Parallels of Unintentional Plagiarism and Predatory Publishing: Understanding Root Causes and Solutions

Plagiarism and predatory publishing share common attributes. Although students do not publish in predatory journals, both plagiarism and predatory publishing fall under the umbrella of academic integrity and scholarly ethics. Academic misconduct has many faces, ranging from student cheating on exams to purchasing a doctoral thesis and claiming it as one’s own work. Some forms of academic misconduct, such as the examples above are always intentional. However, many manifestations of academic misconduct are less clearly intentional. Students often plagiarize unintentionally because they lack writing skills including paraphrasing and citing. Faculty sometimes publish with predatory journals when they lack scholarly publishing knowledge. Weak information literacy underpins both behaviors. However, other factors drive both plagiarism and predatory publishing. Three broad areas are cultural considerations, generational differences, and local academic values. The discourse related to cultural considerations is especially fruitful to unpack. Unintentional and intentional violations of academic integrity are the outgrowth of a scholarly ecosystem that is post-colonial and neoliberal. Students and faculty are under-supported, expected to produce too much with too little time. Pedagogical solutions to academic integrity problems are helpful in the short term but limited when the underlying system doesn’t support positive change

W127 Common Beneficial Arthropods Found in Field Crops

There are hundreds of species of insects and spiders that attack arthropod pests found in cotton, corn, soybean and other field crops. A few common and representative examples are presented herein. With few exceptions, these beneficial arthropods are native and common in the southern United States. The cumulative value of insect predators and parasitoids should not be underestimated, and this publication does not address important diseases that also attack insect and mite pests. Without biological control, many pest populations would routinely reach epidemic levels in field crops. Insecticide applications typically reduce populations of beneficial insects, often resulting in secondary pest outbreaks. Therefore, insecticides should be used only when pest populations are no longer under the adequate control of natural and biological control agents

Academic misconduct, misrepresentation and gaming: a reassessment

The motivation for this Special Issue is increasing concern not only with academic misconduct but also with less easily defined forms of misrepresentation and gaming. In an era of intense emphasis on measuring academic performance, there has been a proliferation of scandals, questionable behaviors and devious stratagems involving not just individuals but also organizations, including universities, editors and reviewers, journal publishers, and conference organizers. This introduction first reviews the literature on the prevalence of academic misconduct, misrepresentation and gaming (MMG). The core of the article is organized around a life-cycle model of the production and dissemination of research results. We synthesize the findings in the MMG literature at the level of the investigator or research team, emphasizing that misbehavior extends well beyond fabrication and falsification to include behaviors designed to exaggerate or to mislead readers as to the significance of research findings. MMG is next explored in the post-research review, publication, and post-publication realms. Moving from the individual researcher to the organizational level, we examine how MMG can be engaged in by either journals or organizations employing or funding the researchers. The changing institutional environment including the growth of research assessment exercises, increased quantitative output measurement and greater pressure to publish may all encourage MMG. In the final section, we summarize the main conclusions and offer suggestions both on how we might best address the problems and on topics for future research

Evidence for aggressive mimicry in an adult brood parasitic bird, and generalized defences in its host.

Mimicry of a harmless model (aggressive mimicry) is used by egg, chick and fledgling brood parasites that resemble the host's own eggs, chicks and fledglings. However, aggressive mimicry may also evolve in adult brood parasites, to avoid attack from hosts and/or manipulate their perception of parasitism risk. We tested the hypothesis that female cuckoo finches (Anomalospiza imberbis) are aggressive mimics of female Euplectes weavers, such as the harmless, abundant and sympatric southern red bishop (Euplectes orix). We show that female cuckoo finch plumage colour and pattern more closely resembled those of Euplectes weavers (putative models) than Vidua finches (closest relatives); that their tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava) hosts were equally aggressive towards female cuckoo finches and southern red bishops, and more aggressive to both than to their male counterparts; and that prinias were equally likely to reject an egg after seeing a female cuckoo finch or bishop, and more likely to do so than after seeing a male bishop near their nest. This is, to our knowledge, the first quantitative evidence for aggressive mimicry in an adult bird, and suggests that host-parasite coevolution can select for aggressive mimicry by avian brood parasites, and counter-defences by hosts, at all stages of the reproductive cycle.W.E.F. was funded by the Australian National University Research School of Biology studentship, and an Endeavour Research Fellowship; C.N.S. was funded by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/J014109/1) and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute; and N.E.L. was funded by the Australian Research Council.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Royal Society Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.07

The Ecology of Perth’s Urban Reptiles Using a Snake and Skink as Models

Urbanisation presents unique challenges for wildlife and promotes human-wildlife interactions. The effects if urbanisation on reptiles has been little studied. I explored the life history traits correlated with urban adaptation for reptiles, and investigated how urbanisation affects diet, spatial use, and behavioural responses of two reptiles in south-west Western Australia: dugite (Pseudonaja affinis, Elapidae) and bobtail skink (Tiliqua r. rugosa, Scincidae). I also investigated the attitudes and perceptions of the general public towards these species

How Safe Is It to Rely on Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae) as a Biocontrol Agent in Tomato Crops?

Omnivorous mirids (Hemiptera: Miridae) are unusual as biocontrol agents, as they feed on both plants and pests. Therefore, extensive knowledge of their ecological behavior is required to maximize their predatory side and to minimize crop damage. Macrolophus pygmaeus is a known predator of small arthropods, used in European tomato crops for more than 20 years. This mirid is currently considered harmless to tomato, although some controversy remains in relation to the status of the species. The aim of this work was to investigate the benefits that M. pygmaeus provides as a predator and the likely damage as a plant feeder. The experiment was carried out in 6 experimental greenhouses in southern Spain. Two treatments, low and high M. pygmaeus populations, were assayed in a complete factorial randomized design with three replicates. Low and high M. pygmaeus populations were achieved by direct and pre-plant release methods, respectively. Tomato plants with a lower number of M. pygmaeus had a significantly higher number of whiteflies and Tuta absoluta galleries than those with a higher number of the mirid, and vice versa. A significantly higher proportion of aborted flowers and fruits was registered in greenhouses with higher M. pygmaeus numbers. Yield was also lower in greenhouses with higher mirid populations. The number of fruits harvested did not differ between treatments, but average fruit weight was significantly lower in the greenhouses with higher mirid numbers. The number of punctures attributed to M. pygmaeus on fruits were low in general and slightly higher in the treatment with more mirids. This work shows that M. pygmaeus provides both “services,” as an efficient biocontrol agent of key pests in tomato crops, and “disservices,” as it feeds on the reproductive organs of tomato plants, reducing yield. A deeper understanding of the factors that modulate the zoophytophagous response of this economically important species is needed