2011/2012 marks an important year for research and
publishing ethics. The world press highlighted numerous data fraud scandals, Science
published papers and commentaries on the use of coercive citations
among journals, and journals faced criticism for engaging in tactics more
focused on engorging impact factors than the advancement of science per se.
At the same time, this period showcased major public dialog on the topic of
research ethics among major professional associations, as well as special issues
seeking to define the normative ethical practices of authors, reviewers, and
editors.
In response to this, a group of Editors from the
fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Management assembled to draft
a voluntary Code of Conduct defining some general behaviors we agree are
important to maintaining the ethics and integrity of scientific inquiry. We have
since circulated this Code to other editors to gain their support. Since that
time our list of signatories has been growing. We will continue to circulate the
Code in hopes support for it will continue to grow.
Our goal is that these efforts will have a positive
impact on the way journals conduct themselves, and on the quality and integrity
of organizational research in general. We encourage our fellow Editors and
Associate Editors to publicly affirm this code, and for anyone to post comments
on the code and related issues. We will continue to revise the Code as our open
dialog evolves.