Literary Responsibility—Everyone Has a Role to Play

Frequently, society finds itself wishing an entity or person would step up and take responsibility for an action that we perceive as wrongful, unjust, hurtful, or self-serving at the expense of others. The government is often mentioned as the entity that should take responsibility. Initially, we want the government to fix the wrong, only later to complain that the government is interfering with our rights. In reality, we all have to bear this responsibility for seeing that justice prevails in society. Do not be concerned; this is not an editorial about social injustice, but rather a writing regarding literary justice and what the American Academy of Implant Dentistry journal is doing about it.

Responsibility goes hand-in-hand with honesty. Honesty in scientific publications is important for the development of implant dentistry. Fortunately, the vast majority of publications received by a journal, such as Journal of Oral Implantology (JOI), are the result of diligent researchers and practitioners who desire to further the “art and science” of implant dentistry. Scientific publishing is the archived product of individuals' work. To achieve an ultimate and lasting impact, these authors must publish and be cited in peer-reviewed Thompson Reuters (formally ISI) Web of Knowledge journals. The Web of Knowledge is a non-government entity that ensures that journals have earned their impact factor ranking based upon a thorough peer review when choosing manuscripts. This review includes detecting plagiarism.

JOI has the responsibility of assuring all authors that earlier publications will be properly cited and not plagiarized. The Journal also has the responsibility of assuring its readers that the article is original, yet based on previously peer-reviewed concepts or facts, thus citations of erstwhile works must be used to support the article. All submitted manuscripts undergo an evaluation process that includes a cross-check audit by using the online service iThenticate (http://www.ithenticate.com). iThenticate compares the similarity of scholarly works through its global database. The era of “cut and paste” has created an easy pathway for presenting ideas or words as the author's own, when they are actually the original ideas or words of another.¹  There is considerable honor in giving credit to another, although there is great harm in portraying another's ideas as your own. Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), 33rd president of the United States, wisely said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

In 2012, Masic wrote: “It is necessary to work on mechanisms for early detection of plagiarism, and relevant software should be used by all reputed journals.”²  JOI is actively supporting and working toward this goal. This is particularly true in Dentistry today. The JOI pledges to safeguard the originality of the articles it publishes and in doing so protect all past and future authors' unique ideas and words.