Those journals that ask for unprocessed original images of gels and western blots often publish the data as supplementary materials. In such cases, you do not need to keep the data at all, as the published article acts as a sort of repository, where your data will be stored in perpetuity. Other journals may ask […]
Can images from the Internet or a Chinese-language journal be used for publication in a different journal?
Yes, you can re-use images from the Internet and Chinese-language journals if you have obtained the necessary copyright permissions and you cite the original source (in the figure legend). Journals will not accept re-used images for which you have not obtained the necessary permissions. Check the copyright of the image If you want to re-use […]
If I find an error in a past publication, is it necessary to contact the journal?
Covering up a mistake is perceived as dramatically worse than the mistake itself. Discovering an error in a past publication can be a terrifying experience. However, if the mistake was genuinely unintentional, you should contact the journal to issue a correction/retraction. Doing so, and being as transparent as possible about the error, may even generate […]
Biomedical images – how much processing is too much?
Of almost 4000 retractions listed in the Retraction Watch database in 2021, over a quarter involved “concerns/issues about image” or “duplication of image.” Similarly, a recent study found that two-thirds of 120,000+ comments on PubPeer involve concerns about images. Inappropriate manipulations range from innocent errors to “beautification” to intentional falsification. It is unsurprising, then, that […]
Which author affiliation do I use?
Multiple relocations for fixed-term contracts are the norm in academia. This means that researchers often publish data collected from one institution while working at another. Some journal submission systems only permit one affiliation per author to be added, making authors unsure of which affiliation to use. This can become especially troublesome if equal contributions to […]
