
Referential Ethics
This paper explores the ethics of researchers who make reference to other
research reports by authors with whom, and on topics with which, they
are not familiar.
Background
Scientists and other scholars talk to each other, and to posterity,
by writing research papers and books[1,2,3,4,5,6]. So that readers can
judge
the quality of the research and veracity of the results, authors customarily
list the sources of their facts and ideas[,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Thus,
research publications of good quality are filled with references to
other research publications[,15,16,17,18].
The ethical problem
In recent years, it has become common practice for many researchers to “pad out” their footnote list by making reference to publications that have marginal connection to the topic at hand and which the author has read cursorally if at all[19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. This devalues the quality of the research report, and degrades the entire system of formal collegial communication upon which we all depend[28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37].
Conclusion
We therefore recommend that authors cite only reports:
a) which are germane to the topic[38,39,40]; and
b) with which they are intimately familiar[41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48].
To do otherwise is to damage the integrity and the future of the intellectual
enterprise[49,50].
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank, although not to cite, Dr.
Bruce W. Speck and Deborah Brackstone of Memphis State University for
their seminal investigative
research in this area.
Notes
1. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 100,” Journal of Actuarial
History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 621-650.
2. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
3. Hulmicki, M., Tooth Decay in Fifteenth Century France, Bibliodental
Press, Cleveland, 1962.
4. Hulmicki, M., “All-Weather Driving Characteristics of a Serotonin
Transporter,” Neurotransportation Quarterly, 1992, vol. 6, no. 221,
pp. 42-90.
5. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 10,000,” Journal of Actuarial
History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 712-739.
6. Hulmicki, M., Heroes of Brazilian Soccer, Sporto Publishers, Sao Paulo,
1978.
7. Hulmicki, M., Issues in Rent Control, York & Olympia Press, Toronto,
1990.
8. Hulmicki, M., “Uranium Isotopes in Ground Water and Calcite Under
Barometric Conditions,” Topics in Lower Isotope Chemistry, 1958, vol.
9, no. 2, pp. 55-58.
9. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
10. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 10,000,000,” Journal of Actuarial
History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 909-946.
11. Hulmicki, M., “Referential Ethics,” Annals of Improbable
Research, 1992, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 421-2.
12. Hulmicki, M., “Population Explosion in Red Spiders: Communication,
Control and Command,” Jayne's Fighting Insects, 1985, vol. 47, no.
15, pp. 5-78.
13. Hulmicki, M., “Is Your Washroom Breeding Bolsheviks?” Iowa
Small Business Bulletin, Summer/Autumn 1938, ppg. 1-2.
14. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
15. Hulmicki, M., “Clathrate Hydrate Formation in Amorphous Cometary
Ice Analogs in Vacuo Without and Within Sauce,” Findings in Astromenial
Research, 1991, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 86-105.
16. Hulmicki, M., “My Uncle Vince,” DeQuestral, New York, 1924.
17. Hulmicki, M., “A History of the Common Screw,” Milhous Review,
April 3, 1972, pp. 35-37.
18. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
19. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 10,000,000,000,000,” Journal
of Actuarial History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2406-2408.
20. Hulmicki, M., “The Martha Stewart Mystique,” Men's Quarterly,
Winter 1971, pp. 56-58.
21. Hulmicki, M., “Storing Ammunition in Your Freezer,” The New
Alberta Sportsman's Gazette, January, 1962, back cover.
22. Hulmicki, M., Church Bells, Davies Press, Deptford, 1988.
23. Hulmicki, M., Bicycle Cranks, Lysenko Scientific, Leningrad, 1951.
24. Hulmicki, M., “Hulmicki on Hulmicki,” Self, October 1987,
pp. 14-136.
25. Hulmicki, M., “Referencial Ethics,” Annals of Improbable
Research, 1992, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 421-2.
26. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,” Journal
of Actuarial History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 4347-4351.
27. Hulmicki, M., “Referencial Ethics,” Annals of Improbable
Research, 1992, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 421-2.
28. Hulmicki, M., “Dependence of Kidney Morphogenisis on the Expression
of Nerve Growth Factor Receptor on Weekends,” Annals of Morphogenesis,
1992, vol. 61, no 8, pp. 1024-1025.
29. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
30. Hulmicki, M., “Six Quick Sandwich Recipes,” Minnesota Home
Companion, Summer 1965, pp. 12-15.
31. Hulmicki, M., “Declining Verbs,” Analects of Modern Language,
1983, vol. 26, no. 62, pp. 303-505.
32. Hulmicki, M., “Experimental Constraints on Strong-Field Relativistic
Gravity in Cardboard Packing Crates,” Astrophysics Packing Journal,
1992, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 84-90.
33. Hulmicki, M., “Mares Eat Oats,” American Lyrics, 1955, vol.
34, no. 16, p. 5.
34. Hulmicki, M., Ethical Dilemmas of Geostationary Orbits, Presley Academic
Press, 1969, Houston.
35. Hulmicki, M., “Selecting Nailpolish for Your Daughter,” Los
Angeles Parent, February 1987, pp. 24-32.
36. Hulmicki, M., “Does Eat Oats,” American Lyrics, 1955, vol.
34, no. 16, p. 6.
37. Hulmicki, M., Bibliodiversity in the Amazon Region, Schultse, Malden,
1990.
38. Hulmicki, M., “Endogenous Production, Exogenous Delivery and Impact-Shock
Synthesis of Organic Molecules: A Just-in-Time Spare Parts Inventory for
the Origins of Life,” Logistics of Astrophysics, 1989, vol. 26, no.
32, pp. 125-131.
39. Hulmicki, M., “Gesture and Meaning in Sex Films of the 1950's,” Escort
Film News, 1975, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-3.
40. Hulmicki, M., “Three-Dimensional Heteronuclear NMR Studies of
RNA in 7-Up,” NMR Refreshment Journal, 1991, vol. 12, no. 40, pp.
386-387.
41. Hulmicki, M., “Little Lambs Eat Ivy,” American Lyrics, 1955,
vol. 34, no. 16, p. 7.
42. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,” Journal
of Actuarial History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 13447-13451.
43. Hulmicki, M., “A Self-Organizing Neural Network That Produces
Random Dots,” Computational Network Review, 1992, vol. 4, no. 1, pp.
12-442.
44. Hulmicki, M., “Powers of Ten: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,” Journal
of Actuarial History, 1972, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 629706-629711.45. Hulmicki,
M., Olivia Newton-John, unpublished.
46. Hulmicki, M., personal communication.
47. Hulmicki, M., Motoring With Castrol, Lippincott, Helsinki, 1951.
48. Hulmicki, M., “A Clinical Study of the Electrolysis of Peach Fuzz” Missouri
State Dermatology Journal, 1962, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 16-24.
49. Hulmicki, M., Last Will and Testament, unpublished.
50. Hulmicki, M., “Referential Ethics,” Annals of Improbable
Research, 1992, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 421-2.
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