Scholarly Communications Guide

Guide to Ethical Writing

The Office of Research Integrity (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) maintains a learning module and publication by Miguel Roig, Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-Plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: A Guide to Ethical Writing.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, it is more important than ever to cite sources and give credit where it is due in research. Before sharing or reusing someone else's work, be sure to check its copyright. Below are several resources at UT for ethical writing and plagiarism detection tools.

Resources at UT

• iThenticate: UT's Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development provides access to iThenticate, a premier plagiarism detection tool for faculty and student researchers.
• Office of Research Integrity includes resources on conflicts of interest, IRB, IACUC, and other topics.
• Research Policies from UT's Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.
  • AI in Research 
• The Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center offers writing support for students.

Plagiarism Detection Tools

• CopyScape: http://www.copyscape.com/
• PlagScan: http://www.plagscan.com
• Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker 
• PlagTracker: http://www.plagtracker.com/#
• Check for Plagiarism: http://www.checkforplagiarism.net

Tools for Ethical Publishing

• Ethical Considerations Around Book Publishing
• Brill's Publication Ethics
• Inclusive Citations

What About AI?

Each publisher and journal has different guidelines on how to use (or not use) AI in your manuscript writing and preparation. Check with your publisher on their AI guidelines, and be sure to disclose your AI usage. Below are more tips on navigating AI in scholarly communications.

• Authors should take responsibility for what their AI tool is telling them. Is it accurate? Is it verifiable? Are the sources it is citing relevant and real? Carefully verifying AI's outputs will help manuscripts stay accurate and ethical.
• Many publishers allow AI usage for "routine tasks like improving grammar, revising sentence structure, or assisting with literature searches." (Laher, 2025).
• AI usage can be referenced in the literature review and/or the methods and results sections of a manuscript. 
• Many publishers require AI to be cited with the name of the AI tool, the date accessed, and the prompt used. Check your publisher's formatting guidelines and citation standards for more information.

Attribution: Some of these tips were adapted from the article "Can Academics Use AI to Write Journal Papers? What the Guidelines Say" by Sumaya Laher (2025)

What is an Institutional Review Board?

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a group which can review and monitor research involving human subjects.

IRB review and approval is required for projects that:

• Meet the definition of research,
• Involve human subjects, and
• Include any interaction or intervention with human subjects or involve access to identifiable private information

IRB Resources from UTK

• Do I Need IRB Review? - from UTK's Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
  • Use the Human Subjects Research Determination Worksheet
  • Full Board Review
• The Division of Research Integrity & Assurance (DRIA)
• IRB Forms, Guidelines, and Documents- from UT's Graduate School of Medicine
• UT Health Science Center IRB

Other IRB and Research with Human Subjects Resources

• The Belmont Report
• Office for Human Research Protections
• The Office of Research Integrity
• Institutional Review Boards Frequently Asked Questions
• Human Subjects Protections: Does My Research Need IRB Review?
• An Overview of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Processes
• IRB Review Process
• Educational Resources for IRB Members & Administrators