Good Scientific Practice

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann

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The All Skies Encyclopaedia (ASE) is a research project. As it is used by the International Astronomical Union to make global standards (e.g. in stellar nomenclature) and by educators in schools, planetariums, museums, etc., all authors bear a high responsibility in correctness, accuracy and a writing style that is understandble inside and outside their specific research field.

Responsibilities in Writing

By definition, researchers will share their own research opinions in the ASE. However, we also list “previous” or other opinions, and we always give references to make knowledge traceable. That means, the ASE only shares published information for a broader audience - it is not the means for a first publication of an idea!

Many traditional names of stars and constellations have experienced shifts or changes (of spelling, wording, translation to other languages...). The ASE is the means for the proper documentation of these transformations; the ASE authors and editors present as many mentions of terms as possible in the section "provenance" or "concordance", and we describe the etymology, i.e. the historical origin and development of the term.

Authors do not only present their own but also other scholar's research opinion to the best of their knowledge in the All Skies Encyclopaedia (ASE).

Rules

There are strict editing rules, as we are developing an interdisciplinary dictionary that we want to be useful for researchers and educators alike. Standardised forms and clearly defined, consistently used terminology help outsiders (researchers from all academic cultures, teachers/educators, etc.) to easily & quickly find the information they are looking for.

It is a duty to obey the following rules:

1. see Edit Instructions
   1. For the creation of a pages: use a "pattern"
      1. if your name is only a variant of another name, don't create a page but a hyperlink (a page with the only command REDIRECT)
      2. in case of modern star names that are names of traditional constellations, we
         1. we create a new page, if the spelling significantly differs (e.g. modern names don't use all capitals like Sumerian words, or if the modern name drops one of multiple words, a hyphen or space in Arabic Al-xy and spells the term in one word);
         2. if the modern name is exactly the same or one of many name variants with a long tradition itself, we don't create a new page because it would only repeat the information (avoid duplicates!).
   2. try to add information for all headings listed in the pattern
      1. if you don't know it, leave it empty (don't delete the heading!)
      2. and ask others to add
      3. dont't share personal information (like "I need to look this up in the library") but
      4. phrase uncertainties visibly and in a way that others can easily see them and add the required information
   3. apply the standardised terminology developed in the ASE fundamental papers;
      1. e.g. on "asterism", "constellation", "star", "super-constellation" etc.: we use "asterism" as an umbrella term, because "star" in historical texts (in many languages) is used confusingly whilst today we mean a celestial object seen as "one dot in the sky"
      2. avoid the term "western astronomy", because its meaning in research papers/ books strongly depends on the cultural context (e.g. in the 20th century "west of the iron curtain", in America/Australia sometimes as a synonom of "modern science"/ physics at both sites of the iron curtain but opposed to indigenous, and many more variants) and is, thus, inappropriate for this global encyclopaedia: we want all texts to be easily understandable
      3. here is some further technical "Help"
   4. add images
      1. of the historical sources (e.g. maps, tables, lists....), the astronomical literature/ objects that represent the star name or constellation
      2. and the historical objects that are depicted (e.g. if the name of the asterism is "the hat", then show a hat from the culture and time when the constellation was created to give the reader an idea what was meant with this name).
   5. check if your references should be linked to the general (frequently cited) References pages
      1. Choose a general or sub list of references in our little library-like register
      2. if you can share high resolution images of historical maps or globe gores, please inform the Chief Editor
   6. be as objective as possible
      1. don't delete other scholars' writing,
      2. just add to it (even if you have a different opinion: the ASE is meant to represent them all and let readers decide)
      3. read what they have written and, thus, avoid duplicate information - if you have nothing to add, then don't edit
      4. don't consciously leave out some information or specific text genres
   7. take responsibility for your edits by using your own account:
      1. you will automatically be listed as co-author of the page if you edit it (beyond a threshold).
      2. If you don't want this click "minor edit" when saving.
   8. add appropriate "categories" by "Edit source"; in case of doubt what to choose ask the ASE Tech Team / lead editor.
   9. After you created a page, please add it to the "overview page" where it belongs (e.g. "Planetarium XY")
   10. If you even create a new overview page, please inform the Chief Editor.
2. Make sure your information is as accurate and complete as possible, let other scholars (peers and non-peers) read and improve your ASE-entry.
3. When editing other scholars's work: treat them with respect and dignity!

Exclusion

Anyone who acts contrary to the ASE edit rules after repeated warnings shall have their rights withdrawn.

Good Scientific Practice (general)

There are several statements on "good scientific practice"; each university and research institution has their own slightly different version. Here we copied large parts of the version of the internationally operating Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (PDF on good sci. practice).

Authors and Editors of the ASE (and their staff members who are involved in the preparation of content added) are obligated to inform themselves about and comply with the rules of good scientific practice that are in effect at their host institution.

Violations of these rules or scientific or other malpractice may result in the penalties.

Penalties

Anyone who acts contrary to the Good Scientific Practice shall have their edit rights withdrawn immediately.

Scientific Standards/ Best Practice

General principles of scientific work

• to work in accordance with the accepted standards of the discipline;
• to consider aspects of security-relevant research (dual use, ethical aspects) and conduct a documented risk assessment of the opportunities and risks;
• to observe the rules specific to the respective discipline with regard to the attaining, selecting, using, documenting, and long-term securing of data and other findings;
• to challenge consistently all one's own findings;
• to maintain strict honesty with regard to the contributions of partners, competitors, and predecessors.

Cooperation and supervisory responsibility in working groups

• to assure cooperation and supervisory responsibility in working groups; in particular, to take organisational measures to ensure that the tasks of leadership, supervision, conflict management, and quality assurance are clearly assigned and actually fulfilled;
• not to compromise research activities of others.

Supervision of junior researchers

To ensure appropriate supervision for graduates, doctoral candidates, and students, in particular by providing each of them with a primary mentor in the working group. Responsibility for promoting junior researchers is a top-level management priority.

Scientific publications

• to produce and disseminate scientific publications in accordance with the accepted rules and standards of the discipline; and, in particular when new findings are to be published, to describe these findings and the applied methods completely and comprehensibly as well as account for one's own and others' preliminary work exhaustively and correctly.
• If several participants are involved in a scientific project and its subsequent publication, only those can be named as co-authors who significantly contributed to the conceptual design, formulation, analysis and interpretation of the data or findings, and the drafting of the manuscript, and have consented to its publication; so-called 'honorary authorship' is not permissible; third-party support is to be listed under acknowledgements.

Scientific or other malpractice

Scientific malpractice is the misrepresentation of facts in a scientific context, either consciously or due to gross negligence, infringement of intellectual property of others, or any other encroachment upon others' research activities. For example:

• Misrepresentation of facts such as
  • forging or distorting data, for example by selecting and rejecting undesirable results without declaring them, or by manipulating illustrations or images, or by presenting an image and a statement corresponding to it in an incongruous manner;
  • false information in an application or a funding proposal, including false information about the publication organ and publications in print.
• Unjustified appropriation of others’ research achievements concerning copyrighted work by others or significant scientific findings, hypotheses, teachings, or research approaches by others such as
  • unauthorised utilisation by presumption of authorship (plagiarism), exploitation of research approaches and ideas, in particular as a peer reviewer (theft of ideas);
  • presumption or unsubstantiated appropriation of scientific authorship or co-authorship;
  • misrepresentation of contents;
  • unauthorised publication and unauthorised granting of access to third parties prior to the publication of the work, the findings, the hypothesis, the teaching, or the research approach;
  • claiming authorship or co-authorship of others without their consent.
• Sabotage of research activity, including damaging, destroying, or manipulating experimental arrangements, equipment, documents, hardware, chemicals, or other materials needed by others to conduct scientific work (including malicious displacement or abstraction of books and other documents).
• Deletion of primary data if it infringes legal provisions or accepted principles of scientific work in the discipline.
• Scientific misconduct also comprises behaviour that entails a shared responsibility for the misconduct of others, in particular by active participation, joint knowledge of misrepresentations, co-authorship of falsified publications, or gross negligence of supervisory responsibilities.
• For the purpose of the present rules, other misconduct is applicable if grave circumstances are discovered that challenge the personal aptitude of the individual sponsored to be a member (multiplier) of the global WGSN network. One of the indispensable expectations of those receiving support is that they do not demean other people on the basis of their membership of a group such as nationality, religion, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation, incite violence on such characteristics or glorify violence.

Responsibility

The ASE has been created by Susanne M. Hoffmann as chief editor.