UNC Charlotte Professor Steven Rogelberg, a professor of management and psychology and director of the organizational science and research unit is one of the two leaders in a nationwide pitch for academic journal editors to adopt a voluntary code of ethics. According to the attached article in Inside Higher Education, “Rogelberg said that he has thought for years about the need to promote better ethical standards. But he said that an article in the journal in Science in February about coercive citations convinced him that there was an immediate need. Coercive citations are those that editors seek to add to authors' pieces not because they are needed, but to make various journals appear more influential. Many people use various measures of journal influence that are based on counting how many times journals' articles are cited -- so extra citations yield a more influential journal.
“Rogelberg said that he has seen this with some of his own submissions elsewhere, and that the phenomenon is real -- and irresponsible. He said that he believes editors who take a public pledge not to engage in that practice and other questionable practices will be more likely to edit with ethics.
“Further, he said editors signing the pledge can offer support to academics who come to them with cases of less scrupulous editors. And there is a public shame factor too: The ethics code has a portion of its website where people can report violations.
Journal editors promote pledge on ethics | Inside Higher Ed
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