Ethical guidelines purpose

The principles that govern the ethics of scientific publication are no different than for any other endeavor complete and accurate reporting and appropriate attribution to the contributions of others. However, as always, the devil is in the details. The ethical responsibilities of authors and reviewers are sufficiently important and complex that the editors of the American Chemical Society journals have developed a detailed document outlining these responsibilities. (This document, Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research is presented in Appendix 1-1.) The purpose of this chapter is not to duplicate this document, but rather to discuss some of the important underlying principles and situations that often arise. 

The American Medical Association s Council on Ethical Affairs was sufficiently concerned 10 years ago about these matters to issue guidelines to discourage expensive gifts without medical purpose (Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association, 1991). These guidelines were a start in addressing this problem, and the council encourages even more vigilance now (Wazana, 2000). 

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