Voici une demande récente reçue par une revue scientifique aux USA : “I have an urgent request regarding a forthcoming publication. I have to take my affiliation off the paper. The paper is in the process of being published. Unfortunately, last week, I learned that my employer [private consulting firm] wants me to remove my affiliation information from the paper. Could you let me know how to contact the production team in order to get the affiliation removed? I am afraid that I will face disciplinary action if the paper is published with the affiliation. My employer, a litigation consulting firm, is worried that their name on my paper may create conflict with clients.”
Comment proposez-vous de répondre à cet auteur ?
Ce cas a engendré pas mal de discussions, et la revue a pris la décision (après avis de son comité de publications) de répondre :
"we’ve offered the author two options:
- get a waiver from the company and publish in the acknowledgements something along the lines of “the views of the author don’t necessarily represent those of ____”
- OR withdraw the paper. The downside of option 2 is that the other author has to suffer the consequences of this author’s ethical issue.
Je suis surpris, car j'aurai demandé que tous les auteurs s'engagent pour demander la non-publication de l'article.