Glossary
The following is a glossary of terms used in this document.
5.1. Authorship: SfN subscribes to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editor’s definition of authorship as being based on “1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3... Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship... Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.” See section 1.6.
5.2. Corresponding author: The person who accepts responsibility for overseeing the publication process and ensuring the integrity of the final document. The corresponding author accepts the responsibility for: (a) including as co-authors all persons appropriate and none inappropriate; (b) obtaining from all co-authors their assent to be designated as such, as well as their approval of the final version of the manuscript; (c) determining that permission has been obtained from each individual acknowledged in the manuscript; and (d) keeping all co-authors apprised of the current status of a manuscript submitted for publication, including furnishing all co-authors with copies of the reviewers’ comments and a copy of the published version, as appropriate. See section 1.6.8.
5.3. Data: The full range of experimental observations, including both numerical values and images.
5.4. Duplicate Publication: Publishing the same finding based on the same data in two different articles without explicit acknowledgement of the relationship.
5.5. Fabrication of data: Data that has not actually been collected or observed. See section 1.2.
5.6. Falsification of data: Data that has been altered in any way other than by mathematical transformations that are commonly accepted or clearly explained in the manuscript. This includes numerical data as well as images. See section 1.2.
5.7. Formal publication: Publishing of a work in a peer-reviewed journal or publication.
5.8. Ghostwriting: Writing of a manuscript by someone who is not an author and is not acknowledged.
5.9. Guideline: An assertion about best practice. (e.g., ‘Data sharing is encouraged’).
5.10. Honorary authorship: The practice of including any individual listed as an author who has not made a substantive intellectual contribution to the work as defined in section 1.6. SfN does not endorse this practice, as noted in section 1.7.
5.11. Informal publication: Publishing of a work in non-peer reviewed place or publication, including meeting abstracts, the Internet, etc.
5.12. Research Misconduct (or scientific misconduct): Intentional, knowing, or reckless fabrication or falsification. See the Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconductfor more information.
5.13. Plagiarism: Appropriating of another person's ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit. See section 1.3.
5.14. Policy: An assertion or statement that is obligatory to respect (e.g., intentional falsification). Violation of a policy may lead to sanctions.
5.15. Primary Source: The original use or publication of data, results, theories, or ideas.
5.16. Publishing: As defined by the United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 101, to publish work means (1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or (2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times.
5.17. Reckless: Seriously inappropriate, regardless of intent or knowledge.
5.18. Secondary Source: A publications or usage that relates or discussed information published elsewhere (the primary source). This generally involves analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information.
5.19. Senior author: Typically the head of the lab at which the work was done and/or who has overseen the project as a whole. In cases where multiple labs collaborate, there may be more than one senior author. See section 1.6.
5.20. Scientific communications: All communications of a scientific nature including research manuscripts, abstracts, posters, oral presentations, or public electronic communications.
5.21. Supplemental material: Material that is widely used to provide additional information that complements the contents of the published article. See section 1.14.
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