Identification and Treatment Ways for Academic Misconduct

1. Check manuscript academic misconduct via software (e.g. AMLC of CNKI) when receiving a new manuscript.

2. Screen out plagiarism based on editors’ experience or readers’ report.

3. Editors should consider retracting a publication if they have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error); the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication); it constitutes plagiarism; it reports unethical research.

4. Editors should consider issuing a correction if a small portion of an otherwise reliable publication proves to be misleading (especially because of honest error); the author / contributor list is incorrect (i.e. a deserving author has been omitted or somebody who does not meet authorship criteria has been included).

5. Actions should be taken promptly to minimize harmful effects from misleading publications upon finding the academic misconduct.