BAIT AND SWITCH: HOW A REPUTATION CAN BE DESTROYED

ABSTRACT: Academic ethics can be violated through the technique known as “bait and switch.” The essay outlines how a journal editor performed that technique, thereby seeking to destroy the academic reputation of a scholar. First, the editor asked the author of a book to respond to a short inconsequential comment by someone critiquing the book. Then, instead of publishing the critique and response, the editor published a much longer critique without asking the author to respond but instead assigning a response to someone who impersonated the author of the book. The essay then explains how the author took steps to reverse the damage, with the assistance of the journal and the Committee on Professional Ethics.

KEYWORDS:ethics; ethics violation; journal; journal editor; reputation; Committee on Professional Ethics; Journal of Conflict Resolution