ABSTRACT

Ethical issues do become important when the norms of behavior and the ordinary rules of conduct that "everyone knows" are violated. For the hand-wringers, for those to whom every issue from bathing to baseball is laden with moral drama, this sort of "neo-positivist" response to ethical concerns in publishing will simply be unacceptable. This chapter recognizes that peer review is usually for one publishing house or one editorial product. Ethical considerations in publishing are real enough, without confusing them with ordinary decisions and events. The democratic nature of the publishing environment is the best assurance against abuse. The normative nature of the academic environment is the best assurance against bias. In an imperfect world, this is the best way to treat issues of moral concern. There is always a risk in debasing ethical judgment by converting every empirical proposition to a hand-wringing moral concern.