Abstract
In light of increasing calls for transparent reporting of research and prevention of detrimental research practices, we conducted a cross-sectional machine-assisted analysis of a representative sample of scientific journals' instructions to authors (ItAs) across all disciplines. We investigated addressing of 19 topics related to transparency in reporting and research integrity. Only three topics were addressed in more than one third of ItAs: conflicts of interest, plagiarism, and the type of peer review the journal employs. Health and Life Sciences journals, journals published by medium or large publishers, and journals registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) were more likely to address many of the analysed topics, while Arts & Humanities journals were least likely to do so. Despite the recent calls for transparency and integrity in research, our analysis shows that most scientific journals need to update their ItAs to align them with practices which prevent detrimental research practices and ensure transparent reporting of research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0222157 |
| Pages (from-to) | e0222157 |
| Journal | PLoS ONE |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Funding
This study was a part of the Elsevier-funded project: Fostering Transparent and Responsible Conduct of Research: What can Journals do?. Details of the project are available at the project’s data repository site: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.17632/53cskwwpdn.3. The Elsevier funding was awarded to GtR at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, location Meibergdreef, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, who in turn hired MM for a postdoc position and provided the salary for MM to work on the project. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders (other than the funder-affiliated author IJJA) had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We would like to thank Ana Jerončić for advice on the sample size and randomization procedures, Adriaan van der Weel, Catriona Fennell, René Bekkers, Sam Bruinsma, and Frits Rosendaal for advice on the topics to be checked in instruction to authors; Anne Consemulder and Ludo Waltman for explanations regarding Scopus Source List and SNIP values, and finally Nataliya Demikova, Fu Longlong, Jun Steed Huang, Chao Chen, Tengfei Tang, Lanfa Liu, and Chunxiang Cui for helping us find journals’ websites or their contact information.
| Funders |
|---|
| Fostering Transparent and Responsible Conduct of Research |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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