Contents

82 PART I: General Issues• Proper citation includes using quotation marks when material is takendirectly from a source and citing secondary sources when an original sourceis not consulted.A completed research study begins its journey toward becoming part of thescientific literature when the principal investigator writes a manuscript forsubmission to one of the dozens of psychology-related scientific journals (seeChapter 13 for information about this publication process). The primary goalof publishing research in a psychology journal is to communicate the resultsof the study to members of the scientific community and to society in general.Publishing research in journals is also a way to enhance the researcher’s reputationand even the reputation of the institution that sponsored the research.But getting the results of a scientific investigation published is not always aneasy process, especially if the researcher wants to publish in one of the prestigiousscientific journals. Because of the importance of publications for thescience of psychology, the APA Code of Ethics provides guidelines for thisprocess.The ethical standards covering the reporting of the results of a scientificinvestigation seem more straightforward than in the other areas of the EthicsCode we have discussed. Even here, however, ethical decisions regarding suchissues as assigning credit for publication and plagiarism are not always clearcut.Conducting a research study often involves many people. Colleagues offersuggestions about a study’s design, graduate or undergraduate students assistan investigator by testing participants and organizing data, technicians constructspecialized equipment, and expert consultants give advice about statisticalanalyses. When preparing a manuscript for publication, should all of theseindividuals be considered “authors” of the study? Publication credit refers tothe process of identifying as authors those individuals who have made significantcontributions to the research project. Because authorship of a publishedscientific study frequently is used to measure an individual’s competence andmotivation in a scientific field, it is important to acknowledge fairly those who havecontributed to a project.It’s not always easy to decide whether the contribution an individual has madeto a research project warrants being an “author” of a scientific paper or whetherthat individual’s contribution should be acknowledged in a less visible way (suchas in a footnote). Also, once authorship is granted, then the order of authors’names must be decided. “First author” of a multiple-authored article generallyindicates a greater contribution than does “second author” (which is greater thanthird, etc.). Authorship decisions should be based mainly in terms of the scholarlyimportance of the contribution (e.g., aiding the conceptual aspects of a study), notby the time and energy invested in the study (see Fine & Kurdek, 1993).Ethical concerns associated with assigning authorship can take many forms.For example, not only is it unethical for a faculty member to take credit for astudent’s work, it is also unethical for students to be given undeserved authorcredit. This latter situation may arise, for instance, in a misguided attempt bya faculty mentor to give a student an edge when competing for a position in acompetitive graduate program. According to Fine and Kurdek (1993), awarding