Digital Image Integrity and RIGOUR
John Anthony Cidlowski, Maggie Haworth · Molecular Endocrinology · 2008
One of the more interesting aspects of serving as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor of Molecular Endocrinology has been monitoring how technological advances have had an impact on publication issues and in particular on image creation. The ability to produce digital images of unprecedented clarity and precision has brought along with it a parallel growth in the ability to manipulate those same images. Although image manipulation has been an issue for decades, new technology has made it simpler to execute and more difficult to detect. In addition—and perhaps more seriously—there appears to be a change in attitudes to image manipulation. Molecular Endocrinology has had, and will continue to have, zero tolerance for inappropriate image manipulation. In recognition of this new environment, the Publication Ethics Task Force of The Endocrine Society devised guidelines for the production of images in The Endocrine Society journals. Below are the new instructions, which have been incorporated into the Ethical Guidelines. When preparing digital images, authors must adhere to the following guidelines as stated in the CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications: No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they are applied to the entire image and as long as they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information present in the original. The grouping of images from different parts of the same gel, or from different gels, fields, or exposures must be made explicit by the arrangement of the figure (e.g., dividing lines) and in the figure legend. Deviations from these guidelines will be considered as potential ethical violations. Note that this is an evolving issue, but these basic principles apply regardless of changes in the technical environment. Authors should be aware that they must provide original images when requested to do so by Editors-in-Chief who may wish to clarify an uncertainty or concern. Molecular Endocrinology has begun beta testing RIGOUR, a new product being used by Cadmus Communications. In 2008, randomly selected manuscripts accepted for publication in Molecular Endocrinology will undergo image integrity analysis to determine whether figures have been manipulated using techniques such as image deletion, image duplication, and healing brush tool application. If RIGOUR detects that manipulation has occurred, we will turn the findings over to the corresponding author and ask for a full explanation. Further action will be based on the response. We are certain that the vast majority of researchers who submit their work to Molecular Endocrinology have been following the literature regarding image manipulation and are well aware of the potential for abuse. We want to take this opportunity to assure all the readers of Molecular Endocrinology that we are addressing the problem of abusive image manipulation as thoroughly as is possible at this time.