Ethical Guidelines

ETHICAL GUIDELINES OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

Adopted by the Council of the American Mathematical Society in January 2005 so as to speak in the name of the Society.

To assist in its chartered goal, "...the furtherance of the interests of mathematical scholarship and research ...'', and to help in the preservation of that atmosphere of mutual trust and ethical behavior required for science to prosper, the Council of the American Mathematical Society sets forth the following ethical guidelines. These guidelines reflect its expectations of behavior both for AMS members, as well as for all individuals and institutions in the wider mathematical community, including those engaged in the education or employment of mathematicians or in the publication of mathematics.  These guidelines are not a complete expression of the principles that underlie them. The guidelines are not meant to be a complete list of all ethical issues. They will be modified and amplified by events and experience. These are guidelines, not a collection of rigid rules.

The American Mathematical Society, through its Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE), may provide an avenue of redress for individual members injured in their capacity as mathematicians by violations of these ethical principles. In each case, COPE will determine the appropriate ways in which it can be helpful (including making recommendations to the Council of the Society). The AMS cannot enforce these guidelines, however, and it cannot substitute for individual responsibility or for the responsibility of the mathematical community at large.

I. MATHEMATICAL RESEARCH AND ITS PRESENTATION

The public reputation for honesty and integrity of the mathematical community and of the Society is its collective treasure and its publication record is its legacy.

The knowing presentation of another person's mathematical discovery as one's own constitutes plagiarism and is a serious violation of professional ethics. Plagiarism may occur for any type of work, whether written or oral and whether published or not.

The correct attribution of mathematical results is essential, both because it encourages creativity, by benefiting the creator whose career may depend on the recognition of the work and because it informs the community of when, where, and sometimes how original ideas entered into the chain of mathematical thought. To that end, mathematicians have certain responsibilities, which include the following:

• To endeavor to be knowledgeable in their field, especially about work related to their research;

• To give appropriate credit, even to unpublished materials and announced results (because the knowledge that something is true or false is valuable, however it is obtained);
   
• To publish full details of results that are announced without unreasonable delay, because claiming a result in advance of its having been achieved with reasonable certainty injures the community by restraining those working toward the same goal;

• To use no language that suppresses or improperly detracts from the work of others;

•  To correct in a timely way or to withdraw work that is erroneous.

A claim of independence may not be based on ignorance of widely disseminated results. On appropriate occasions, it may be desirable to offer or accept joint authorship when independent researchers find that they have produced identical results. All the authors listed for a paper, however, must have made a significant contribution to its content, and all who have made such a contribution must be offered the opportunity to be listed as an author. Because the free exchange of ideas necessary to promote research is possible only when every individual's contribution is properly recognized, the Society will not knowingly publish anything that violates this principle, and it will seek to expose egregious violations anywhere in the mathematical community.

II. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF MATHEMATICIANS

The Society promotes mathematical research together with its unrestricted dissemination, and to that end encourages all to engage in this endeavor. Mathematical ability must be respected wherever it is found, without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religious belief, political belief, or disability.

The growing importance of mathematics in society at large and of public funding of mathematics may increasingly place members of the mathematical community in conflicts of interest. The appearance of bias in reviewing, refereeing, or in funding decisions must be scrupulously avoided, particularly where decisions may affect one's own research, that of colleagues, or of one's students. When conflicts of interest occur, one should withdraw from the decision-making process.

A recommendation accurately reflecting the writer's views is often given only on the understanding that it be kept confidential; therefore, a request for a recommendation must be assumed to carry an implicit promise of confidentiality, unless there is a statement to the contrary. Similarly, a referee's report is normally provided with the understanding that the name of the writer be withheld from certain interested parties, and the referee must be anonymous unless otherwise indicated in advance. The writer of the recommendation or report must respond fairly and keep confidential any privileged information, personal or mathematical, that the writer receives. If the requesting individual, institution, agency or company becomes aware that confidentiality or anonymity can not be maintained, that should be immediately communicated.

Where choices must be made and conflicts are unavoidable, as with editors or those who decide on appointments or promotions, it is essential to keep careful records that would demonstrate the process was indeed fair when inspected at a later time.

Freedom to publish must sometimes yield to security concerns, but mathematicians should resist excessive secrecy demands whether by government or private institutions.

When mathematical work may affect the public health, safety or general welfare, it is the responsibility of mathematicians to disclose the implications of their work to their employers and to the public, if necessary. Should this bring retaliation, the Society will examine the ways in which it may want to help the "whistle-blower'', particularly when the disclosure has been made to the Society.

No one should be exploited by the offer of a temporary position at an unreasonably low salary and/or an unreasonably heavy work load.

III. EDUCATION AND GRANTING OF DEGREES

Holding a Ph.D. degree is virtually indispensable to an academic career in mathematics and is becoming increasingly important as a certificate of competence in the wider job market. An institution granting a degree in mathematics is certifying that competence and must take full responsibility for it by insuring the high level and originality of the Ph.D. dissertation work, and sufficient knowledge by the recipient of important branches of mathematics outside the scope of the thesis. When there is evidence of plagiarism it must be carefully investigated, even if it comes to light after granting the degree, and, if proven, the degree should be revoked.  Mathematicians and organizations involved in advising graduate students should fully inform them about the employment prospects they may face upon completion of their degrees.

IV. PUBLICATIONS

Editors are responsible for the timely refereeing of articles and must judge articles by the state of knowledge at the time of submission. Editors should accept a paper for publication only if they are reasonably certain the paper is correct.

The contents of submitted manuscript should be regarded by a journal as privileged information. If the contents of a paper become known in advance of publication solely as a result of its submission to or handling by a journal, and if a later paper based on knowledge of the privileged information is received anywhere (by the same or another journal), then any editor aware of the facts must refuse or delay publication of the later paper until after publication of the first---unless the first author agrees to earlier publication of the later paper.

At the time a manuscript is submitted, editors should notify authors whenever a large backlog of accepted papers may produce inordinate delay in publication. A journal may not delay publication of a paper for reasons of an editor's self interest or of any interest other than the author's. The published article should bear the date on which the manuscript was originally submitted to the journal for publication, together with the dates of any revisions. Editors must be given and accept full scientific responsibility for their journals; when a demand is made by an outside agency for prior review or censorship of articles, that demand must be resisted and, in any event, knowledge of the demand must be made public.

Both editors and referees must respect the confidentiality of materials submitted to them unless these materials have previously been made public, and above all may not appropriate to themselves ideas in work submitted to them or do anything that would impair the rights of authors to the fruits of their labors. Editors must preserve the anonymity of referees unless there is a credible allegation of misuse.

All mathematical publishers, particularly those who draw without charge on the resources of the mathematical community through the use of unpaid editors and referees, must recognize that they have made a compact with the community to disseminate information, and that compact must be weighed in their business decisions.

The Society will not take part in the publishing, printing or promoting of any research journal where there is some acceptance criterion, stated or unstated, that conflicts with the principles of these guidelines. It will promote the quick refereeing and timely publication of articles accepted to its journals.

Adopted by the Council of the American Mathematical Society in January 2005 so as to speak in the name of the Society.