Procedure against „ghostwriting” and „guest authorship” in publications published by Journal of Environmental Engineering and Protection
(based on the recommendation from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education)
Reliability is the essence of the quality in science. Readers should be convinced that the authors of the published articles present the results of their work in a straightforward, reliable and honest manner irrespective of the fact who are the direct authors or if they consulted other experts (physical or legal person). The ethical attitude of a scientist and the highest editorial standards should be demonstrated through transparency of information about the persons and institutions involved in preparation of the publication (i.e. expertise, financial or other input). This is not only the sign of decency the but also social responsibility. In order to prevent from „ghostwriting (i.e. when a person makes a significant contribution to the publication but he/she is not listed as one or the authors of this publication or this person was omitted in the acknowledgements) and/or „guest authorship” (i.e. the contribution to the article is minimal or none but a person is listed as a co-author of the article).
To prevent from „ghostwriting” and „guest authorship” the author/authors of the publication are required to:
- Determine the contribution of the authors to the preparation of the publication by providing their affiliations and type of their input (i.e. who was the author of an idea and assumptions, methods and protocols, etc.), it has to be pointed out that the corresponding author is responsible for the provision of these type of information.
- Provide the information about all sources of funding (i.e. institutions, academia, associations, etc.), The authors of original research articles are obliged to reveal all financial relations to a company that manufactured a product described in the article or a competitive company by signing a declaration. This information will not be revealed and will not affect the decision on acceptance of an article for publishing.
- Any case of „ghostwriting” or „guest authorship” will be documented and revealed, including reporting this fact to designated institutions (i.e. authors’ employers, scientific societies, associations of scientific editors, etc.).