Authors

  1. Gould, Kathleen Ahern PhD, RN

Article Content

BOOK

McGee, G. Bioethics for Beginners: 60 Cases and Cautions Form the Moral Frontierof Healthcare. Malden, MA: Wiley; 2012.

Glenn McGee presents 60 cases in 10 chapters uniquely describing ethical dilemmas unleashed by current trends in health care and technology. His view as a bioethicist is fascinating and informative. Bioethics is not a new term, however, understanding the role of bioethics in health care has taken on new meaning as we begin to articulate new rules for ethical science and medicine.

  
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McGee tackles reproductive medicine, stem cells, artificial blood products, longevity, and robots. Case 46, "The Fight to Die Well: We Will Expect More From Death Than Our Ancestors Did," is a fascinating segment in the chapter entitled "You Aren't Dead Until Someone Tells You So." In this case, McGee concludes that coping with death and passing over to death will improve as we develop policies, ethics, and technologies that make bioethics a part of the process.

 

Another compelling case is Case 54, "Dying for Food," which discusses the case of Terry Schiavo, a patient in a persistent vegetative state at the center of a debate about extending life with tube feedings. This haunting case will linger in bioethics discussions for many years. Schiavo fought a battle with food most of her life; an eating disorder may have led to her condition-and yet, her life ended over a fight for nutrition. This public battle incited contentious debate in the medical and public communities. Years later, it is interesting to reflect on the views from the standpoint of bioethics.

 

The text is informative and thought provoking, forcing the reader to think about the new challenges we will confront as technology progresses. The chapter entitled "Don't Sweat the Nano-Sized Stuff," informs us about the field of nanotechnology and reminds us that it is still a field that is fairly unregulated and we may soon be exposed to nano-size particles in our food, drugs, and cosmetics and within the environment itself.

 

MEDIA

Five Unethical Publication Practices Journal Editors Hate to See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNK7fUoavTE

  
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17 minutes

 

Uploaded on August 1, 2016

 

Ethical behavior in scholarly publication remains a problem. In this video, Dr Donald Samulack, President of US Operations, Editage, Cactus Communications; Dr Anne Woods, Chief Nurse at Wolters Kluwer Health; and Shawn Kennedy, Editor in Chief, American Journal of Nursing, discuss unethical practices that are commonly seen in publishing.

 

Unethical publication practices occur frequently, and new journal editors must be vigilant. Often, it falls to the editor to inform or educate authors about ethical violation. Some authors follow practices without knowledge of the ethical implications of their actions.

 

The panel cites examples of common mistakes:

 

* Although authors can query multiple journals, they should submit their paper to only 1 journal at a time.

 

* Plagiarism remains a common problem. Often, authors fail to cite their own work, which is published and held by copyright.

 

* Honorary authorship and ghost authorship are emerging as other problems journal editors need to face.

 

* Conflict of interest must be addressed to ensure that the work has integrity. To ensure transparency, conflict of interest disclosures must include personal relationships and interest, as well as financial considerations.

 

* Duplicate publication and salami slicing are yet other practices that harm the scientific literature because authors attempt to maximize the number of publications from a single work.

 

 

Panel members suggest methods that can help authors understand the steps in professional publication. Dr Woods suggests that authors visit the EQUATOR network to find reporting guidelines for every type of research. These resources guide authors toward ensuring that their study is sound and the credibility of the publication is maintained.

 

Authors may find guidelines for ethical conduct for publication at http://icmje.org/recommendations/ of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

 

In this site, you can download the current "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals."

 

Another important resource is the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The COPE provides a resource for editors and publishers of peer-reviewed journals to discuss all aspects of publication ethics. Members of COPE are available to advise editors with questions or concerns about a manuscript (http://publicationethics.org).