Ethical considerations in doing and disseminating project management research

Purpose – The purpose of this research note is to provide some guidance on the ethical issues surrounding submitting academic papers for publication. Design/methodology/approach – This is a reflective paper based upon the author's experience as an author, reviewer, journal editor and chair of research tracks in conference proceedings. Findings – The contention is that there are many temptations and potential pitfalls for researchers in action as well as in publishing. At the same time there are many written and unwritten rules for such instances and the boundaries of the acceptable are not always clear. Research limitations/implications – The publish or perish ideology is at the root of many temptations. Without good research results and without publishing there is no way for a researcher to survive in academia and as a researcher. The concerns in project research do not appear too different from any kind of management research, however. Hence, the attempt here is to cover management research in general and to outline what might be specific for project management. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it clarifies the “rules of the game” in academic publishing, especially where authors are concerned about the acceptable degree of content overlap and specialization to meet specific themes between similar papers they submit for publication.