This document contains short answer questions and essay questions related to research ethics. It defines key terms like ethics, philosophy, plagiarism, salami slicing, COPE, ghost writing, open access publication, h-index, and citations. It also discusses the branches of philosophy including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory. Additionally, it analyzes reasons for unethical behavior in publications such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate authorship, duplicate/overlapping publications, and salami publishing. It explains how plagiarism software can be used in research to detect plagiarized content.

1. RPE MODEL TEST 15-02-2021
SHORT ANSWERSQUESTIONS
1.Define Ethics *
Ethicsor moral philosophyisabranchof philosophythat"involvessystematizing,defending,and
recommendingconceptsof rightandwrongbehavior"
2.What is philosophy? *
The love of the wisdom-Philosophyisthe studyof general andfundamental problems,suchasthose
connectedwithexistence,knowledge,values,reason,mind,andlanguage.Itisthe rational attemptto
formulate,understand,andanswerfundamentalquestions.A Philosophyis asetof viewsorbeliefs
aboutlife andthe universe,whichare oftenheld uncritically.
3.State the meaning of plagiarism. *
Takingthe ideasand workof other scientistswithoutgivingthemcreditisunfairanddishonest.Copying
evenone sentence fromsomeone else’smanuscript,orevenone of yourownthat has previouslybeen
published,withoutpropercitationisconsideredplagiarism—useyourownwordsinstead.
4.What is salami slicing? *
Salami Slicingisthe practice of fragmenting the singlecoherentbodiesintoasmanyas smaller
Authorsdo it“to
increase theirpublicationcount,toachieve careerprogression,togainrecognition,togetmore funding,
to achieve self-satisfaction.
5.State the meaning of COPE in research. *
A voluntarybodyprovidingadiscussionforumandadvice forscientificeditors,itaimstofindpractical
waysof dealingwiththe issues,andtodevelopgoodpractice. Intellectual honestyshouldbe actively
encouragedinall medical andscientificcoursesof study,andusedtoinformpublicationethicsand
preventmisconduct.Itiswiththatin mindthat these guidelineshave beenproduced.
6.Write a note on ghost writing *
Ghost Writingissubstantiallywithuseful contributionswithoutgettingacknowledged forthe work.
7.State the meaning of open access publication *
Openaccesspublicationmeansthe literature isfree availabilityonthe publicinternet,permittingany
usersto read,download,copy,distribute,print,search,orlinktothe full textsof these articles,pass
themas data to software,oruse themfor anyotherlawful purpose,withoutfinancial,legal,ortechnical
barriersotherthan those inseparable fromgainingaccesstothe internetitself.

2. 8.What is h-index? *
The h-index isdefinedasthe maximumvalueof hsuch that the givenauthor/journalhaspublishedh
papersthat have eachbeencitedat leasthtimes.The index isdesignedtoimprove uponsimpler
measuressuchas the total numberof citationsor publications. “A scientisthasindex hif hof hisor her
Nppapershave at leasthcitationseachand the other(Np – h) papershave ≤h citationseach.”
9.Write a note on citations. *
Citationdatabasescompilethe citationsinthe reference lists(bibliographies) of scholarlypublications.
Citationdatabase recordsalsoinclude bibliographiccontentthatidentifyapublication:article title,
journal name,author,abstract,etc. Citationdatabasesenable youtofindnewerpapersthatreference a
paperor author youalreadyknowabout.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1 (a)Discuss the branches of Philosophy. (Or) (b)Explain the impact of Duplicate and
overlapping publications. *
(a) Branchesof philosophy
Historically,philosophical concernshave beentreatedunderthese broadcategories:
• Logic
• Metaphysics
• Epistemology
• Value theory
A. LOGIC
Logic isthe systematicstudyof the rulesforthe correctuse of these supportingreasons,rules
we can use to distinguishgoodargumentsfrombadones.Mostof the greatphilosophersfrom
Aristotle tothe presenthave beenconvincedthatlogicpermeates all otherbranchesof
philosophy.
The abilitytotestargumentsforlogical consistency,understandthe logical consequencesof
certainassumptions,anddistinguishthe kindof evidence aphilosopherisusingare essentialfor
“doing”philosophy
B. METAPHYSICS
Anothertraditional branchof Philosophytraditionallyknownasmetaphysics.ForAristotle,the
termmetaphysicsmeant“firstphilosophy,”discussionof the mostuniversalprinciples;laterthe
termcame to mean“comprehensive thinkingaboutthe nature of things.”
It means,usually,the studyortheoryof reality.The questionof metaphysicsis:whatisreality?
What isreal?Is realitysome kindof “thing”.Isit one or isit many?If itis one,thenhow isit

3. relatedtomanythingsaroundus? Can ultimate realitybe graspedbyfive senses,orisit
supernatural ortranscendent?
Metaphysicsundoubtedlyisthe branchof philosophythatthe modernstudentfindsmost
difficulttograsp.Metaphysicsattemptstoofferacomprehensive view of all that exists.Itis
concernedwithsuchproblemsasthe relationof mindtomatter,the nature of change,the
meaningof “freedom,”the existence of God,andthe belief inpersonalimmortality.
C. EPISTEMOLOGY
The technical termfor the theoryof knowledge is epistemology,whichcomesfromthe Greek
wordepisteme,meaning“knowledge.”Ingeneral,epistemologyisthe branchof philosophythat
studiesthe sources,nature,andvalidityof knowledge.
There are three central questionsinthisfield:
i. What are the sourcesof knowledge?Where doesgenuine knowledgecome fromorhow
do we know?Thisisthe questionof origins.
ii. What isthe nature of knowledge?Isthere areal worldoutside the mind,andif socan
we knowit?This isthe questionof appearance versusreality.
iii. Is our knowledgevalid?How dowe distinguishtruthfromerror?Thisis the questionof
the testsof truth,of verification.
Traditionally,mostof those whohave offeredanswerstothese questionscanbe placedinone
of twoschools of thought—rationalismorempiricism.
The rationalistsholdthathumanreasonalone candiscoverthe basicprinciplesof the universe.
The empiricistsclaimthatall knowledge isultimatelyderivedfromsense experience and,thus,
that our knowledgeislimitedtowhatcanbe experienced.
It shouldbe clearthat there isa necessaryrelationbetweenmetaphysicsandepistemology.Our
conceptionof realitydependsonourunderstandingof whatcan be known.Conversely,our
theoryof knowledge dependsonourunderstandingof ourselvesinrelation tothe whole of
reality.
D. VALUE THEORY
Value theoryisthe branchof philosophythatstudiesvalues.Itcanbe subdividedintoethics,
aesthetics,andsocial andpolitical philosophy.
In broadtermsethicsconcernsitself withthe questionof morality.Whatisrightandwhat is
wrongin humanrelations?Withinmoralityandethicsthere are three majorareas:descriptive
ethics,normative ethics,andmetaethics.Descriptiveethicsseekstoidentifymoral experience in

4. a descriptive way.We seektoidentify,withinthe range of humanconduct,the motives,desires,
and intentionsaswell asovertacts themselves.
2(a) Analyse the reasons for unethical behaviour in publications. (Or) (b). Explain the
use of plagiarism software in research publications. *
(a) Unethical behaviourinPublications
To respectthe intellectual propertyrightsof othersandupholdthe standardsforacademic
publishing,publishersof bookorjournal isadoptinga zerotolerance policytowardspapers
associatedwithpublicationmisconduct.Publicationmisconductincludesplagiarism, fabrication,
falsification,inappropriate authorship,duplicate submission/multiplesubmissions,overlapping
publication,andsalami publication.
1.Plagiarism:Plagiarismisthe appropriationof anotherperson'sthoughts,ideas,data,figures,
researchmethods,orwordswithoutgivingappropriatecredit,orthe over-citationof another
person'spublishedwork.
2. Fabrication:Fabricationisthe practice of makingup data or resultswithouthavingperformed
relevantresearch.
3. Falsification:Falsificationisthe practice of changingdataor resultsintentionallysuchthat
misleadingconclusionisdrawn.
4. Inappropriate authorship:Authorshipisnotappropriatelyassignedbasedonthe author's
contributions.
5. Duplicate submission/multiplesubmissions:Duplicate submission/multiple submissionsrefers
to practice of submittingthe same manuscriptorseveral manuscriptswithminordifferences
(e.g.,differencesonlyintitle,keywords,abstract,authororder,authoraffiliations,orasmall
amountof text) totwoor more journalsatthe same time,orsubmittingtoanotherjournal
withinanagreedor stipulatedperiod.
6. Overlappingpublication:Overlappingpublicationreferstothe practice of publishingapaper
overlapssubstantiallywithone alreadypublished.
7. Salami publication:Salami publicationreferstothe practice of slicingdatafroma large
study,couldhave beenreportedinasingle paper,intodifferentpiecesandpublishingthemin
twoor more articles,all of whichcoverthe same population,methods,andquestion.

5. 8. Inappropriate authorship:Authorshipisnotappropriatelyassignedbasedonthe author's
contributions
The followingare the problemsclassifiedasmisconductof publications
• Plagiarism•Textrecycling(‘self-plagiarism’)
• Duplicate/redundantpublication
• Authorshipissues
• Disputes,giftauthorship,ghostauthorship
• Data fabrication/falsification
• Image manipulation
• Undisclosedcompetinginterests
• Lack of ethicsapproval – animal orhuman
• Unethical treatmentof participants
• Lack of consent
Appeals
Followingthe rejectionof apaper,the author may appeal tothe editor.Your journal should
have a clear appealspolicystatingunderwhatcircumstancesanappeal will be consideredand
howthe appeal processwill be handled.
Conflictsof Interest
One issue authorsmightraise duringanappeal forreviewermisconductisbiasdue toconflictof
interests.If yourjournal operatesopenpeerreview, the authorwillknow the identityof the
reviewerandcanspecifythe potentialconflictof interests.Forjournalsoperatingsingleor
double blindpeerreview,accusationsof biasare likelytobe suppositional ratherthan
substantiated,butshouldstill be givencareful consideration.
Appealscanoftenbe resolvedbygettingasecondopinion.Engaginganew reviewerwill
eliminatethe potential allegedbias.Itisdifficultinthese casestoevidence maliciousintenton
behalf of a reviewer,butyouretainthe rightnotto use reviewerswhoyoufeel are unable to
give an objective assessment.
AppropriatedData
Anotherpossiblecomplaintof reviewermisconductconcernsthe allegedappropriationof data
duringthe reviewprocess.Anauthormayraise a complaintif theydiscovertheirideasordata
are usedina publishedpaper.Theymayconclude thatthese canonlyhave beenappropriated
duringthe reviewprocess.These issuescanbe complicatedbecause there islikelytobe some
time lagbetweenthe reviewprocessconductedatyourjournal andthe publicationof the
appropriateddata.