Ethics beyond Plagiarism

Is research misconduct really on the increase, or are we becoming better at uncovering it? Centuries before modern academia, Claudius Galen affirmed that the essence of medicine and scholarship is rooted in truthfulness and ethics. “The true Doctor will be found to be a friend of temperance and a companion of truth.” - Claudius Galen (c. 130 – c. 210 AD) Over the past 50 years, health care around the world has achieved remarkable milestones, resulting in significant transformations in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Much of this progression is owed to trustworthy and high-quality research, which has accelerated the generation and dissemination of medical knowledge. To accommodate this expanding knowledge, scientific literature continues to grow exponentially, doubling almost every 12 to 15 years. Yet, trust in research and replicability of previous findings are compromised by researchers engaging in research misconduct, such as fabrication and falsification and subtle trespasses of ethical and methodological principles. Meta-analyses from 2009 to 2021 showed an average increase in falsification, fabrication, or plagiarism of 1.97% to 2.9%. In 2026, scientific misconduct and related ethical violations accounted for nearly 60% of article retractions. Witnessing instances of research and publication misconduct has become an unfortunate and distressing reality for many of us engaged in healthcare research and involved in scientific journal publishing. What was once considered a rare ethical lapse has become a more frequent observation than we would wish. The pervasive “publish or perish” culture that dominates academic arenas across the world largely fuels such instances. Integrity and ethics remain the most important aspects of credible and reliable research. Scientific ethics include a VIBGYOR of principles that steer researchers in their interactions with knowledge, data, participants, and fellow scholars. Honesty is and has always been the foundation of ethical research, requiring investigators to present their findings truthfully without distortion, fabrication, or deception. Trustworthiness equates to transparency and reproducibility, where researchers follow rigorous methodologies and openly disclose potential conflicts of interest or biases that may impact their work. Academic integrity is essential for maintaining the credibility, fairness, and reliability of scientific research. By upholding honesty, transparency, and ethical conduct, researchers strengthen public trust, promote equal opportunities in academia, and ensure accurate and trustworthy research outcomes. An ethical manuscript is one which does not have any form of plagiarism, duplicate publication, ghost/gift authorship, copyright law infringement, any form of bias or conflict of interest, fabrication or falsification, and perhaps most importantly, an ethical manuscript should be free of unethical research. Responsibility in research extends beyond data collection and analysis to include ethical management of information, protection of participant rights, following institutional and professional guidelines, and acknowledgment of the contributions of collaborators, and peers. Fairness ensures that all participants, authors, reviewers, and stakeholders are treated equitably, without bias, discrimination, or exploitation. Respect in research involves appropriate citation of intellectual contributions, responsible authorship practices, and constructive academic dialog grounded in professionalism and mutual recognition. Despite the well-recognized importance of academic integrity, ethical violations continue to persist across scientific disciplines. Some forms of violations are hard to miss, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification of results, and duplicate publication. Others are more subtle, including selective citation, honorary authorship, and suppression of negative or nonsignificant findings, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and manipulation of the peer-review process. Equally concerning is the emergence of predatory journals that exploit young researchers through rigorous advertising, deceptive indexing, and misleading impact factors. While these practices may differ in severity, each compromises the credibility, transparency, and reliability of scientific research. Suboptimal research and fraud can manifest in numerous forms, making them difficult to counter. The increasing pressures to publish, secure funding, and achieve academic recognition further strain the efforts to uphold scientific ethics. Consequently, ethical conduct in research should not be viewed merely as adherence to guidelines, checklists, and regulations but as a collective responsibility necessary to uphold public trust, advance knowledge, and safeguard the future of science. Research misconduct wastes resources, distorts the scientific literature, hinders scientific advancement, and ultimately manipulates all the stakeholders.