получил письмо из редакции журнала: политкорректное решение

Примерно следующее: "Чтобы сохранить и укрепить нашу этическую позицию, начиная с этой даты и с немедленным вступлением в силу (май 2020 года), мы больше не будем рассматривать рукописи, полностью или частично основанные на материалах, включенных в янтарь Мьянмы (бирманский), будь то в исторические коллекции или полученные из более свежих источников. Это решение было принято после обсуждения среди редакторов, других коллег и с редакторами других палеонтологических журналов.

Причина этого решения заключается в том, что мы пришли к выводу, что в настоящее время профессиональное сообщество не может быть уверенным в том, что янтарь, происходящий из Мьянмы, соответствует действующим этическим стандартам. Эта проблема поднималась в недавних докладах, в которых подчеркивались тревожные моральные и юридические проблемы, связанные с этим материалом, включая незаконную контрабанду материалов из страны, бесчеловечные условия, при которых многие из добывающих янтарь людей вынуждены работать, и направление средств выиграл от продаж в вооруженный конфликт. "

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology strives to maintain the highest possible ethical standards in research and our existing policies state that we will not consider contributions containing material “that is abusive, defamatory, libellous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal”. In addition, we also maintain that specimens described within the journal should be held in publicly-accessible repositories, in order to maximize reproducibility. This further implies that the specimens held by these repositories have been subjected to appropriate standards of legal due diligence and ethical practice.

In order to maintain and enhance our ethical position, from this date forward and with immediate effect (May 2020), we will no longer consider manuscripts that are based wholly, or in part, on material included within Myanmar (Burmese) amber, whether in historic collections or obtained from more recent sources. This decision has been taken following discussion among the editors, other colleagues, and with the editors of other palaeontological journals.

The reason for this decision is that we have concluded that, at present, the professional community cannot have confidence that amber originating from Myanmar complies with current ethical standards. The issue has been raised in recent reports highlighting the distressing moral and legal issues associated with this material, including illegal smuggling of material out of the country, the inhumane conditions under which many of the amber miners are forced to work, and the channelling of funds gained from sales into armed conflict. Detailed summaries of these issues can be found in the following articles:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/fossils-burmese-amber-offer-exquisite-view-dinosaur-times-and-ethical-minefield

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232280-600-blood-amber-the-exquisite-trove-of-fossils-fuelling-war-in-myanmar/

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amber-fossil-supply-chain-has-dark-human-cost/594601/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/amber-myanmar-paleontologists.html

As editors, we became aware of this situation recently and we are committed to avoiding any indirect connection with the disturbing practices that may be associated with the publication of Myanmar amber specimens in the journal. Our authors may not have been aware of these issues prior to these reports, so we have no plans to retract papers already published or to censor those currently in production. However, we will not consider any further contributions on this material until such time that the palaeontological community as a whole develops stringent guidelines for determining which Myanmar amber specimens come from legal, ethical sources, including historical collections. JSP will continue to consider manuscripts on amber inclusions from other legal sources.

Although Myanmar amber yields scientifically important and highly impactful material, we believe that the negative long-term ethical issues raised by working on this material significantly outweigh the short-term benefits that this might bring to the community.

https://ivanov-p.livejournal.com/233677.html