Observations on fraud and scientific integrity in a digital environment

The community of specialists in scientific information and communication must begin to give more vigorous attention to its expectations for ethical conduct by authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers in the realm of electronic publishing, and to consider how those expectations may differ from the standards applied in a print-based environment. The author suggests five areas that deserve special attention: ensuring the accuracy and truthfulness of content; building trust among editors, reviewers, and authors; sustaining a level of civility in electronic forums for scientific and technical debate; protecting the intellectual property of authors and publishers; and preserving publishersʹ (and scientific journals) independence from government interference with content.