BOOK REVIEWS: Valentin A. Bazhanov, “N.A. Vasil’ev and his Imaginary Logic”, Kanon+, Reabilitatsiia, Moscow, 2009, 240 pp., ISBN 9785883731968.

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabela normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Neste trabalho interessa-nos pensar a relaçáo entre unidade e multiplicidade, um problema fundamental tanto filosófico quanto teológico como lembra Beierwaltes (1989, p. 179), a partir do vocabulário filosófico-teológico cusano. Na primeira parte do texto fazemos uma leitura às avessas da obra cusana. Partimos da suposiçáo de que no De (...) apice tehoriae Nicolau de Cusa sugere um princípio a partir do qual pode ser lida tanto a sua última obra quanto toda a sua especulaçáo. Uma correta interpretaçáo desse princípio pode ser construída ao pensarmos o modo de ser próprio das coisas criadas. O princípio primeiro se deixa ver e as coisas principiadas sáo sua manifestaçáo e apariçáo. Porém, apariçáo perfeita do princípio é o seu Verbo. Em termos filosóficos isso significa que a apariçáo perfeita da unidade náo é a pluralidade (sua explicatio ), mas a igualdade (sua imago ). Será o De mente a nos sugerir a diferença. Na segunda parte, portanto, refletiremos sobre a complicatio - explicatio como aposta cusana para se pensar o problema da unidade e da multiplicidade. Retomamos essa discussáo a partir do De docta ignorantia e da Apologia quando Nicolau deve se defender da acusaçáo feita por Wenck, no De ignota litteratura , de ter feito coincidir criador e criatura. (shrink)

Fruto da experiência proporcionada pela disciplina Estágio Supervisionado III do curso de Licenciatura em Filosofia, Campus Caicó-CaC, da Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte-UERN, este relato objetiva discutir o ensino de filosofia e a relação do professor de filosofia com a filosofia a partir de uma experiência de docência em filosofia no Ensino Médio.

O presente artigo ocupa-se em refletir sobre os fundamentos da paz entre as religiões presentes no De pace fidei de Nicolau de Cusa. O artigo se divide em cinco momentos onde tentamos partir da contextualização que motivou a escrita da obra até seus desdobramentos filosóficos, políticos e culturais que ocultam/revelam o problema da relação unidade e diversidade. Palavras-chave: Paz. Fé. Ritos. Unidade. Diversidade.

Este artigo se propõe tratar de algumas características religiosas da atualidade, escolhidas pela relevância que tem na sociedade atual. Começa com a definição controversa da atualidade que é chamada pelos especialistas de modernidade tardia, hipermodernidade ou pós-modernidade. Depois da análise de várias posições a respeito convencionou-se aceitar o termo pós-modernidade. É apontado o emergir do sagrado dentro da pós-modernidade e nessa nova expressão do sagrado comportam algumas características peculiares e até excludentes, como: fideísmo, fundamentalismo e diálogo inter-religioso. Mesmo numa sociedade (...) com forte presença da secularização, essas posturas religiosas ainda disputam o lugar delas. (shrink)

Partimos da afirmação de K.-O. Apel, repetida por João Maria André, de que "[...] é na ‘mística' do ‘logos' e na teologia negativa do Pseudo-Dionísio que, de modo determinante, Nicolau de Cusa irá beber os traços fundamentais da sua filosofia da linguagem". Com base no De filiatione Dei propomo-nos refletir sobre a relação fundamental e constitutiva entre o verbo mental humano e o Verbo ou Logos eterno. A importância desse texto, no âmbito do problema da linguagem em Nicolau de Cusa, (...) é reconhecida por Casarella justamente por sua inflexão cristológica em relação aos primeiros sermões, pois, em oposição à reflexão intratrinitária dos sermões, a imagem humanamente visível de Cristo torna-se o espelho da linguagem, ou seja, em Cristo, vemos de modo perfeito o que pode ser expresso por meio da linguagem. O texto cusano é uma meditação sobre Jo, I, 12: "Mas a todos que o receberam deu o poder de se tornarem filhos de Deus: aos que creem em seu nome". Interessa-nos principalmente a meditação sobre os exemplos aduzidos por Nicolau de Cusa para explicitar de que modo colhemos a unidade divina intelectualmente, pois serão nesses exemplos ou enigmas que o autor pensará a relação constitutiva entre o verbo mental humano e o verbo mental inefável. We begin with the statement of K.-O. Apel, repeated by João Maria André, that "[…] it is in the ‘mystic' of the ‘logos' and in the negative theology of pseudo-Dionysus that, in a determinate manner, Cusa would receive the fundamental features of his philosophy of language". Based on De filiatione Dei, we reflect on the fundamental and constitutive relationship between the mental human word and the eternal Word or Logos. The importance of this text in the context of the problem of language in Cusa is recognized by Casarella, specifically for its Christological inflection in relation to Cusa's first sermons. In opposition to the intra-Trinitarian reflection of the sermons, in De filiatione Dei the humanly visible image of Christ becomes the mirror of language; that is, it is in Christ that we see the perfect mode that can be expressed by means of language. Cusa's text is a meditation on John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name". Of principal interest to us are the examples adduced by Cusa that make explicit the way in which we intellectually receive the divine unity, as it is in these examples or enigmas that the author reflects on the constitutive relation between the mental human word and the ineffable mental word. (shrink)

Trecho da obra: "Nos itinerários históricos mais recentes, o corpo atlético, de alto rendimento, tornou-se metáfora da superação de si e lugar de sacralização de quase ilimitados recursos tecnocientíficos. (...) O desempenho dos corpos no campo desportivo pode ser compreendido como concretização daquela mitologia do progresso que moldou a experiência do tempo na modernidade. (...) Os trânsitos entre desporto, ética e transcendência foram o objecto de estudo e reflexão de um colóquio internacional realizado na Universidade Católica Portuguesa, e o presente (...) volume, dando continuidade a uma política de publicação do Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude / Plano Nacional de Ética no Desporto, reúne os textos apresentados, procurando, assim, atingir um público mais amplo e contribuir para o aprofundamento desta linha de indagação na sociedade portuguesa.". (shrink)

Começando por salientar a importância eo relevo que, no pensamento português contemporâneo, apresenta o problema das relações entre razão e fé, filosofia e religião, o A. passa, depois, a considerar as formas como o mesmo foi tratado em sete pensadores que reputa mais significativos. Assim, inicia a sua investigação pelo racionalismo de Raul Proença(1884-1941) e de António Sérgio (1883-1969), prosseguindo, depois, pelo estudo do modo como, no pensamento de Teixeira Rego (1881-1934) e de Aarão de Lacerda (1890-1947), se compreende (...) o fenómeno religioso, a partir das noções de mito, rito e símbolo. Em seguida, ocupa-se do pensamento criacionista de Leonardo Coimbra (1883-1936) e do seu discípulo Álvaro Ribeiro (1905-1981) relativamente a esta relação crucial, concluindo o artigo pela análise do pensamento de outro discípulo de Leonardo, José Marinho (1904-1975), em larga medida divergente do do mestre quanto ao conjunto de questões metafísico-religiosas aqui consideradas. /// L'auteur commence par souligner l'importance et le relief que, dans la pensée portugaise contemporaine, prend le problème des relations entre raison et foi, entre philosophie et religion, pour en venir à considérer la façon dont ce problème est traité chez sept penseurs considérés comme représentatifs. C'est ainsi que sa recherche débute par le rationalisme de Raul Proença (1884-1941 ) et de Antonio Sérgio (1883-1969), et poursuit en étudiant la façon dont la pensée de Teixeira Rego (1881 -1934) et Aarâo de Lacerda (1890-1947) comprennent le phénomène religieux sur la base des notions de rite, de mythe et de symbole. Ensuite, il envisage la pensée créationniste de Leonardo Coimbra.( 1883-1936) et de son disciple Álvaro Ribeiro ( 1905-1981 ) sur la relation entre ces mêmes termes; enfin l'article se conclut avec l'analyse de la pensée d'un autre disciple de Leonardo, José Marinho ( 1904-1975), en grande partie divergeant de la pensée de son maître quant à l'ensemble des questions métaphysico-religieuses ici traitées. /// After underscoring the importance of contemporary Portuguese thought, the author presents the problem of reason and faith, philosophy and religion. This leads to a consideration of the way the relationship between the two has been dealt with in seven thinkers. It is thus that the rationalism of Raul Proença (1884-1941) and António Sérgio (1881-1969) is followed by an account of the way Teixeira Rego (1881-1934) and Aarão de Lacerda (1890-1947) understood the religious phenomenon on the basis of myth, ritual and symbole. Later, the creationist philosophy of Leonardo Coimbra (1893-1936) and his disciple, Álvaro Ribeiro (1905-1981) are described in contrast to the thought of another of Leonardo's disciple, José Marinho (1904-1975), who diverged from the opinions of his teacher. (shrink)

ESTUDOS SOBRE O PENSAMENTO FILOSÓFICO DE ANTÓNIO JOSÉ DE BRITO Quem haja seguido com compreensiva e valorativa atenção o percurso da reflexão filosófica portuguesa no último quarto do século XX, não poderá ter deixado de reconhecer o destacado lugar que nele ocupa a obra de António José de Brito, Professor Catedrático jubilado da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, pelo exigente rigor, coerência sistemática e originalidade do seu pensamento de cariz dialéctico, desenvolvido a partir da noção principial (...) de Insuperável, bem como a inteligência e penetração hermenêuticas que sempre revelam os seus estudos e ensaios sobre diversos filósofos portugueses O presente Volume reúne não só os textos das comunicações no Colóquio de Homenagem ao ilustre filósofo e mestre portuense, como contém outros textos sobre o seu pensamento, de individualidades que, embora impossibilitadas de nele participar, quiseram associar-se a esta homenagem, como igualmente, na ula Gratulatória, uma série de outros nomes que a esta homenagem se quiseram igualmente associar. (shrink)

Ensaio sobre a obra de Teixeira de Pascoais -- Projecto de libro sobre Teixeira de Pascoais -- Artigos e outros textos sobre Teixeira de Pascoais -- Emoção e verdade -- Relação da filosofia e da teologia no pensamento português moderno -- Artigos publicados e inéditos -- Recensões e prefácios.

Este trabajo investiga las interrelaciones entre la regulación y los as-pectos económicos y ambientales en una comunidad de agricultores familiares en la región conocida como Zona da Mata Mineira, en el estado brasileño de Minas Gerais. El estudio es producto de una acti-vidad de extensión realizada entre 2016 y 2018, y tuvo como objetivo asesorar a los pequeños productores en el proceso de adecuación legal de la producción. Durante este período se realizaron cerca de cinco reuniones entre investigadores y (...) comuneros, en las que se analizaron las dificultades encontradas por los pequeños productores en relación con el referido proceso. Las experiencias reportadas fueron confron-tadas con el régimen legal regulatorio para la actividad acuícola en Brasil, tomando como categorías de análisis los atributos de norma-tividad y facticidad del sistema legal. Se concluyó que la regulación ambiental en el área de la acuicultura en Brasil, diseñada para grandes productores, carga de manera desproporcionada a los pequeños pro-ductores, generando un desequilibrio económico injustificado. Como aporte a la teoría, se propone, en definitiva, la formulación de un con-cepto de regulación jurídica inclusiva, cuyos rasgos distintivos inclu-yen la participación social y la promoción de la alfabetización jurídica como derecho fundamental. (shrink)

Resumo: O tema do artigo é referente à presença de iberismo e anglo-americanismo no Brasil e às expressões dessas heteronomias como obstáculos a uma identidade brasileira. A abordagem se alimenta das polêmicas desencadeadas por Richard Morse e sua tese sobre a Ibéria perdida, o Brasil à deriva e sua universidade descompromissada. A tese de Morse afirma a vitalidade da tradição ibérica original e sua capacidade de inspirar futuros para o Brasil, em inversão à referência anglo-americana, inconsistente e sem futuro. O (...) artigo situa as triangulações entre Brasil, Ibéria e EUA e busca em Teixeira um contraponto à tese de Morse sobre a colonialidade e o descompromisso acadêmico brasileiro. O argumento tem ancoragem em pesquisa envolvendo textos de autoria dos dois intelectuais, biografias e estudos de trajetória. O primeiro movimento apresenta Morse, sua tese sobre a Ibéria e sobre a América Ibérica e sua crítica aos acadêmicos. O segundo movimento situa a trajetória e escrita de Teixeira e destaca sua posição sobre a “civilização americana” com a finalidade de evidenciar um intelectual inverso ao homo academic descompromissado de Morse. As considerações finais retomam pontos de “descomparação” para evidenciar a inspiração anglo-americana e o compromisso de Teixeira com o Brasil. Palavras-chave: Anísio Teixeira; Richard Morse; Iberismo; Anglo-americanismo; Intelectuais. Anísio Teixeira and Richard Morse: inverse triangulations between iberism, brazil and anglo-americanism Abstract: The theme of the article refers to the presence of Iberianism and Anglo-Americanism in Brazil and the expressions of these heteronomies as obstacles to a Brazilian identity. The approach is based on the controversies raised by Richard Morse and his thesis on lost Iberia, Brazil adrift and its uncommitted university. Morse's thesis affirms the vitality of the original Iberian tradition and its capacity to inspire futures for Brazil, the opposite of the Anglo-American reference, according to him, inconsistent and without a future. The article locates the triangulations between Brazil, Iberia and the USA and seeks in Teixeira a counterpoint to Morse's thesis on coloniality and Brazilian academic lack of commitment. The argument is anchored in research involving texts written by the two intellectuals, biographies and trajectory studies. The first movement presents Morse, his thesis on Iberia and Iberian America and his critique of academics. The second movement locates Teixeira's trajectory and writing and highlights his position on “American civilization” with the purpose of showing an intellectual different from Morse's uncommitted homo academic. The final considerations take up points of “discomparison” to highlight the Anglo-American inspiration and Teixeira's commitment to Brazil. Key-words: Anísio Teixeira; Richard Morse; Iberism; Anglo-Americanism; Intelectuals. Anísio Teixeira y Richard Morse: triangulaciones inversas entre iberismo, brasil y angloamericanismo Resumen: El tema del artículo se refiere a la presencia del ibero y del angloamericanismo en Brasil y las expresiones de estas heteronomías como obstáculos a la identidad brasileña. El planteamiento se alimenta de las polémicas desatadas por Richard Morse y su tesis sobre Iberia perdida, Brasil a la deriva y su universidad no comprometida. La tesis de Morse afirma la vitalidad de la tradición ibérica originaria y su capacidad de inspirar futuros para Brasil, en inversión del referente angloamericano, inconsistente y sin futuro. El artículo ubica las triangulaciones entre Brasil, Iberia y Estados Unidos y busca en Teixeira un contrapunto a la tesis de Morse sobre la colonialidad y la falta de compromiso académico brasileño. El argumento está anclado en investigaciones que involucran textos escritos por los dos intelectuales, biografías y estudios de trayectoria. El primer movimiento presenta a Morse, su tesis sobre Iberia e Iberoamérica y su crítica a los académicos. El segundo movimiento ubica la trayectoria y la escritura de Teixeira y resalta su posición sobre la “civilización estadounidense” con el propósito de mostrar un inverso intelectual al homo académico no comprometido de Morse. Las consideraciones finales retoman puntos de “descompensación” para resaltar la inspiración angloamericana y el compromiso de Teixeira con Brasil. Palabras-llaves: Anísio Teixeira; Richard Morse; Iberismo; Angloamericanismo; Intelectuales. Data de registro: 21/10/2021 Data de aceite: 19/01/2022. (shrink)

In a recent opinion paper, it was argued that individuals with multiple retractions or a record of academic misconduct should not serve as editors, including as editors-in-chief, on the editorial boards of scholarly or academic journals. As a first step towards appreciating how such a policy could be applied in practice, the presence of 30 individuals listed on the Retraction Watch Leaderboard on editorial boards was screened. Six cases are highlighted to gain an appreciation of the potential reputational risks that (...) journals and publishers might incur by including individuals with a tainted academic record on editorial boards. Given the reputational, legal and other risks associated with this type of assessment and decision, more formal positioning and guidance are needed by global ethics policy-related bodies such as COPE, the ICMJE, and the CSE, even more so in journals that claim to follow these organizations’ ethical guidelines. (shrink)

A disciplina Filosofia no ensino secundário/médio brasileiro apresenta um movimento de intermitência caracterizado ora pela presença garantida, ora pela presença indefinida e ora pela ausência garantida, tal como define Dalton José Alves. Analisar esse fenômeno pela perspectiva da história das disciplinas escolare,s sob a compreensão de Chervel e Goodson, foi o objetivo deste trabalho. Para a investigação utilizou-se como fontes as leis de reformas do ensino secundário brasileiro, os programas da disciplina e a distribuição da carga horária destinada ao (...) seu ensino determinadas pelas reformas. Concluiu-se que essa intermitência foi favorecida pelas políticas governamentais liberais de cunho desenvolvimentista, pela ausência de um corpus academicus que sustentasse a Filosofia enquanto disciplina na Educação Básica brasileira e pela aparente inadequação do saber filosófico à proposta da escola moderna. (shrink)

Resenha referente ao livro MATA, Sérgio da. A fascinação weberiana. As origens da obra de Max Weber. Belo Horizonte: Fino Traço, 2013.

As part of a continuous process to explore the factors that might weaken or corrupt traditional peer review, in this paper, we query the ethics, fairness and validity of the request, by editors, of authors to suggest peer reviewers during the submission process. One of the reasons for the current crisis in science pertains to a loss in trust as a result of a flawed peer review which is by nature biased unless it is open peer review. As we indicate, (...) the fact that some editors and journals rely on authors’ suggestions in terms of who should peer review their paper already instills a potential way to abuse the trust of the submission and publishing system. An author-suggested peer reviewer choice might also tempt authors to seek reviewers who might be more receptive or sympathetic to the authors’ message or results, and thus favor the outcome of that paper. Authors should thus not be placed in such a potentially ethically compromising situation, especially as a mandatory condition for submission. However, the fact that they do not have an opt-out choice during the submission process—especially when using an online submission system that makes such a suggestion compulsory—may constitute a violation of authors’ rights. (shrink)

A surge in post-publication activity related to editing, including by technical editors and copyeditors, is worthy of some discussion. One of these issues involves the issue of 'tortured phrases', which are bizarre terms and phrases in academic papers that replace standard English expressions or jargon. This phenomenon may reveal an attempt to avoid the detection of textual similarity or to masquerade plagiarism, and yet remain undetected by editors, peer reviewers and text editors. Potentially thousands of cases have already been discovered (...) and reported publicly on the post-publication platform PubPeer. In this opinion paper, 35 cases from ranked scholarly journals are presented, mainly the fields of materials, computer and engineering sciences. This collation serves to expand discussion about this integrity-related phenomenon and to increase educational awareness of the topic. (shrink)

The editors of scholarly journals have a duty to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical conduct of research. They also have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the literature, and to promote transparency and honesty in reporting research findings. In the process of screening manuscripts they receive for possible publication, editors have the obligation to report infractions to the institutions of offending authors, and request an investigation. Since editors can reject a paper on ethical grounds, they can (...) be considered to be the guardians of ethics who should express high ethical standards in conducting and publishing their own research. An examination of several publishers’ websites reveals no such requirement or clear selection criteria for journal editors. Therefore, we aim to discuss the factors that publishers, in a broad sense, should consider when selecting editors for scholarly journals and believe that such criteria should be made public to ensure accountability. This would restore some of the eroding public trust in disseminated research, fortify confidence in the composition and qualification of members of an editorial board, and help to protect the reputations of publishers and editors. (shrink)

This opinion paper takes aim at an error made recently by Clarivate Analytics in which it sent out an email that congratulated academics for becoming exclusive members of academia’s most cited elite, the Highly Cited Researchers. However, that email was sent out to an undisclosed number of non-HCRs, who were offered an apology shortly after, through a bulk mail, which tried to down-play the importance of the error, all the while praising the true HCRs. When Clarivate Analytics senior management was (...) contacted, the company declined to offer an indication of the number of academics who had been contacted and erroneously awarded the HCR status. We believe that this regrettable blunder, together with the opacity offered by the company, fortify the corporate attitude about the value of the journal impact factor, and what it represents, namely a marketing tool that is falsely used to equate citations with quality, worth, or influence. The continued commercialization of metrics such as the JIF is at the heart of their use to assess the “quality” of a researcher, their work, or a journal, and contributes to a great extent to driving scientific activities towards a futile endeavor. (shrink)

This paper explores that the topic of ethics dumping, its causes and potential remedies. In ED, the weaknesses or gaps in ethics policies and systems of lower income countries are intentionally exploited for intellectual or financial gains through research and publishing by higher income countries with a more stringent or complex ethical infrastructure in which such research and publishing practices would not be permitted. Several examples are provided. Possible ED needs to be evaluated before research takes place, and detected prior (...) to publication as an academic paper, because it might lead to a collaborative effort between a wealthier country with restrictive ethical policies and a less wealthy country with more permissive policies. Consequently, if that collaboration ultimately results in an academic paper, there are ethical ramifications of ED to scholarly communication. Institutional review board approval is central to avoid ED-based collaborations. Blind trust and goodwill alone cannot eliminate the exploitation of indigenous or “vulnerable” populations’ intellect and resources. Combining community-based participatory research using clear codes of research conduct and a simple but robust verification system in academic publishing may reduce the risks of ED-based research from being published. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo é, primeiro, apresentar e considerar as críticas de Paley com mais detalhes e, em seguida, discutir algumas das aplicações significativas da fenomenologia que muitas vezes foram negligenciadas pelos pesquisadores qualitativos. Como foi amplamente demonstrado ao longo dos anos, a fenomenologia pode não apenas fazer a diferença no manuseio, análise e interpretação dos dados disponíveis, mas também em como os dados são obtidos em primeiro lugar, por exemplo, através de técnicas especiais de entrevista. Consideraremos algumas figuras centrais (...) da psicologia fenomenológica clássica e da psiquiatria fenomenológica e apresentaremos alguns dos desenvolvimentos mais recentes na ciência cognitiva. Em seguida, discutiremos três casos concretos que demonstram como a fenomenologia foi aplicada no trabalho clínico com pacientes com esquizofrenia, paralisia cerebral e negligência hemispatial. (shrink)

Retractions of COVID-19 literature in both preprints and the peer-reviewed literature serve as a reminder that there are still challenging issues underlying the integrity of the biomedical literature. The risks to academia become larger when such retractions take place in high-ranking biomedical journals. In some cases, retractions result from unreliable or nonexistent data, an issue that could easily be avoided by having open data policies, but there have also been retractions due to oversight in peer review and editorial verification. As (...) COVID-19 continues to affect academics and societies around the world, failures in peer review might also constitute a public health risk. The effectiveness by which COVID-19 literature is corrected, including through retractions, depends on the stringency of measures in place to detect errors and to correct erroneous literature. It also relies on the stringent implementation of open data policies. (shrink)

Authors endure considerable hardship carrying out biomedical research, from generating ideas to completing their manuscripts and submitting their findings and data (as is increasingly required) to a journal. When researchers submit to journals, they entrust their findings and ideas to editors and peer reviewers who are expected to respect the confidentiality of peer review. Inherent trust in peer review is built on the ethical conduct of authors, editors and reviewers, and on the respect of this confidentiality. If such confidentiality is (...) breached by unethical reviewers who might steal or plagiarize the authors’ ideas, researchers will lose trust in peer review and may resist submitting their findings to that journal. Science loses as a result, scientific and medical advances slow down, knowledge may become scarce, and it is unlikely that increasing bias in the literature will be detected or eliminated. In such a climate, society will ultimately be deprived from scientific and medical advances. Despite a rise in documented cases of abused peer review, there is still a relative lack of qualitative and quantitative studies on reviewer-related misconduct, most likely because evidence is difficult to come by. Our paper presents an assessment of editors’ and reviewers’ responsibilities in preserving the confidentiality of manuscripts during the peer review process, in response to a 2016 case of intellectual property theft by a reviewer. Our main objectives are to propose additional measures that would offer protection of authors’ intellectual ideas from predatory reviewers, and increase researchers’ awareness of the responsible reviewing of journal articles and reporting of biomedical research. (shrink)

The blogosphere is full of personalities with masks, or pseudonyms. Although not a desired state of public communication, one could excuse the use of pseudonyms in blogs and social media, which are generally unregulated or weakly regulated. However, in science publishing, there are increasingly strict rules regarding the use of false identities for authors, the lack of institutional or contact details, and the lack of conflicts of interest, and such instances are generally considered to be misconduct. This is because these (...) violations of publishing protocol decrease trust and confidence in science and bring disrepute to those scientists who conform to the rules set out by journals and publishers and abide by them. Thus, when cases are encountered where trust and protocol in publishing are breached, these deserve to be highlighted. In this letter, I focus on Neuroskeptic, a highly prominent science critic, primarily on the blogosphere and in social media, highlighting the dangers associated with the use of pseudonyms in academic publishing. (shrink)

Multiple authorship is the universal solution to multi-tasking in the sciences. Without a team, each with their own set of expertise, and each involved mostly in complementary ways, a research project will likely not advance quickly, or effectively. Consequently, there is a risk that research goals will not be met within a desired timeframe. Research teams that strictly scrutinize their modus operandi select and include a set of authors that have participated substantially in the physical undertaking of the research, in (...) its planning, or who have contributed intellectually to the ideas or the development of the manuscript. Authorship is not an issue that is taken lightly, and save for dishonest authors, it is an issue that is decided collectively by the authors, usually in sync with codes of conduct established by their research institutes or national ministries of education. Science, technology and medicine publishers have, through independent, or sometimes coordinated efforts, also established their own sets of guidelines regarding what constitutes valid authorship. However, these are, for the greater part, merely guidelines. A previous and recent analysis of authorship definitions indicates that the definitions in place regarding authorship and its validity by many leading STM publishers is neither uniform, nor standard, despite several of them claiming to follow the guidelines as set forward by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors or ICMJE. This disparity extends itself to ghost and guest authorship, two key authorship-related issues that are examined in this paper to assess the extent of discrepancies among the same set of STM publishers and what possible influence they might have on publishing ethics. (shrink)

In the academic world, despite their corrective nature, there is still a negative stigma attached to retractions, even more so if they are based on ethical infractions. Editors-in-chief and editors are role models in academic and scholarly communities. Thus, if they have multiple retractions or a record of academic misconduct, this viewpoint argues that they should not serve on journals’ editorial boards. The exception is where such individuals have displayed a clear path of scholarly reform. Policy and guidance is needed (...) by organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics. (shrink)

Purpose Whistle-blowing, which has become an integral part of the post-publication peer-review movement, is being fortified by social media. Anonymous commenting on blogs as well as Tweets about suspicions of academic misconduct can spread quickly on social media sites like Twitter. The purpose of this paper is to examine two cases to expand the discussion about how complex post-publication peer review is and to contextualize the use of social media within this movement. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines a Twitter-based exchange between (...) an established pseudonymous blogger and science critic, Neuroskeptic, and Elizabeth Wager, the former COPE Chair, within a wider discussion of the use of social media in post-publication peer review. The paper also discusses false claims made on Twitter by another science watchdog, Leonid Schneider. The policies of 15 publishers related to anonymous or pseudonymous whistle-blowing are examined. Findings Four issues in the Neuroskeptic–Wager case were debated: the solicitation by Wager to publish in RIPR; the use of commercial software by Neuroskeptic to make anonymous reports to journals; the links between “publication ethics” leaders and whistle-blowers or pseudonymous identities; the issues of transparency and possible hidden conflicts of interest. Only one publisher out of 15 scientific publishers examined claimed in its official ethical guidelines that anonymous reports should be investigated in the same way as named reports, while three publishers referred to the COPE guidelines. Originality/value No such Twitter-based case has yet been examined in detail in the publishing ethics literature. (shrink)

Academic publishing is undergoing a highly transformative process, and many established rules and value systems that are in place, such as traditional peer review (TPR) and preprints, are facing unprecedented challenges, including as a result of post-publication peer review. The integrity and validity of the academic literature continue to rely naively on blind trust, while TPR and preprints continue to fail to effectively screen out errors, fraud, and misconduct. Imperfect TPR invariably results in imperfect papers that have passed through varying (...) levels of rigor of screening and validation. If errors or misconduct were not detected during TPR’s editorial screening, but are detected at the post-publication stage, an opportunity is created to correct the academic record. Currently, the most common forms of correcting the academic literature are errata, corrigenda, expressions of concern, and retractions or withdrawals. Some additional measures to correct the literature have emerged, including manuscript versioning, amendments, partial retractions and retract and replace. Preprints can also be corrected if their version is updated. This paper discusses the risks, benefits and limitations of these forms of correcting the academic literature. (shrink)

The natural instinct for members of the Committee on Publication Ethics, which now number almost 12,200, as well as academia, is to assume that this organization works under strict and clearly defined ethical parameters, with a solid vision, and an independent mandate that is not influenced by power, think tanks, or partisan interests. Naturally, whistle-blowing and science shaming are not practices that one would usually associate with an ethics organization like COPE, because they involve ethically and morally questionable practices. Despite (...) this, ethical borders have become blurred between the objectives of Retraction Watch and PubPeer, two self-moderated science watchdogs that rely heavily on these questionable practices, in their efforts to grow and survive, and the values espoused by COPE. A Retraction Watch post, in which the former COPE Chair, Virginia Barbour, made a claim of apparent harassment, is the most striking example of the dangers when collaboration may take place between science-shaming websites, and an ethics organization, COPE. These bonds appear to have been in development for a number of years already, with the inclusion of Elizabeth Wager, the former COPE Chair, as a director of The Center for Science Integrity Inc., Retraction Watch’s parent organization. Retraction Watch was financed by, among other groups, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, whose leader, John Arnold, an ex-Enron trader, declared a “war on bad science”, which may naturally include the destruction of aspects of science as well. Retraction Watch embraces several infamous pseudonymous personas under the broad umbrella of freedom of speech, liaising thereby with PubPeer. There is no doubt that errors in the literature need correcting, but this apparent connection with COPE raises questions about the basic ethical foundation of this relationship. Are scientists to embrace this bond between COPE and science watchdogs and pseudonymous whistle-blowers as the new normal in the correction of the scientific literature? This opinion piece puts forward arguments why the author believes that the ethical compass of COPE has become skewed. (shrink)

PurposeThe issue of “predatory” publishing and the scholarly value of journals that claim to operate within an academic framework, namely, by using peer review and editorial quality control, but do not, while attempting to extract open access or other publication-related fees, is an extremely important topic that affects academics around the globe. Until 2017, global academia relied on two now-defunct Jeffrey Beall “predatory” OA publishing blacklists to select their choice of publishing venue. This paper aims to explore how media has (...) played a role in spinning public impressions about this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors focus on a 2017New York Timesarticle by Gina Kolata, on a selected number of peer reviewed published papers on the topic of “predatory” publications and on an editorial by the Editor-in-Chief ofREM, a SciELO- and Scopus-indexed OA journal.FindingsThe Kolata article offers biased, inaccurate and potentially misleading information about the state of “predatory” publishing: it relies heavily on the assumption that the now-defunct Beall blacklists were accurate when in fact they are not; it relies on a paper published in a non-predatory non-OA journal that claimed incorrectly the existence of financial rewards by faculty members of a Canadian business school from “predatory” publications; it praised a sting operation that used methods of deception and falsification to achieve its conclusions. The authors show how misleading information by theNew York Timeswas transposed downstream via theREMeditorial.Originality/valueEducation of academics. (shrink)

In 2015, the Retraction Watch leadership, Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky, retracted an article that they had written for The Lab Times in 2013. According to Marcus and Oransky, in the 2013 piece, they had offered “bad advice” to academics. In the 2013 piece, Marcus and Oransky suggested that when an error, actual or potential, was detected in a published paper, that they should first contact – by name or anonymously – the editor, then the author, and finally the research (...) institute, following Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines. They also recommended readers to copy Retraction Watch on their communications – most likely so that Retraction Watch could gather a scoop – suggesting even that by mentioning or copying Retraction Watch would twist the arm of the editor, and perhaps speed up – or influence – the journal’s action, or decision. Offering such bad, flawed and unscholarly advice, claiming boldly, without any citations “that cronyism can protect obvious fraud”, the 2013 Lab Times piece was a clear act of antiscience advice. Clearly recognizing their own bad advice, and flawed and misleading logic, but taking considerable time to do so, Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky retracted their 2013 article in December of 2015, but replaced it with a substitute offering even worse advice, indicating to concerned academics to scrap their 2013 advice of contacting authors, editors and academic institutes, and opting instead for a potentially biased anonymous option, using a whistle-blower website, PubPeer. Marcus and Oransky failed to indicate any financial or other conflicts of interest in their Lab Times piece. This is important, because, as we now know, the marriage between these watchdogs has been in the pipe-line for years now, reaching public prominence in early 2016 during a meeting in UC Berkeley, and culminating in generous financial backing – in the hundreds of thousands of US$ – by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, to both Retraction Watch and PubPeer. This commentary examines how the retraction of one badly written journalistic piece for lack of professionalism led to the emergence of an even worse article full of biases. Perspectives on how this could be interpreted, and what should happen, are provided. (shrink)

O artigo retomou pesquisas realizadas anteriormente no Médio Vale de Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, pelo Projeto Pólos de Cidadania, com vistas à prevenção da exploração sexual comercial de crianças e adolescentes. De especial importância foram as entrevistas realizadas com 34 jovens apontados por ent..

Publishing has become, in several respects, more challenging in recent years. Academics are faced with evolving ethics that appear to be more stringent in a bid to reduce scientific fraud, the emergence of science watchdogs that are now scrutinizing the published literature with critical eyes to hold academics, editors and publishers more accountable, and a barrage of checks and balances that are required between when a paper is submitted and eventually accepted, to ensure quality control. Scientists are often under increasing (...) pressure to produce papers in an increasingly stringent publishing environment. In such a climate, timing is everything, as is the efficiency of the process. Academics appreciate that rejections are part of the fabric of attempting to get a paper published, but they expect the reason to be clear, based on careful evaluation of their work, and not on superficial or unsubstantiated excuses. A desk rejection occurs when a paper gets rejected even before it has entered the peer review process. This paper examines the features of some desk rejections and offers some guidelines that would make desk rejections valid, fair and ethical. Academics who publish are under constant pressure to do so quickly, but effectively. They are dependent on the editors’ good judgment and the publisher’s procedures. Unfair, unsubstantiated, or tardy desk rejections disadvantage academics, and editors and publishers must be held accountable for wasting their time, resources, and patience. (shrink)

A espiritualidade é o cuidado com a vida em sua integralidade. Como define Faustino Teixeira no artigo “Malhas da hospitalidade”, ela é a _capacidade de celebrar a vida em profundidade_, ou seja, a capacidade humana de reconhecer que a vida tem uma dimensão profunda – da qual irradiam amor desinteressado, gratuidade, atenção, cortesia e hospitalidade – e de se alegrar com isso. Diferentemente do que geralmente se pensa, a espiritualidade não se restringe aos templos e espaços religiosos, antes, diz (...) respeito a pessoas e não a almas etéreas. Portanto, perpassa toda a vida cotidiana. Na atualidade, diante dos desafios dos tempos sombrios em que vivemos, tanto na dimensão política como na de saúde pública, a casa se torna um lugar privilegiado para o cultivo da espiritualidade. Neste artigo, buscamos explicitar a dimensão espiritual da comensalidade de acordo com uma análise interpretativa do filme “A Festa de Babette” (1987), dirigido por Gabriel Axel, baseado na obra homônima da escritora dinamarquesa Karen Blixen. Em nossa análise, buscamos ressaltar a compreensão ecumênica do mistério eucarístico que o filme inspira. (shrink)