Retraction, Dishonesty and Plagiarism: Analysis of a Crucial Issue for Academic Publishing, and the Inadequate Responses from Leading Journals in Economics and Management Disciplines

Abstract

Academic dishonesty and plagiarism have become hot issues in newspapers and academia. However, there are few studies of how leading journals are handling these issues. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to analyze the current situation and policies concerning academic dishonesty, plagiarism and paper retractions in academia in general, and business and economics disciplines in particular. Four databases, Ebsco Business Source Premier, Emerald, JSTOR and ScienceDirect, have been examined. This survey shows that while some science journals, e.g. medical journals, are very active in retracting papers due to the dishonesty and plagiarism, business and economics journals are not. The survey also displays that some journals have already published explicit policies regarding academic honesty; within the business field, however, only two established and one emerging journal discuss such policies. Given the extent of the problem, it seems important that more journals openly confront the situation, elaborate and publish explicit policies how to reduce the future occurrence of academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

Keywords: Plagiarism, Academic Dishonesty, Retraction, Retracted, Journal Plagiarism Polic