference-
manager/reviews
Gilmour, R., & Cobus-Kuo, L. (2011). Reference management
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Heskett, K. (n.d.). LibGuides: How to Cite - Tools, Tricks, & Tips for
Managing Citations: Citation Software -- Compare &
Choose. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://ucsd.libguides.com/howtocite/compare
JabRef. (n.d.). JabRef—Free Reference Manager—Stay on top of
your Literature. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://www.jabref.org
Jenni.ai. (n.d.). Mendeley: The Ultimate Solution to Your Reference
Management Woes. [Blog post]. Retrieved January 17, 2024,
from https://jenni.ai/blog/mendeley-review
Lumivero. (n.d.). Rules for reference management. [Website].
Retrieved January 17, 2024, from https://lumivero.com/
resources/rules-for-reference-management/
Mendeley. (n.d.). Mendeley Reference Manager | Mendeley.
Retrieved January 17, 2024, from https://www.
mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-anager/
Microsoft Support. (n.d.). Add citations in a Word document.
Retrieved January 17, 2024, from https://support.
microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-citations-in-a-word-
document-ab9322bb-a8d3-47f4-80c8-63c06779f127
Paperpile. (n.d.). Paperpile Reference Manager. Retrieved January
17, 2024, from https://paperpile.com/
ProQuest. (n.d.). ProQuest RefWorks. Retrieved January 17, 2024,
from https://refworks.proquest.com
ReadCube. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from
https://www.readcube.com/en/
Sciwheel. (n.d.). Sciwheel: Discover | Organize | Collaborate -
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Specht, C. G. (2010). Opinion: Mutations of citations. The Scientist,

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/
new-mutations
University of Chicago Library. (n.d.). Library Guides: Citation
Management: Which tool is best for me? Retrieved January
17, 2024, from https://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/
c.php?g=297307&p=1984557
Vuletich, S. (n.d.). Library Guides: Citing Sources: Citation
Management Software Overview. https://libguides.
mines.edu/citing/software
Wikipedia. (2024, January 17). Zotero. https://www.zotero.
org/support/kb/zotero_and_wikipedia
Young, A. (n.d.). LibGuides: EndNote: EndNote versions.
https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/endnote
Zotero. (n.d.). Zotero | Your personal research assistant.
https://www.zotero.org/support/quick_start_guide

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Chapter - 16

SHORTCU TS TO KNOWLED GE: UNDERSTANDING

ABSTRACTING, INDEXIN G, AND CITATION
INDEXES AS PILLARS OF RESEA RCH NAVIGATION
Badan Barman *

I. Introduction

In the world of information, navigating vast resources

can be daunting. This is where abstracting, indexing, and
citation indexes come in. They are powerful tools that help one
find and explore relevant information quickly and efficiently.
With these tools, one can navigate the vast ocean of information
with confidence, discover new connections, and significantly
improve their research efficiency.

An abstract provides a summary of a document,

accompanied by its bibliographical details. Indexes provide lists
of articles accompanied by bibliographical details, and the
citation index is a database that tracks the references between
academic publications. In the case of web-based databases, the
difference between the abstracting, indexing and citation
indexing is sometimes blurred.

II. Abstract

An abstract or summary is a short statement of the most

important points in a text. Abstract – especially refers to
scientific papers whereas summary – refers to more general
news stories, administrative documents, reports, etc.

* Assistant Professor, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam

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According to Allen Kant, “an abstract is a summary of a

publication or articles accompanied by an adequate
bibliographical description to enable the publication or article
to be traced”.

H. M. Weisman defines the abstract as “an

announcement medium whose objective is to provide knowledge
of and an ordered and logical access to new primary literature”.

Thus, an abstract can be defined as an abbreviated,

accurate representation of the significant content of a
document consisting scope, purpose, method used, kinds of
treatment, results and findings, interpretation of the result by
the author, argument, etc. which is usually accompanied by an
adequate bibliographical description to enable to trace the
original document.

An abstract is a brief summary of a research article,

thesis, review, conference proceeding, or any in-depth analysis
of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader
quickly ascertain the paper's purpose.

An abstracting service is a service that provides abstracts

of publications, often on a subject or group of related subjects.

A. Structure of an Abstract: When used, an abstract always

appears at the beginning of a manuscript or typescript, acting
as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper or patent
application. The terms précis or synopsis are used in some
publications to refer to the same thing that other publications
might call an abstract. In management reports, an executive
summary usually contains more information (and often more
sensitive information) than the abstract does. Abstract length
varies by discipline and publisher requirements. An abstract
typically outlines four elements relevant to the completed work:

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i) The research focus (i.e. statement of the problem(s) /

research issue(s) addressed);
ii) The research methods used (experimental research, case
studies, questionnaires, etc.);
iii) The results / findings of the research; and
iv) The main conclusions and recommendations

B Types of Abstract: Abstract may be of two types based on

who have prepared the abstract i.e. manual abstracting and
automatic abstracting. Manual abstracting is typically done by
a human being. In automatic abstracting, abstracting is
typically done by computer system. Automatic abstracting is
very complicated, often fragile, slow in production and available
in some restricted domain only.

Based on the inclusion and exclusion of heading and

subheading in the abstract it can be structured and
unstructured abstract. If the abstract is explicitly sectioned
logically as an overview of what appears in the paper, with any
or all of the following subheadings: Background, Introduction,
Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions then it is called as
structured abstracts. Abstracts that comprise one paragraph
with no explicit subheadings are often called unstructured
abstracts.

Abstracts can also be grouped as informative or complete

abstract and descriptive abstract or limited abstract or the
indicative abstract based on the information they contain. The
informative abstract is a compendious summary of a paper’s
substance and its background, purpose, methodology, results,
and conclusion. The informative abstract summarizes the
paper’s structure, its major topics and key points. Informative
abstracts may be viewed as standalone documents. The
descriptive abstract provides a description of what the paper
covers without delving into its substance. A descriptive abstract
is akin to a table of contents in paragraph form.

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III. Index

The index word is derived from Latin, in which it means

“one who points out”, an “indication”, or a “forefinger”. In Latin,
the plural form of the word is indices, however in English it is
used as indexes. Index is therefore basically concerned with
indication of an object or idea to one who does not know where
that object or idea is located. Indexing is the process of
providing fast and accurate retrieval of information from
document or record, online or offline.

An index is a systematic guide to i) items contained in or

ii) concept derived from a collection. These items and derived
concepts are represented by entries arranged in a known or
stated searchable order.

In a traditional back-of-the-book index, the headings will

include names of people, places, events, and concepts selected
by the indexer as being relevant and of interest to a possible
reader of the book and the pointers are typically page numbers,
paragraph numbers or section numbers.

An index, within a library setting, is a list of articles or

other publications within a discipline or topic. It provides
bibliographic information such as author(s), title, where it was
published and so on. Indexes, which were traditionally available
in print formats, increasingly became available online.

An indexing service is a service that assigns descriptors

and other kinds of access points to documents.

A. Types of Indexing: Based on the indexer- an index may be

manual indexing or automatic indexing.

i) Manual Indexing: In manual indexing, the indexer reads

through the text, identifying indexable concepts (those for

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which the text provides useful information and which will be of

relevance for the text’s readership). The indexer creates index
headings to represent those concepts, which are phrased such
that they can be found when in alphabetical order. These
headings and their associated locators (indicators to position in
the text) are entered into specialist indexing software which
handles the formatting of the index and facilitates the editing
phase. The index is then edited to impose consistency
throughout the index.

Indexers must analyze the text to enable presentation of

concepts and ideas in the index that may not be named within
the text. The index is intended to help the reader, researcher,
or information professional, rather than the author, finds
information, so the professional indexer must act as a liaison
between the text and its ultimate user.

ii) Automatic Indexing: Automatic indexing is the process of

assigning and arranging index terms by machine without
human intervention. As suggested by Eugene Garfield it is
actually improper to use the word “automatic indexing” rather
it should be called “algorithmic indexing”.

In automatic indexing (or algorithmic indexing), the

computer programme identifies the words in a text and their
location, and then the collected words are alphabetized. In
doing so definite and indefinite articles, prepositions and other
words on a so-called stop list are not included in the program’s
output. Even some word processors provide this capability.

The advantages of automatic indexing include speed of

generation and negligible cost associated with its generation.

No computer programme however intelligible makes full

judgment; don’t have the expertise, intelligence or audience
awareness that is needed to create usable indexes. The main

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drawback of automatic indexing is that indexes produced in

this way are generally lists of words in a document rather than
truly usable indexes. This is because to generate indexes,
abstraction is more important than alphabetization.
Abstractions result from intellectual processes based on
judgments about what to include and what to exclude and any
computer devoid of it. Sometimes in index even the terminology
that does not make its appearance on the document contents
are made available in the index and they are directed to the
synonymous word within the document. Eg. In biological
indexing separate entries may be needed for scientific names
even if it was not mentioned in the document. Again, there are
many occasions when a document lists some terminology
without detailed information about them. A manual indexer will
avoid such terminology from being included in the index, but
computers will not be able to make a difference.

Nowadays automatic indexing is even used in large scale

by search engines as well as other peoples for various reasons
and they are quite effective within their scope though they need
to go further to replace the indexers. The indexes of web
documents created by some robotic devices of search engines
are quite effective in meeting this end. The first automated
citation indexing was done by CiteSeer in 1997 and was
patented.

IV. Abstracting and Indexing

An abstracting and indexing service is a service that

provides shortening or summarizing of documents and
assigning of descriptors for referencing documents.

The metadata presented in abstracting and indexing

services includes the title, author(s), date of publication, journal
title, volume and issue, page numbers, subject area, keywords,
DOI, etc. Users browsing these services using particular search

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criteria are shown the relevant articles, chapters or books with

the metadata, abstract and link to the full text. If the users
themselves or an institution to which they are affiliated have
access to the full text or it is an open access publication, then
they can immediately use the full text. Otherwise, they are
usually shown information from the publisher or other rights
holder on how to access the text.

An abstracting periodical is “a regularly issued

compilation of concise summaries of (i) significant articles (often
in a very limited subject field) that appear in current primary
source journal and (ii) of important new research monographs,
reports, patent and other primary source publication in that
field”.

The abstracting and indexing periodicals present a

condensed form of the literature of the subject and provide a
scientific or specialist bird’s eye view of the progress and
development of the subject so that the inquirer can select the
most relevant documents relating to his work in the hand. An
abstracting and indexing periodical helps to find out specific
information in the literature of a subject.

Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) services provide one

location for researchers in libraries to search for articles in a
subject. They present abstracts of articles and link to the
publishers’ websites for the full text of the article. As such,
Abstracting and Indexing Services are very important as the
starting point for research. Abstracting and indexing (A&I)
services unlock the content of scientific journal articles and
eBooks using metadata and abstracts. In doing so, they
contribute significantly to the use of scientific literature.

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V. Citation Index

The first citation indices were used by legal citators such

as Shepard’s Citations (1873). In 1960, Eugene Garfield's
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) introduced the first
citation index for papers published in academic journals,
starting with the Science Citation Index (SCI), and later
expanding to produce the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). Some other
popular examples of citation indexes are Scopus published by
Elsevier publishers (available online only), Web of Science,
CiteSeerX, Google Scholar (GS), Indian Citation Index, etc.

A. Definition: A citation index is an index of citations between

publications. It allows the user to easily establish as to which
later documents cite which earlier documents. It is an ordered
list of cited articles each of which is accompanied by a list of
citing articles. The cited articles are identified as references and
the citing articles as source. In a simple way it can be said that
cited articles are ancestors and the citing articles are
descendants and this descending relation of subjects is
reflected through the citation index. Citations provide a further
reading list besides paying homage to the pioneers and giving
credit for their work; sometimes it also criticises, corrects and
disputes the previous contributions.

ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (1983)

defines Citation Index as an index consisting essentially of a list
of works which have been cited in other, later works and a list
of the works from which the citations have been collected.

B. Uses: One very common use of citation analysis is to

determine the impact of a single author on a given field by
counting the number of times the author has been cited by
others. Citation indices, such as Institute for Scientific
Information’s Web of Science, allow users to search forward in

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time from a known article to more recent publications which

cite the known item. Information scientists also use citation
analysis to quantitatively assess the core journal in any subject
field.

VI. Examples of Abstracting, Indexing, and Citation Indexes

In the following paragraphs, some examples of

abstracting, indexing, and citation indexing are provided:

A. Science Citation Index (SCI): Science Citation Index is a

citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific
Information (ISI) and created by Eugene Garfield. It was
officially launched in 1964 and is now owned by Clarivate
Analytics.

The larger version of SCI is known as Science Citation

Index Expanded and it covers more than 8,500 notable and
significant journals, across 150 disciplines, from 1900 to the
present.

The index is made available online through different

platforms, such as the Web of Science and SciSearch. There are
also CD and printed editions, covering a smaller number of
journals. Thomson Reuters also markets several subsets of this
database, termed Specialty Citation Indexes, such as the
Neuroscience Citation Index and the Chemistry Citation Index.

B. Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI): Social Sciences

Citation Index (SSCI) is a commercial citation index product of
Clarivate Analytics. The Social Sciences Citation Index is a
multidisciplinary index and indexes over 3,000 social sciences
journals – 1988 to present. It is made available online through
the Web of Science service for a fee. It was originally developed
by the Institute for Scientific Information from the Science
Citation Index.

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C. Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI): Arts &

Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI), also known as Arts &
Humanities Search, is a citation index, with abstracting and
indexing for more than 1,700 arts and humanities journals, and
coverage of disciplines that includes social and natural science
journals. Available citation (source) coverage includes articles,
letters, editorials, meeting abstracts, errata, poems, short
stories, plays, music scores, excerpts from books, chronologies,
bibliographies and filmographies, as well as citations to reviews
of books, films, music, and theatrical performances. The index
was originally developed by the Institute for Scientific
Information, which was later acquired by Thomson Scientific. It
is now published by Thomson Reuters' IP & Science division.

Part of A&HCI database is derived from Current Contents

records and the print counterpart is Current Contents.
According to Thomson Reuters, the Arts & Humanities Search
can be accessed via Dialog, DataStar, and OCLC, with weekly
updates and backfiles to 1980. The A&HCI database can be
accessed online through the Web of Science.

D. Web of Science: Web of Science (http://wokinfo.com) is an

online subscription-based scientific citation indexing service
maintained by Thomson Reuters that provides a comprehensive
citation search. Previously, it was known as the Web of
Knowledge. It was originally produced by the Institute for
Scientific Information (ISI) and is currently maintained by
Clarivate Analytics. Web of Science now has indexing coverage
from the year 1900 to the present. The Web of Science Core
Collection consists of six online databases: Science Citation
Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts &
Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI), Emerging Sources Citation
Index (ESCI), Book Citation Index and Conference Proceedings
Citation Index (CPCI). Since 2008, the Web of Science also hosts
a number of regional citation indices. Web of Science gives

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access to multiple databases that reference cross-disciplinary

research, which allows for in-depth exploration of specialized
subfields within an academic or scientific discipline.

E. Scopus: Scopus (http://www.scopus.com) is Elsevier’s

abstract and citation database launched in 2004. It claims to
be the largest abstract and citation database of research
literature and quality web sources. It covers three types of
sources: book series, journals, and trade journals. All journals
covered in the Scopus database, regardless of who they are
published under, are reviewed each year to ensure high quality
standards are maintained. Scopus gives four types of quality
measure for each title; those are h-Index, CiteScore, SCImago
Journal Rank (SJR) and Source Normalized Impact per Paper
(SNIP). Scopus also offers author profiles which cover
affiliations, number of publications and their bibliographic
data, references, and details on the number of citations each
published document has received. Scopus IDs for individual
authors can be integrated with the non-proprietary digital
identifier ORCID. But it is a paid service and access is denied
to outsiders i.e. without id and password.

The difference between Scopus and Web of Science is:

Scopus is easy to navigate, even for the novice user. The ability
to search both forward and backward from a particular citation
would be very helpful to the researcher. The multidisciplinary
aspect allows the researcher to easily search outside of his
discipline and one advantage of Web of Science over Scopus is
the depth of coverage, with the full WOS database going back
to 1900 and Scopus going back to 1966. However, Scopus and
WOS complement each other as neither resource is all
inclusive.

F. Dimensions: Dimensions (https://app.dimensions.ai) is an

abstracting and indexing database. Dimensions indexes data
from a myriad of sources so that the user can track and

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understand the complete research cycle. Dimensions covers 12

crores 47 lakhs of research publications connected by more
than 150 crores citations, supporting grants, datasets, clinical
trials, patents and policy documents. Dimensions was
launched in 2018 by Digital Science and is still in the
development stage.

G. CiteSeerx: CiteSeerx or CiteSeer (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu)

is a public abstracting and citation database for scientific and
academic papers, primarily in the fields of computer and
information science. It is the first product achieved through
automated citation indexing, other such products include
Google Scholar and Elsevier’s Scopus. CiteSeerx replaced
CiteSeer and all queries to CiteSeer were redirected.Again
CiteSeer is freely available online. CiteSeer was created by
researchers Lee Giles, Kurt Bollacker and Steve Lawrence in
1997 while they were at the NEC Research Institute (now NEC
Laboratories America), Princeton, New Jersey, USA. CiteSeer
was granted a United States patent # 6289342, titled
“Autonomous citation indexing and literature browsing using
citation context”, on September 11, 2001. Because CiteSeer
only indexes freely available papers on the web and does not
have access to publisher metadata, it returns fewer citation
counts than sites, such as Google Scholar, that have publisher
metadata. CiteSeerx continues to be rated as one of the world's
top repositories and was rated number 1 in July 2010. CiteSeer
again is considered as a predecessor of academic search tools
such as Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search.

H. Inspec: Inspec is a major indexing database of scientific and

technical literature, published by the Institution of Engineering
and Technology (IET), and formerly by the Institution of
Electrical Engineers (IEE). Inspec coverage is extensive in the
fields of physics, computing, control, and engineering. Inspec
was started in 1967 as an outgrowth of the Science Abstracts

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service. Access to Inspec is currently by the Internet through

Inspec Direct and various resellers. Inspec has several print
counterparts like Science Abstracts, Physics Abstracts and so
on.

I. Indian Citation Index: Indian Citation Index (ICI)

(http://www.indiancitationindex.com) is an online
bibliographic database containing abstracts and
citations/references from academic journals. Currently ICI
covers more than 1100+ journals which are published from
India covering scientific, technical, medical, and social sciences
that includes arts and humanities. ICI was launched in India in
2009 and is funded by Diva Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.

J. Library and Information Science Abstract (LISA): The

Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) is an
international abstracting and indexing tool designed for library
professionals and other information specialists. LISA covers the
literature in Library and information science (LIS) since 1969
and currently abstracts 440+ periodicals from 68+ countries
and in 20+ languages. LISA was originally published by the
Library Association and now from 2007 it is being published by
ProQuest.

K. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts

(LISTA): LISTA indexes the fields of librarianship, classification,
cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval,
information management, among others. It covers about 560
core journals, 50 priority journals, and 125 selective journals;
in addition to books, research reports and conference
proceedings. Coverage in the database extends back as far as
the mid-1960s

The online version of LISTA, available through

EBSCOhost, includes “Get It @ R” links to full text available

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through Rutgers, and it allows cross-searching with other

EBSCOhost databases.

L. Indian Science Abstract: Indian Science Abstracts (ISA), a

semi-monthly abstracting periodical was started by Indian
National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) [now
National Institute of Science Communication and Policy
Research (NIScPR)] in January 1965, to abstract
comprehensively and expeditiously the Indian scientific
literature. ISA covers original scientific research work published
in Indian journals including short communications, reviews
and informative articles and research work. Proceedings of
Indian conferences, theses and standard articles of popular
nature are not included.

The abstracts are broadly classified according to

Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) scheme and arranged
under UDC number (along with subject headings) in the
following order of category of entry: journal article, standard
and thesis. The documents are grouped under 25 broad classes.
In each category the entries are arranged alphabetically by the
surname of the first author and then by the journal title, and
the year of publication. Entries are serially numbered.

VII. Conclusion

Navigating the vast ocean of information can feel like

travelling through a maze. Thankfully, abstracting, indexing,
and citation indexes act as lighthouses, guiding us to relevant
knowledge and illuminating connections between scholarly
works.

Abstracting condenses research into digestible

summaries, offering glimpses into specific studies. Indexing
organises data with keywords and subject headings, acting as
a map directing us to targeted resources. Citation indexes, like

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intricate webs, reveal the threads of influence binding ideas and

charting the intellectual landscape.

Together, these tools empower us to explore research

efficiently, unearth hidden gems, and trace the evolution of
knowledge across disciplines. They act as active catalysts for
discovery, collaboration, and innovation. In a world of
information, abstracting, indexing, and citation indexing will
remain more crucial than ever.

References

Allen Kent. (1979). An abstract: Its function and its preparation.

Library Trends, 27(3), 389-405.
American Library Association. (1983). ALA glossary of library
and information science. Chicago, IL: American Library
Association.
Barman, B. (2022). A comprehensive book on Library and
Information Science. LIS Links.
Chan, L. M. (2006). Indexing services and tools: A guide for
librarians, information scientists, and students. Elsevier.
Garfield, Eugene (September 1975). What is automatic indexing?
Letters to the Editor. Journal of Documentation 31(3), 216.
Available at: http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/
papers/jdoc31(3)p216y1975.html
Gilchrist, A. (2005). Introduction to indexing and abstracting.
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Salton, G. (1971). Automatic Indexing Using Bibliographic
Citations, Journal of Documentation 27, 98-110.
Tulic, Martin (2005). Automatic indexing. Available at:
http://www.anindexer.com/about/auto/autoindex. html

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Chapter - 17

RESEA RCH METRICS: TRENDS AND

OPPORTUNITIES
Deepjoyti Kalita*

I Introduction

Research metrics play a pivotal role in the evaluation,

assessment, and advancement of scholarly activities across
diverse fields of study. In the dynamic landscape of academic and
scientific pursuits, metrics provide quantitative measures to
gauge the impact, productivity, and quality of research outputs.
These metrics serve as valuable tools for researchers,
institutions, funding agencies, and policymakers in making
informed decisions, fostering collaboration, and shaping the
trajectory of scientific progress. (Bornmann, 2008)

Research metrics encompass a wide array of indicators

that reflect various aspects of scholarly work, ranging from
traditional metrics like citation counts and journal impact
factors to more contemporary measures such as altmetrics and
social media mentions. Each metric contributes to a multifaceted
understanding of research impact, allowing stakeholders to
assess the influence of publications, the visibility of researchers,
and the overall contribution of a study to the academic
community and beyond.

As the scholarly landscape evolves, so do the methodologies

for measuring research impact. Traditional metrics, while widely
accepted, have been complemented by alternative approaches

* Assistant Professor, Dept of Library and Information Science, Cotton University,

Guwahati, Assam

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that consider the broader societal impact of research, including

its accessibility, engagement, and applicability. The ongoing
dialogue surrounding research metrics is reflective of the broader
efforts to enhance the accuracy, fairness, and transparency of
evaluating scholarly contributions. Some basic assumptions
under research metrics

• Citations Measure Impact

• Higher is the better
• Citations are what that counts

II History of Research Metrics and Its Importance:

The history of research metrics can be traced back to the

early 20th century when the scientific community began seeking
quantitative methods to assess the impact and significance of
scholarly work. Over the years, the evolution of research metrics
has been marked by the development of various indicators, the
establishment of standardized measures, and ongoing efforts to
refine methodologies. It also has a close relation with the cold
war era (Moed, 2005) which spanned roughly from the end of
World War II in 1945 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
the global geopolitical landscape was characterized by intense
rivalry and ideological competition between the United States
and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. Scientific
Competition, Emphasis on Quantifiable Achievements, Scientific
Collaboration and Competition, National Assessments and
Metrics were some key domains that influenced the development
of standard process to evaluate research achievements. A brief
overview of key milestones in the history of research metrics are:

 Citation Indexing (1950s): The concept of citation

indexing emerged in the 1950s with the creation of the
Science Citation Index (SCI) by Eugene Garfield. This
pioneering effort laid the foundation for using citation

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counts as a measure of the impact and influence of

scholarly publications.
 Impact Factor (1960s): The impact factor, introduced by
Eugene Garfield in the 1960s, became a widely
recognized metric. Initially designed to aid librarians in
journal subscription decisions, the impact factor
measures the frequency with which the average article
in a journal has been cited in a particular year. It has
since become a controversial yet influential metric in the
evaluation of journals and, by extension, the
researchers who publish in them.
 Hirsch's h-index (2005): Physicist Jorge Hirsch
proposed the h-index as a way to quantify both the
productivity and impact of a researcher's work. The h-
index is defined as the number of a researcher's papers
(h) that have at least h citations. This metric gained
popularity for providing a more comprehensive view of a
researcher's output and impact.
 Altmetrics (2010s): As digital communication and social
media became pervasive, there was a growing
recognition of the limitations of traditional metrics.
Altmetrics, or alternative metrics, emerged as a
response to capture the broader impact of research
beyond citations. Altmetrics include measures such as
social media mentions, downloads, and online
discussions.
 Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) (2012): In
response to concerns about the misuse of metrics in
academic evaluation, a group of researchers and
organizations drafted the Declaration on Research
Assessment (DORA). DORA emphasizes the need for a
responsible use of metrics, discourages the reliance on
a single metric, and encourages a more holistic
approach to evaluating research impact.

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 Open Science and Transparency (ongoing): The 21st

century has witnessed a shift towards open science and
transparency in research. Initiatives like the San
Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
and the Leiden Manifesto have called for the responsible
use of metrics, highlighting the importance of
considering various indicators and qualitative
assessments in evaluating research.

Figure 1: Importance of research metrics

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The history of research metrics reflects a continuous

effort to develop more comprehensive and fair methods for
evaluating scholarly impact. Ongoing discussions and
initiatives seek to balance the quantitative aspects of metrics
with qualitative assessments, aiming to create a more inclusive
and accurate representation of the diverse contributions of
researchers. Fig 1 presents a brief idea about the importance of
research metrics in current academia.

III. Citation Databases: The Basis of Any Research Metrics

Citation databases are specialized repositories that

organize, index, and provide access to scholarly publications
along with information about how these publications are cited
by other works. (Roemer & Borchardt, 2015) These databases
play a crucial role in academic research by facilitating the
discovery of relevant literature, tracking citation patterns, and
assessing the impact and influence of scholarly works.
Examples of well-known citation databases include Web of
Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and others. Each
database may have its unique features, strengths, and coverage
areas, catering to different disciplines and research needs.
Researchers often use multiple databases to ensure
comprehensive coverage and access to diverse scholarly
literature. Some key characteristics and functions of citation
databases are:

 Indexing and Abstracting: Citation databases index

and abstract scholarly articles, books, conference
proceedings, and other types of publications. They
provide essential metadata, including titles, authors,
abstracts, keywords, and affiliations.
 Citation Counts: One of the primary features of citation
databases is the recording of citation counts. They track
how many times a particular scholarly work has been

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cited by other researchers, which can be indicative of its

influence and impact within the academic community.
 Citation Linkages: Citation databases establish
linkages between citing and cited works. Users can
navigate these linkages to explore the academic lineage
of a publication and understand its influence on
subsequent research.
 Bibliographic Information: Citation databases offer
comprehensive bibliographic information about
publications, enabling researchers to cite and reference
works accurately.
 Search and Retrieval: Researchers can search for
specific topics, authors, or keywords within the database,
making it easier to locate relevant literature for their
research.
 Author and Affiliation Information: Citation databases
often include information about authors and their
affiliations. This feature helps researchers identify prolific
authors, track their research output, and assess the
scholarly impact of individuals or institutions.
 Research Metrics: Many citation databases provide
metrics for journals, such as impact factors. These
metrics offer insights into the overall influence and
prestige of a journal within a specific field.

IV. Types of Research Metrics

Research metrics are quantitative measures used to

assess various aspects of scholarly output, impact, and
productivity. These metrics help researchers, institutions, and
policymakers evaluate the influence and significance of research
contributions. There are several types of research metrics,
broadly categorized into traditional metrics and alternative
metrics (altmetrics).

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A. Traditional Metrics:

i) Citation Metrics:

 Citation Count: The number of times a research paper or

author has been cited by other scholarly works.
 h-index: A metric that combines both the number of
publications and their citation impact. An author with an
h-index of 10 has at least 10 publications that have been
cited at least 10 times each.
 Impact Factor: Journal-level metric that indicates the
average number of citations received by articles in a
particular journal over a specific time period.

ii) Publication Metrics:

 Publication Count: The total number of publications by

a researcher, institution, or journal.
 Journal Metrics: Assessing the quality and impact of a
journal based on factors like impact factor, Eigenfactor,
or SCImago Journal Rank.

iii) Usage Metrics:

 Downloads and Views: The number of times a

publication has been downloaded or viewed.
 Full-text Downloads: The number of times the full text of
a publication has been accessed.

iv) Collaboration Metrics:

Collaboration Networks: Analyzing the extent and impact of

collaboration between researchers, institutions, or countries.

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B. Alternative Metrics (Altmetrics):

i) Social Media metrics

Social Media Metrics: Tweets, Likes, and Shares: The number of

times a research paper is mentioned, shared, or liked on
platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Social Media Presence: Assessing the visibility and engagement

of researchers or institutions on social media.

ii) Online Attention Metrics:

Blog Mentions: The number of times a research paper is

discussed in blogs or online forums.

News Coverage: Media mentions and coverage of research in

news articles and online publications.

iii) Altmetric Score:

Altmetric Score: An aggregated score that reflects the overall

online attention and engagement a research output receives
across various altmetric sources.

iv) Reference Manager Metrics:

Bookmarking: The number of times a publication is bookmarked

or saved on reference management platforms like Mendeley or
Zotero.

These research metrics provide a multifaceted view of the

impact and significance of scholarly work. It's important to note
that while metrics can be valuable, they should be used
thoughtfully, considering the specific context of the research and
potential biases associated with different metrics. Researchers

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and institutions often use a combination of traditional and

alternative metrics to gain a comprehensive understanding of the
impact of their work.

V. Details of Some Popular Research Metrics with Their

Formulation, Benefits and Limitations

A. Impact Factor:

The Impact Factor (IF) (Garfield, 1998) is a metric that

quantifies the average number of citations received by articles
published in a specific scholarly journal during a particular
time period. It is calculated by dividing the total number of
citations a journal's articles received in a given year by the
total number of citable articles published by the journal
during the preceding two years. The Impact Factor is often
used as a measure of the relative importance or prestige of a
journal within its field. It is only supplied by the Web of
Science and no other agency in the world can provide impact
factor to journals. Therefore, researchers should be cautious
enough to check from where a journal is declaring its impact
factor.

i) Benefits of impact factor:

Journal Evaluation: Impact Factors are widely used by

researchers, institutions, and publishers to assess the
relative influence and reputation of academic journals.
Journals with higher Impact Factors are generally considered
to have a greater impact on their respective fields.

Decision-Making for Authors: Authors may consider the

Impact Factor when choosing journals for manuscript
submissions. Publishing in a journal with a higher Impact
Factor may enhance the visibility and perceived impact of
their research.

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Resource Allocation: Institutions and funding agencies may

use Impact Factors to allocate resources, such as research
funding or faculty promotions, based on the perceived quality
and impact of the journals in which researchers publish.

Benchmarking: The Impact Factor provides a benchmark for

comparing journals within the same discipline. Researchers
and institutions use it as a reference point to gauge the
standing of a journal in comparison to others in the field.

ii) Limitations of IF:

Journal-Centric: The Impact Factor is a journal-level metric

and does not provide insights into the individual impact of
specific articles or researchers. A high Impact Factor for a
journal does not necessarily mean that all articles within that
journal are highly cited.

Discipline Variability: Impact Factors vary across different

academic disciplines. Comparing Impact Factors between
journals from different fields may not be meaningful, as citation
practices differ among disciplines.

Citation Patterns: The metric is based on citations received in

the preceding two years, which may not capture the long-term
impact of research. Some groundbreaking studies may take
time to accumulate citations.

Focus on Citations: The Impact Factor emphasizes citation

count as a measure of impact, potentially neglecting other
important aspects of scholarly influence, such as societal
impact, policy impact, or contributions to interdisciplinary
research.

Manipulable: Some argue that the Impact Factor can be

manipulated or influenced by editorial policies, self-citations, or

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the publication of review articles, potentially compromising its

accuracy as a measure of quality.

Bias Towards English-Language Journals: Since the Impact

Factor relies on citations, it may favor journals published in
English, potentially marginalizing non-English language
publications.

While the Impact Factor is a widely used metric, it is important

to interpret it alongside other indicators and consider its
limitations. The academic community has recognized the need
for a more nuanced and comprehensive approach to journal
and research assessment, leading to the development and
promotion of alternative metrics and responsible research
evaluation practices.

B. h-index: The h-index, or Hirsch index (Hirsch, 2005), is a

metric that quantifies both the productivity and impact of a
researcher's scholarly output. It is defined as the maximum
value of h such that the researcher has published h papers that
have each been cited at least h times. In simpler terms, an h-
index of 10 means that a researcher has published 10 papers,
each of which has been cited at least 10 times. The h-index
attempts to capture both the quantity and impact of a
researcher's work.

i) Benefits of h-index:

Quantifying Impact: The h-index provides a single numerical

value that reflects both the quantity and impact of a
researcher's publications. It offers a quick and easy way to
assess a researcher's overall influence in their field.

Comparative Analysis: The h-index allows for the comparison

of researchers within the same discipline. It provides a

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benchmark for evaluating the relative impact of researchers and

their scholarly contributions.

Researcher Evaluation: Institutions, funding agencies, and

hiring committees may use the h-index as a tool for evaluating
the research impact and productivity of scholars. It can inform
decisions related to promotions, grants, and academic
appointments.

Career Tracking: Researchers can use their own h-index to

track the progression of their impact over time. It serves as a
quantitative measure of the growth and influence of their body
of work.

ii) Limitations of h-index:

Discipline Dependency: The h-index is discipline-dependent,

meaning that citation practices vary among different fields.
Comparing h-indices between researchers from diverse
disciplines may not provide an accurate reflection of their
relative impact.

Citation Practices: The h-index relies on the number of

citations, and citation practices can vary widely. Some fields
may have higher average citation rates than others, affecting
the interpretation of the h-index.

Publication Age: The h-index does not account for the age of
publications. Older publications may have had more time to
accumulate citations, potentially biasing the h-index towards
researchers with longer careers.

Single Metric Limitation: Like any single metric, the h-index

provides a simplified view of a researcher's impact. It may not
capture other important dimensions of research, such as

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interdisciplinary contributions, collaboration, or societal

impact.

Vulnerability to Self-Citations: Researchers can potentially

influence their h-index by strategically self-citing their work.
This practice may inflate the h-index but could compromise the
metric's reliability as an indicator of genuine impact.

Exclusion of Negative Citations: The h-index does not

distinguish between positive and negative citations. It considers
only whether a paper has been cited, not the sentiment or
impact of the citation.

While the h-index is a widely used metric, it is often

recommended to use it in conjunction with other indicators and
qualitative assessments to provide a more comprehensive
evaluation of a researcher's impact and contributions.
Researchers and evaluators should be aware of its limitations
and interpret the h-index within the context of a researcher's
specific field and career stage.

C. Scimago Journal Rank (SJR): The Scimago Journal Rank

(SJR) (Scimago Lab, 2012) is a metric that assesses the
scientific influence of scholarly journals. It is calculated based
on the citation data from the Scopus database. SJR takes into
account not only the number of citations a journal receives but
also the importance or prestige of the journals citing it. The SJR
metric is designed to provide a more nuanced view of a journal's
impact by considering the quality and relevance of citations.

i) Benefits of SJR:

Weighted Citations: SJR uses a weighted citation approach,

where citations from more prestigious journals are given greater
importance. This helps in distinguishing between citations from
highly regarded sources and those from less influential ones.

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Field-Normalized Impact: SJR attempts to normalize impact

by considering the citation practices within specific scientific
fields. This makes it suitable for comparing journals across
different disciplines.

Citation Window: SJR considers a three-year citation window,

providing a more current assessment of a journal's impact
compared to some other metrics with longer citation windows.

Open Access Journals: SJR is not biased against open access

journals, as it takes into account the quality and impact of
citations rather than just the number.

Transparency: The calculation methodology for SJR is

transparent and publicly available, allowing users to
understand how the metric is derived.

ii) Limitations of SJR:

Subject to Manipulation: Like any metric, SJR is not immune

to potential manipulation. Journals may engage in practices to
boost their SJR, such as strategic self-citations or collaboration
with highly cited authors.

Discipline-Specific: SJR may be more appropriate for certain

disciplines and less applicable to others. Different fields have
distinct citation practices, and a single metric might not
capture the diversity of impact patterns across disciplines.

Citation Database Dependence: SJR relies on the Scopus

database for citation data. Journals not indexed in Scopus are
not included in SJR calculations, potentially leading to the
omission of important publications.

Citation Practices: Like other citation-based metrics, SJR is

influenced by citation practices that may vary across scientific

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disciplines. Different fields have different norms for citation

behaviour, and SJR might not fully account for these variations.

Journal Focus: SJR, like other journal-level metrics, does not

assess the impact of individual articles or researchers. It
focuses on the overall influence of the journal, which may not
fully represent the quality of every publication within it.

As with any metric, it is crucial to use SJR in conjunction with

other evaluation tools and consider the specific characteristics
of the field being assessed. Additionally, it's important to be
aware of potential biases and limitations inherent in citation-
based metrics. Researchers and institutions often use a
combination of metrics to gain a more comprehensive
understanding of journal and research impact.

VI. Science 2.0: Open Citation Practices

Open citation practices (Peroni & Shotton, 2020) refer to

the transparent and accessible sharing of citation data
associated with scholarly publications. This involves making
citation information openly available for analysis, reuse, and
integration into various research tools and platforms. Open
citation practices contribute to the principles of open science by
fostering transparency, collaboration, and innovation in
scholarly communication. Some key aspects of open citation
practices:

Open Citation Databases: Initiatives like OpenCitations aim to

create open and freely accessible citation databases. These
databases provide citation data for scholarly works, enabling
researchers to explore citation networks, assess impact, and
conduct bibliometric analyses.

Citation Metadata: Open citation practices involve providing

detailed metadata about citations, including information about

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the citing and cited documents. This metadata may include the
title, authors, publication date, and other relevant details.

Citation Identifier Standards: The use of persistent and

unique identifiers, such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), for
both publications and citations enhances the reliability and
interoperability of citation data. These identifiers make it easier
to link and reference specific works.

Open Access Publications: Open access publishing

contributes to open citation practices by making research
articles freely accessible to the public. Openly accessible
publications facilitate the discovery and retrieval of citation
data by a broader audience.

Open Citations in Research Articles: Some publishers and

journals are adopting policies that encourage or mandate
authors to include open citations in their research articles. This
involves providing citation information in a structured and
machine-readable format, making it easier for automated tools
to extract and analyze the data.

Open Source Tools and Platforms: Open-source tools and

platforms that support citation analysis and visualization
contribute to open citation practices. These tools allow
researchers to explore citation networks, understand scholarly
impact, and develop new ways of assessing research
contributions.

Linked Open Data: The concept of linked open data involves

interconnecting and linking datasets in a standardized and
open manner. Applying linked open data principles to citation
information enables seamless integration and interoperability
between different datasets and platforms.

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Community Collaboration: Open citation practices benefit

from community collaboration. Academic institutions,
publishers, researchers, and developers can work together to
promote the adoption of open citation standards, share best
practices, and contribute to the development of open citation
infrastructure.

Research Evaluation and Metrics: Open citation practices

support transparent research evaluation and the development
of alternative metrics (altmetrics). By making citation data
openly available, researchers can explore new ways of assessing
the impact and influence of scholarly works.

Machine Readability and Accessibility: Making citation data

machine-readable and easily accessible encourages its use in
various applications, from building citation databases to
creating visualization tools and conducting large-scale
bibliometric studies.

Open citation practices contribute to the broader goals

of open science, facilitating collaboration, reproducibility, and
innovation in scholarly research. As the scholarly community
embraces openness, initiatives promoting open citations play a
crucial role in advancing the transparency and accessibility of
scholarly communication. Fig 2 presents the institutional role
for the science 2.0 era.

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Fig 2: Institutional focus for meaningful Science 2.0

VII. Comparison of Traditional Citation Model to Open

Citation Model

The comparison between open citation practices and

traditional citation practices involves examining how these
approaches differ in terms of accessibility, transparency,
collaboration, and overall impact on scholarly communication.
Some key points of comparison:

A. Accessibility:

 Open Citation Practices:

o Pro: Open citation practices make citation data
freely accessible to the public. Anyone can
access, reuse, and analyze citation information
without paywalls or restrictions.
o Pro: Promotes inclusivity by providing access to
citation data for researchers, institutions, and
the general public.

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o Con: May require infrastructure and resources

to establish and maintain open citation
databases.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Pro: Traditional citation practices involve
citations published in academic journals, which
are accessible to subscribers or through
institutional access.
o Con: Accessibility barriers exist for those
without access to subscription-based journals
or databases.

B. Transparency:

 Open Citation Practices:

o Pro: Promotes transparency by providing
detailed citation metadata, including
information about citing and cited documents.
o Pro: Supports transparency in research
evaluation, as citation data can be
independently verified and analyzed.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Pro: Citations in traditional publications
contribute to the transparency of the scholarly
record.
o Con: Full citation information may not always
be available, and metadata may vary across
journals.

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C. Collaboration:

 Open Citation Practices:

o Pro: Encourages collaboration by providing a
common, openly accessible dataset for
researchers and developers.
o Pro: Enables the development of collaborative
tools and platforms for citation analysis.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Pro: Researchers can collaborate based on
citations in traditional publications.
o Con: Collaboration may be hindered by
subscription barriers, limiting access to citation
data.

D. Citation Identifier Standards:

 Open Citation Practices:

o Pro: Emphasizes the use of persistent identifiers
(e.g., DOIs) for both publications and citations,
enhancing reliability and interoperability.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Pro: Citations in traditional publications often
include standard citation formats but may not
consistently use persistent identifiers.
E. Impact on Research Evaluation:
 Open Citation Practices:
o Pro: Facilitates transparent research evaluation
by providing openly accessible citation metrics.

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o Pro: Supports the development of alternative

metrics (altmetrics) and new ways of assessing
scholarly impact.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Pro: Traditional citation metrics (e.g., Impact
Factor) are widely used in research evaluation.
o Con: Some traditional metrics have limitations
and may not fully capture the impact of research.

F. Linked Open Data:

 Open Citation Practices:

o Pro: Supports the principles of linked open data,
allowing for the seamless integration and
interoperability of citation datasets.
 Traditional Citation Practices:
o Con: Traditional citation practices may not
consistently follow linked open data principles.

In summary, open citation practices emphasize

openness, transparency, and accessibility of citation data.
While traditional citation practices contribute to the scholarly
record, they may be limited by access barriers and a lack of
standardization. The ongoing development and adoption of
open citation practices represent a move towards a more
inclusive and transparent scholarly communication ecosystem.

8. Conclusion

Research metrics are the fundamental tools used across

the publishing industry and science communication process
to measure performance, both at journal- and author-level.
Research Metrics is a full-fledged domain of research now. The

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processes and methods have been always subjected to

criticism. These metrics are totally empirical in nature and
highly sensitive to the citation database used. Moreover, a
single metrics might not always give the actual use case
scenario of research evaluation and therefore, a combination
of metrics has to be used to get a larger picture of research
impact. But the fruitful and productive results of the
procedures been realized many times. Open citation data
brings the aspect of compatibility in this regard. With the
dynamism of science and expansion of universe of knowledge,
research metrics have a great potential as a “Watcher of
Science.”

References:

Bornmann, L. (2008). What do citation counts measure? A

review of studies on citing behavior. Journal of
Documentation, 64(1), 45-80.
Garfield, E. (1998). The impact factor and its proper application.
Der Unfallchirurg, 101(6), 413-414.
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's
scientific research output. PNAS, 102(46), 16569–72.
Moed, H. (2005). Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation.
Netharlands: Springer.
Peroni, S., & Shotton, D. (2020). OpenCitations, an
infrastructure organization for open scholarship.
Quantitative Science Studies, 1(1), 428-444.
Roemer, R. C., & Borchardt, R. (2015). Meaningful metrics : a
21st century librarian’s guide to bibliometrics, altmetrics,
and research impact. Chicago: Associaiton of College and
Research Libraries.
Scimago Lab. (2012). Description of Scimago journal rank indicator.
Retrieved from Scimago Journal and Country Rank:
https://www.scimagojr.com/SCImagoJournalRank.pdf

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Chapter - 18

RESEA RCH METRICS FOR RESEA RCH VA LUE: ITS

APP LICABILITY AND DO WNSIDES
Barasha Sarma *
Dibyajyoti Patgiri **

I. Introduction

Research metrics are the quantitative tools used to

evaluate the effectiveness and value of research outputs. At the
journal, article, and even researcher level, metrics are usable.
Metrics inform us of how many people have viewed the work,
how many people have downloaded the journal, what number
of citations is there, Etc. The Impact Factor, which is discussed
further, was formerly the only measure available for evaluating
journal performance. At present a variety of research measures
are accessible, including the Impact Factor, altmetrics, h-index,
and others.

Scopus and Web of Science are the most prestigious

multidisciplinary bibliographic databases at present providing
data for a complete evaluation of research production across a
wide range of academic disciplines. Notably, Scopus is the
world's largest multidisciplinary database, indexing not only
English but also a wide range of non-English scholarly
sources. Individuals can access an essential number of Scopus-
indexed sources, which reflect scientific development and
influence in their fields of study. To maintain the list of ethically
sound and influential journals the database has used difficult
indexing and re-evaluation procedures, and sources that fail to

* Librarian (I/C), West Guwahati Commerce College, Guwahati, Assam

** Librarian, Madhya Kamrup College, Barpeta, Assam

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fulfill publication ethics and bibliometric requirements have

been delisted.

Universities and government research organizations are

some examples of research institutions that utilize a variety of
methodologies to assess the value of the work they produce
where peer review can evaluate quality, and metrics can reveal
engagement. (Espeland & Sauder, 2016)

II. Use of Metrics in Measuring Research Value

A variety of tools are used by research organizations,

groups of scholars, and research agencies to assess the worth
of the work they conduct. Like that, metrics can give an
engagement overview with statistics. The market for value has
been mostly taken over by measures, particularly bibliometrics.
Citations are foremost among them since they are predicated
on the notion that acknowledging earlier work is essential to
knowledge growth (Garfield 1979).

III. Applicability

Metrics for measuring the quality, impact, and visibility

of scientific research are known as research metrics. They can
be used in a variety of settings and for variety of purposes,
including:

i) Evaluating Research Impact: Metrics like citation

counts, h-index, and field-weighted citation impact can be
used to evaluate the significance and impact of a
researcher’s work. When deciding whether to promote
someone, offer them a grant or give them an award,
institutions, and funding organizations may consider
these indicators to gauge the impact of research.
ii) Assessing Journal Quality: Journal metrics like the
Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and Cite Score are used by

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researchers and institutions to find high-quality journals

to publish their work in and to gauge an overall
reputation.
iii) Field-specific Differences: The applicability of metrics
across disciplines may be impacted by the different
publication and citation patterns that exist within
research domains. Some measures that are effective in one
area might not be as applicable or significant in another.
As a result, it’s critical to consider norms and standards
unique to the profession.
iv) Comparing Researchers and Institutions: Comparing
Researchers and Institutions: Within a given topic or
discipline, metrics can be used to compare researchers or
institutions. This comparison can be used to pinpoint
areas for research enhancement, as well as prospective
topics for collaboration.
v) Tracking Research Performance: Research production,
citation impact, and collaboration trends can all be
tracked over time using metrics by researchers and
institutions. Setting objectives and measuring progress
may benefit from this information.
vi) Identifying Research Trends: A field’s growing research
trends and areas of interest can be found through
bibliometric analysis. This can help academics find topics
for more investigation and potential gaps in the literature.
vii) Benchmarking and Improvement: Institutions can
utilize metrics as benchmarks to track improvements in
research performance over time and to develop and
implement plans to increase research output and impact.
viii) Public Policy and Decision Making: Decisions about the
distribution of resources and investments in particular
research topics can be made by governments and funding
organizations with the use of research metrics.
ix) Open Science and Transparency: Metrics can be used to
promote open science by providing transparent and

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quantifiable measures of research impact, helping to

reduce bias and favoritism.
x) Scientific Collaboration: Collaboration metrics, such as
co-authorship networks and collaboration indices, can
help identify potential collaborators and assess the
strength of research networks.

IV. Types of Research Metrics

A. Journal Level Metrics: Quantitative indicators are used to

evaluate the importance, calibre, and influence of academic
journals in the field of research. These metrics are known as
journal-level research metrics. With the use of these criteria,
researchers, publishers, and institutions will be better able to
assess the importance of journals and decide where to focus
their efforts or spend money. Here are some typical research
measures at the journal level.

Metrics Strengths Limitations

Journal The Journal Impact It doesn't evaluate the

impact factor Factor (JIF) gives quality of individual
(JIF) scholars and publications, can be
institutions a rapid biased by a few highly
and uniform way to cited articles, is prone
assess a journal's to differences in
influence within its citation styles
area, assisting them depending on the
in determining topic, and can
relative relevance promote "citation
and directing chasing" rather than
publication original research.
decisions.
Eigen factor By taking into Database coverage
Score account both the and citation
quantity and quality standards are taken
of citations, Eigen into consideration by
factor provides a Eigen factor. The

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complex picture of impact of a journal

journal influence. It might vary gradually.
reflects genuine It emphasises
influence and journal-level
explains the prestige influence rather than
of citing the calibre of each
publications. It's individual piece. It
helpful for might not adequately
contrasting represent cutting-
periodicals from edge or trans
various academic disciplinary research.
fields.

Cite Score Cite Score considers Cite Score’s emphasis

all indexed on citations may
document categories favour larger
to give a complete journals, older
picture of journal journals, and fields
impact. It provides a with slower citation
more comprehensive trends. It might not
assessment of a accurately reflect the
journal's impact, value or uniqueness
taking into account of particular items.
articles, reviews, Additionally, it may
conference papers, not reflect societal
and more. Its influence or internet
openness and attention and does
simplicity make it a not take into account
user-friendly the prestige of citing
statistic for sources. Therefore,
institutions and relying solely on Cite
academics. Score may overstate a
journal's actual
influence.
H-index of A journal's h-index It favours older
journal provides a succinct journals, ignores the
evaluation of its depth of influence per
influence by publication, and is
identifying the field-specific. Due of

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number of articles their high level of

(h) that have specialisation,
attracted at least h prestigious journals
citations. This offers may have low h-
a window into how indices. The h-index
influential articles disregards uncited
are dispersed. articles and does not
take into
consideration highly
cited papers. It
provides a rapid
indication, but lacks
context and
granularity regarding
the breadth and
diversity of a journal's
contributions.

SNIP Source-Normalized The subtleties of

(Source- influence per Paper extremely specialised
Normalised (SNIP) provides a or developing fields
per- paper) contextualised might not be
estimate of influence captured by SNIP. It
by accounting for the doesn't take into
peculiarities of a account differences in
journal's topic area. journal quality, and
It mitigates field- subject bias may still
specific citation be present despite
behaviours by taking normalisation. The
into account citation source of citations
patterns within the may also have an
field. In particular, impact on SNIP
SNIP is helpful for levels, possibly
comparing favouring
publications from publications from
various academic areas with diverse
fields. citation styles.

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B. Author Level Metrics: Author-level metrics evaluate the

value of a particular researcher's scholarly production. Author-
level metrics are intended to assist researchers in evaluating
the overall significance of their work rather than the
significance of a single publication. Article-level metrics, which
aggregate or summarize the impact of an author's publications,
are the basis of all author-level metrics. Citation metrics that
evaluate the bibliometric significance of specific authors are
known as author-level metrics. The most well-known author-
level statistic is H-index. Since JE Hirsch proposed it in 2005,
it has become very popular among researchers, and
bibliometics scholars have suggested a few variations to adjust
for its shortcomings.

A scientist's index is h if h of their Np articles have at

least h citations each, and the remaining (Np h) papers have no
more than h citations each. In other words, for an author to
have an h-index of 5, they must have 5 publications, each of
which has received at least 5 citations. A variation of the h-
index known as the g-index which rewards papers that have
received the most citations within a data set. Leo Egghe, its
creator, stated that highly cited publications were crucial for
determining the h-index's value. In order to account for
neglected citations, the e-index, which is the square root of
excess citations for the h-set beyond h2, complements the h-
index. As a result, it is particularly helpful for comparing
scientists who have received high citation counts.

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Metrics Strengths Limitations

h-index A simple, bi- It is not appropriate

dimensional metric for for early-career
quantifying the impact researchers or those
of highly productive with a modest number
scholars' publications of publications; it can
and citations. be influenced through
self-citations; and it is
stable.

g-index When the h-index score The g-index, unlike

and total citations are the h-index, is
low, this method gives determined by the
more weight to highly average number of
cited things and aids in citations for all
visualizing an published
individual's effect. publications.
e-index Identifies highly prolific Unsuitable for the low
authors with similar h- number of publications
index scores but and citations.
different total citation
counts by focusing on
highly cited things.

Page rank When citation value is Calculations are based

index considered, it does not on a variation of the
increase with more (self) PageRank algorithm
citations from low- that is difficult for non-
impact sources. experts to understand;
index values are largely
dependent on the
visibility and
promotion of
referenced articles.

C. Article Level Metrics: Quantitative measures are used to

evaluate the significance, value, and visibility of individual
research papers published in scholarly publications. These

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measurements are known as article-level research metrics. This

metrics reveal information on how frequently an article is
shared, cited, and debated both within and outside of the
scientific community. They assist scientists, organisations, and
publishers in assessing the importance of a particular research
output and in making defensible choices about research
funding, tenure, promotion, and journal rankings. The
following list includes some of the most popular article-level
research metrics.

Metrics Strengths Limitations

Citation A quantifiable Self-citations, field-
Count indicator of an specific citation norms,
metrics article's influence and time can all have an
and scholarly impact impact on citation count
is provided by metrics. They might not
citation count take into account a piece
metrics, which show of writing's qualitative
that the paper has significance or its
been acknowledged influence outside of
and is still relevant academics. Additionally,
in the academic works that contribute to
world. They are developing fields or have
commonly used and an impact in
simple to unconventional ways
comprehend, which may be missed if one
helps in determining only concentrates on
how much an article citations.
has contributed to
its field.
Citation Citation velocity They may, however, be
Velocity measurements swayed by brief citation
provide a real-time spikes or oscillations
perspective on the and fail to recognise
significance and persistent relevance.
level of popularity of Additionally, fields with
a publication, longer publication cycles
facilitating the quick can have less

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detection of new applicability, and

trends. different citation
patterns throughout
disciplines might make it
difficult to do cross-
comparisons.

Article Article usage Promotional efforts or

Usage metrics, including unintentional clicks are
Metrics downloads and page just two examples of
views, offer real-time factors unrelated to
insights into an scholarly impact that
article's online can affect usage metrics.
visibility and Comparisons may not be
readership trends. accurate because of
They provide a quick changes in platform
gauge of initial usage and the article's
interest and potential influence or
accessibility, helping quality over time.
authors and Furthermore, extensive
publishers engagement or a
understand the significant impact within
immediate reach of the academic community
their work is not necessarily
ensured by high usage.
Reader Metrics of reader These measures may not
Engagem engagement offer a accurately reflect the
ent dynamic view of an overall impact and are
Metrics article's relevancy unable to determine the
and influence by quality or depth of
providing real-time interaction. They are
information into how platform-specific and
readers connect with may be modified by
it. In addition to marketing initiatives.
passive measures Tracking user
like citations, they interactions can raise
also record active privacy issues. Overall,
involvement like they are important but
should be used in

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highlighting and conjunction with other

annotating. indicators to provide a
thorough evaluation of
article impact.

Citation Metrics from citation These measurements

Network network analysis may favour established
Analysis reveal the subjects while ignoring
connections between developing ones. Results
papers and provide a may be skewed by self-
visual depiction of citations, co-authorship
scholarly influence. networks, and
They help with disciplinary differences.
locating important They might also miss
works, monitoring effect in non-traditional
research trends, and ways or fail to take
comprehending citation quality into
intellectual consideration.
development.

V. Factors That Affect Value of a Metric

Selecting ethical, publicly visible, and professionally

relevant sources for publishing research work is the first step
for qualified researchers to make a global effect. The selection
of target journals is crucial in an era when fraudulent journals
are proliferating, increasing their number of articles at the price
of quality, visibility, and citability. It is also critical to
comprehend the worth and usefulness of the current evaluation
metrics, which can be displayed on individual profiles by
sourcing data from various bibliographic databases, search
engines, and social networking platforms.

Concentrating too much on one metric is a major

downside. For instance, if one published more highly cited
papers to increase their Impact Factor, one may be ignoring

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low-cited sources. As a result, if one decides to just publish

highly referenced content to achieve a higher Impact Factor,
one risk decreasing the value of the publication for a certain
group of readers.

i) Size: Scholarly Output, which reflects an entity's

productivity, and Citation Count, which sums the
citations received by an entity across all publications, are
two measures whose value tends to increase with entity
size. When analyzing performance, it is often necessary
to account for variances in the size of an entity; Citations
per Publication, for example, acknowledge differences in
the size of an entity's Scholarly Output and are beneficial
in revealing the efficiency of citations received per
publication.
ii) Time: The passage of time is crucial for obtaining
relevant information from various measures. Citation
Impact metrics are the most evident, because it takes
time for published work to be cited. The h-indices are
another example of metrics that are not very useful when
applied to the output of an early-career
researcher because the necessity for the passage of time
to gather citations is linked with the need for a
reasonably-sized body of work to offer accurate
information.
iii) Manipulation: Some conditions are reasonably easy to
manipulate in order to manipulate metrics data. One
example is the artificially increasing size of research
units for reporting purposes, which improves perceived
performance when utilizing "Power Metrics.
iv) Self-citation: it is another example. Self-citation is not
intrinsically wrong: it is a standard academic practice to
build on earlier published work, and it is an author's job
to link a reader to older material that would support their
understanding. This practice, however, is vulnerable to

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abuse by unethical academics who may choose to cite

irrelevant past papers in order to boost their citation
counts, as well as journal editors who may occasionally
force authors of submitted papers to include too many
additional citations to publications within their journal
in their reference lists.

VI. Responsible Use of Metrics

According to the Universities UK Forum for the Responsible

Use of Metrics, "responsible use of metrics" is defined as
"framing appropriate uses of quantitative indicators in the
governance, management, and assessment of research" (The
Metric Tide, 2005). The following principles can be used to
determine responsible metrics-

i) Robustness: basing metrics on most accurate and

comprehensive facts available
ii) Humility: recognizing that expert qualitative assessment
should always be supported by quantitative analysis but
should not replace it
iii) Transparency: the results can be tested and validated by
the people being examined
iv) Diversity: Utilizing a variety of indicators to represent
and encourage a diversity of research and researcher
career trajectories across the system, take into account
variation by research field.
v) Re-flexibility: Identify and predict the systemic and
possible impacts of indicators, and update them when
necessary

Responsible Use of Research Metrics is primarily about

treating others fairly throughout the evaluation of research and
making sure that the evaluation of research takes into account
the value of metrics. Since the wrong application of research
metrics can have serious consequences, it is crucial that they

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be used efficiently and ethically. Discipline-specific distinctions

in publication and citation procedures must be taken into
account when employing research metrics. Some
considerations for the responsible use of metrics include:

 The highest quality data is required for metrics to be

supported, both in terms of accuracy and scope.
 Reviewers should be aware that quantitative analysis
should supplement expert qualitative judgment, not
replace it.
 The techniques for data collection and data analyses
must be open and transparent so that people who will be
evaluating the findings can test and validate the findings.
 Variation for field of expertise and discipline should be
taken into account, utilizing a variety of indicators to
support plurality of research and researchers at different
phases of their careers, in order to ensure that the
assessment processes are appropriate.
 Those who are in charge of evaluating research should
be aware of and prepare for changes in how metrics are
created. As a result, they should keep an eye on and
frequently examine the metrics they have chosen to
make sure they are still relevant.

VII. Conclusion

Undoubtedly, we are moving towards a metric world

where each work product is measured and subject to
measurement science. Today, a wide range of promising new
online metrics, including download counts, altmetrics, and
publication counts, are emerging as potential bibliometric and
scientometric predictors of the quality and significance of
research performance. However, each metric must be weighted
according to its contribution to the overall predictive power of
the metrics, and they must all be jointly evaluated and validated
against the thing they claim to measure and prediction.

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Metrics by themselves cannot fully convey the impact of

research. Each metrics has benefits as well as drawbacks.
Aside than examining an issue from multiple angles, there
aren't really any clear guidelines for choosing which metrics to
employ. The user's specific question will always determine the
most appropriate metrics. The best strategy is to draw attention
to a few crucial considerations and urge the user to use
common sense. One method to utilize metrics responsibly for
research assessment is to be aware of their context and
constraints. In fact, funders, research institutions, and
publications all acknowledge the value of utilizing metrics
properly.

References:

Angrist, J. D., &Pischke, J.-S. (2015). Mastering ’metrics: The

path from cause to effect. Princeton University Press.
Chakraborty, T., Dalmia, A., Mukherjee, A., &Ganguly, N. (2016).
Metrics for Community Analysis: A Survey (arXiv:1604.03512).
arXiv. http://arxiv.org/abs/1604.03512
Dhyani, D., Ng, W. K., &Bhowmick, S. S. (2002). A survey of
Web metrics. ACM Computing Surveys, 34(4), 469–503.
https://doi.org/10.1145/592642.592645
Espeland, W. N. and Sauder, M. (2016) Engines of Anxiety:
Academic Rankings, Reputation, and Accountability.
London: Russell Sage
Garfield, E. (1979) ‘Is Citation Analysis a Legitimate Evaluation
Tool?’ Scientometrics, 2: 91–4.
Gasparyan, A. Y., Yessirkepov, M., Voronov, A. A., Maksaev, A.
A., &Kitas, G. D. (2021). Article-Level Metrics. Journal of
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Kothari, C. R., & Garg, G. (2019). Research methodology:

Methods and techniques (Fourth multi-colour edition). New
Age International (P) Limited, Publishers.
Langfeldt, L., Reymert, I., & Aksnes, D. W. (2021). The role of
metrics in peer assessments. Research Evaluation, 30(1),
112–126. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvaa032
Porter, A. L., Roessner, J. D., Cohen, A. S., &Perreault, M.
(2006). Interdisciplinary research: Meaning, metrics and
nurture. Research Evaluation, 15(3), 187–196.
https://doi.org/10.3152/147154406781775841
Williams, K. (2022). What counts: Making sense of metrics of
research value. Science and Public Policy, 49(3), 518–531.
https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scac004
Wilsdon, J. (2015). We need a measured approach to metrics.
Nature, 523(7559), 129–129. https://doi.org/10.1038/
523129a
Wilsdon, J., Allen, L., Belfiore, E., Campbell, P., Curry, S., Hill,
S., Jones, R., Kain, R., Kerridge, S., Thelwall, M., Tinkler,
J., Viney, I., Wouters, P., Hill, J., & Johnson, B. (2015). The
Metric Tide: Report of the Independent Review of the Role of
Metrics in Research Assessment and Management.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4929.1363

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 About the Editors

Prof (Dr.) V. K. Ahuja is a Senior Professor at the Faculty of Law,

University of Delhi and is presently serving as the Vice-Chancellor of
National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. He has been
a prolific academic in the field of Intellectual Property Rights and
International Law. Prof. Ahuja is an alumnus of University of Delhi
and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is having almost 30
years of experience in teaching and has also served in several
institutions of national and international repute in various administrative capacity.
He served as a member of the BoS/AC/EC of several Central and State Universities.
Prof. Ahuja is one of the Jury members of India Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)
100 Awards of 2022. In 2003, he received the first prize as an exemplary teacher in
the Fifth South Asian Teaching Session on International Humanitarian Law and
Refugee Law organized jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and National Law School
of India University, Bangalore. Prof. Ahuja has also immensely contributed towards
legal research through his publications.

Dr. Kankana Baishya is Assistant Librarian at National Law

University and Judicial Academy, Assam. She cleared UGC-NET in
2010 and holds her Ph.D. from Gauhati University on ‘Indian
Institutional Repository: A Study’. She has more than 15 years of
experience as LIS professional with premier institutions. She is the
Founder Secretary of the Women Librarians’ Association of Assam,
University Coordinator for INFLIBNET Centre and holds positions
of the executive committee members of various professional
associations. Her research paper received the best paper award at the professional
summit held at National Law University, Delhi. Her scholarly work comprises of 16
papers and 5 edited books.

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam