Unethical authorship practices: A qualitative study in Malaysian higher education institutions

INTRODUCTION: To explore academia perceptions and experience with unethical authorship practices in their respective institutions.

METHOD: 21 in-depth interviews were carried out.

RESULTS: Our analysis revealed variability in experiences with various types of unethical authorship practices among the interviewees. Second, we found that unethical authorship practices are not so unusual among academia although the exact numbers of incidents are unknown due to the fact that such practices are seldom reported. Third, our interviewees revealed that the culture of 'publish or perish' could be the main contributor to unethical practices of authorship because publication records are the main criteria for researcher's career evaluation besides, others, which are set by the university.

CONCLUSION: It was suggested that the institution must play a proactive role in educating and promoting awareness on authorship guidelines, through education and training, ethical leadership as well as promoting the importance of publication ethics.