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[vsnet-chat 6050] data credit

data credit

   There has been a notification in the GCN circular as follows:

> Non-Referencing of GCN Circulars.
> 
> Dear GRB community,
> 
> There have been a number of recent astro-ph papers, specifically on
> GRB 021004 and GRB 021211 (I would be happy to say which ones by
> e-mail), using phrase "data reported in GCN Circulars" or something
> like that, without specifying which Circulars etc. It is amazing to me
> that this has to be even written about, but somehow many members of
> the GRB community seem not to be aware of one of the rules of the
> scientific conduct, which can be summarized very simply:
> 
> "If you use somebody's data, you have to indicate the source"
> 
> for two obvious reasons:
> 
> 1) People might want to know what data you use;
> 
> 2) Authors of the GCNs from which the data were taken would probably
>    like to get credit for their research;
> 
> Simply stated, if you use somebody's data, you have to cite the
> source, and there are no excuses for not doing that, such as page
> limits etc.  Using data without citing the source is unethical, and
> there is no difference between the GCNs and "real" papers in this
> regard: nobody would use a phrase "data reported in astronomical
> papers".
> 
> Moreover, such a behavior will quickly result in demise of the GCN
> system, which so far has been working great. Simply put, if the
> observers do not get credit for their work, they will not publish
> GCNs.
> 
> We are all working fast and hard in this business, but this is not an
> excuse for sloppiness or negligence.
> 
> You are welcome to write me on this subject, although I do not think
> there is much to discuss.
> 
> Kris Stanek

   The same thing should apply to our general variable star community,
although my reasoning is not strongly from a likewise concern that if
the observers do not get credit for their work, they will not publish
variable star reports.

   Sad to say, there have been a number of variable star papers simply
stating that "data reported by amateur astronomers" or something like
that.  Such a reference is equivalent to "data reported in astronomical
papers", as stated in this GCN message.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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