On the abuse of online submission systems, fake peer reviews and editor-created accounts / Sobre el abuso de sistemas de presentación en línea, falsos comentarios de pares y cuentas creadas por el editor / Sobre abuso de sistemas de apresentação on-line, falsos comentários de pares e contas criadas pelo editor

ABSTRACT Many journals and publishers employ online submission systems (OSSs) to process manuscripts. In some cases, one "template" format exists, but it is then molded slightly to suit the specific needs of each journal, a decision made by the editor-in-chief or editors. In the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of cases in which OSSs have been abused, mostly by the authorship, either through the creation of fake identities or the use of false e-mail accounts. Although the abusive or fraudulent authors are at fault in such cases, the fact that such cases remained undetected for so long is of concern. Moreover, the current OSSs are imperfect, have security issues and may not be able to detect false information, except through post-submission verification. Sting operations, which involve the submission of false manuscripts with false identities and false affiliations, are no less unethical, and those who abuse the publishing protocol deserve to be as reprimanded as those who abuse OSSs. Finally, I question the ethics of editors or publishers creating OSS accounts on behalf of reviewers prior to obtaining their explicit permission.

RESÚMEN Muchas revistas y editores emplean sistemas de envío en línea (OSS, por su sigla en inglés) para el procesamiento de manuscritos. En algunos casos, existe un formato único de "plantilla", que luego se moldea ligeramente para adaptarse a las necesidades específicas de cada revista, según la decisión tomada por el editor en jefe o los editores. En los últimos años ha habido un aumento en el número de casos en que los OSS han sido abusados, principalmente por la autoría, ya sea mediante la creación de falsas identidades o el uso de cuentas de correo electrónico falsas. Aunque los autores abusivos o fraudulentos son culpables en tales casos, el hecho de que estos no hayan sido detectados durante tanto tiempo es motivo de preocupación. Además, los OSS actuales son imperfectos, tienen problemas de seguridad y pueden no ser capaces de detectar información falsa, excepto a través de la verificación posterior a la presentación del manuscrito. Las operaciones de relámpago, que implican la presentación de manuscritos falsos con falsas identidades y falsas afiliaciones, no son menos éticas, y quienes abusan del protocolo de publicación merecen ser tan amonestados como aquellos que abusan de los OSS. Finalmente, el autor del artículo cuestiona la ética de los editores o editores que crean cuentas OSS en nombre de los revisores, antes de obtener su permiso explícito.

RESUMO Muitas revistas e editores empregam sistemas de envio on-line (OSS, por sua sigla em inglês) para o processamento de manuscritos. Em alguns casos, há um formulário único de "modelo", que logo é adaptado superficialmente para as necessidades de cada revista, segundo a decisão tomada pelo editor-chefe ou pelos editores. Nos últimos anos, tem ocorrido um aumento no número de casos em que se tem abusado dos OSS, principalmente pela autoria, seja mediante a criação de falsas identidades, seja pelo uso de contas de e-mail falsas. Embora os autores abusadores ou fraudulentos sejam culpados nesses casos, o fato de que isso não tenha sido detectado durante tanto tempo é motivo de preocupação. Além disso, os OSS atuais são imperfeitos, têm problemas de segurança e podem não ser capazes de detectar informação falsa, exceto por meio da conferência posterior à apresentação do manuscrito. As operações relâmpago, que implicam a apresentação de textos falsos com falsas identidades e afiliações não são menos éticas, e os que abusam do protocolo de publicação merecem ser tão punidos quanto aqueles que abusam dos OSS. Finalmente, o autor deste artigo questiona a ética dos editores ou dos editores que criam contas OSS em nome dos pares avaliadores antes de obter sua autorização explícita.

Development of the National Database by the Government and its Potential for Pharmacoepidemiology / 薬剤疫学

As the number of electronically submitted health insurance claims increases, so does the potential for the effective use of such valuable health data to improve quality health care. The Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare (MHLW), thanks to the IT reform initiative in 2006 calling for creation of a national database (NDB) and its effective use for epidemiological studies, is developing NDB containing health insurance claims data as well as health checks and guidance data individually linked by encryption techniques. Procurement of the software (system development) and the hardware will be completed by the end of FY2008, and gradual collection of data will start in FY2009. In the first phase (FY2009-10), the analysis of the evaluation of Health Care Cost Containment Plans (HCCCP) will be the top priority and the economic evaluation of health checks and guidance may pose methodological challenges. In the second phase (FY2011-), after a full on-line submission of health insurance claims, MHLW will start to publish the findings of the analysis. Although the governing law limits the purpose of NDB to "development, implementation and evaluation of HCCCP", a report by the committee studying the use of health insurance claims data for the improvement of quality health care called for wider use of NDB for public interests in February 2008. Also, JSPE submitted a statement to the Minister in late 2007 calling for the use of NDB for pharmacoepidemiological purposes. For the opinions and demands of JSPE to materialize, continued support and effort from the members is greatly appreciated.

Practice of a Web-Based Paper Submission and Review System of a "Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association" / 신경정신의학

The procedure of the online paper submission to the Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association is consisted of seven steps:entering type, author, title, keyword and abstracts of the paper, author's affiliation, uploading the paper file, and completion of submission. Six steps before the completion of submission could be reversed. But after this, no change will be possible. When editor decide that the paper is eligible, correspondence author will get the acceptance letter. The review of the paper will be done by selective reviewers. They will login to the system for the evaluation. The efficacy and the convenience of this system will be heightened by user's feedback (ex, systemic error, inconvenience, improvements, and ideas).

Development of a Web-based Paper Submission and Review System of a "Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association" / 신경정신의학

The electronically archived online journals may connected together and eventually evolved to the global health information server in the near future. This paper describes an online paper submission and peer-review system for the publication of a biomedical journal. The authors conducted a systematic workflow analysis for the submission and review process of a biomedical journal and developed a web-based publication system. New media will require new format. Therefore, we have to make continuous effort to improve the format best fitted for the new media and to improve our ability to adapt ourselves to the continuously changing age of information.