Abstract

As publish or perish becomes a common mantra in higher education, concerns are rising over questionable publication practices and retractions. Ethical standards in publication depend on individuals, professional organizations, journals, and higher education institutions. Faculty, doctoral students, reviewers, and editors who are involved in writing, publishing, and reviewing articles do not have agreed-upon ethical guidelines on what to do and what not to do when it comes to publishing. Nebulous, inconsistent practice in publication calls for an investigation concerning the theoretical background, recent cases, and evidence-based recommendations about this less-researched area. In this chapter, we review the literature on publication ethics in human resource development (HRD), highlight two crucial concepts in publication ethics (research misconduct and questionable research practices), examine three case vignettes (possible plagiarism, academic freedom and publication, and failed peer review) with potential solutions in the publishing process, and provide implications for research and recommendations for authors and reviewers, and doctoral students who need relevant training and development.