Scientific integrity at Science Advances: Essential pillar supporting scientific progress

Philip Yeagle Ensuring the scientific integrity behind every paper published in scientific journals is an essential standard in the world of scientific publishing. Scientists depend on published work that accurately represents the experiments performed and the results obtained so that future work can be effectively planned and performed. Readers must know that high standards have been met for the integrity of the data and the experimental protocols utilized. The public must have confidence in the integrity of the results that are presented in the published papers because those results may influence and have import in their lives. The need to focus on scientific integrity in publishing is perhaps even more critical in our current climate. Some high-profile cases of misconduct have raised questions as to how widespread scientific misconduct is. The explosion in the number of scientific publishing outlets, some less subject to rigorous peer review than others, can shake confidence in the quality of published work. The …