Perspectives on Terrorism (Mar 2013)
Sources and Information in Academic Research: Avoiding Mistakes in Assessing Sources for Research and during Peer Review
Abstract
The credibility of academic publications has come under attack in a variety of circumstances. Newspaper headlines such as “Scientific fraud is rife” and “McGill University finds scientists published ‘falsified’ images” are not helpful in maintaining the credibility of the academic community. Additionally, a cottage industry appears to be growing in websites that specialize in identifying papers which publishers have been forced to retract. The website Retraction Watch has identified one case in which a publisher has retracted 172 papers from one author and may eventually retract 183 papers in total. The website Copy Shake and Paste makes a series of references to PhD dissertations and professorial habilitations which have been questioned or rescinded due to plagiarism. One of the PhDs in question was written by a German Minister of Education and Research.
