Duplicate publications and simultaneous submissions

Duplicate publications and simultaneous

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Helping you get published

Introduction

Ethical research and publication practices are essential for

honest scholarly and scientific research. Most journals

today are keenly aware of this: they publish policies1-6 on

these issues and expect authors to “be aware of, and

comply with, best practice in publication ethics”5.

Duplicate publications and simultaneous submissions

comply with, best practice in publication ethics” .

This article discusses two widespread and related publishing

practices that are considered unethical—duplicate

publication and simultaneous submission. It draws on

definitive international publication ethics guidelines.7-10

� Duplicate (or redundant) publication is the publication

of a paper that is substantially similar to a published

paper by the same author, without acknowledging the

source and without obtaining the permission of the

original copyright holder.7,11,12

� There may be superfluous differences between the

original and the second paper, such as a new title or a


original and the second paper, such as a new title or a

modified abstract, but the data set and findings stay

the same.13

Republication of a paper without permission

and/or acknowledgment is a serious breach of

publishing ethics, for the following reasons:.

1. It violates copyright as in most cases, the

copyright for the paper lies with the journal

and not with the authors; thus, the authors

are not free to republish the paper.11,12

2. It could distort empirical evidence because

Why is duplicate publication a problem?

Case study

An author has published an article

in a regional English-language

journal published by his university.

The author then submits the paper

for publication to a journal based 2. It could distort empirical evidence because

researchers studying the subject may

erroneously count the same set of results

twice (because the results are presented in

two separate papers).7As empirical studies

form the basis for policies and other

medical/scientific decisions, this is a serious

problem.13

3. It amounts to “self-plagiarism,” because it

involves the use material from another work,

without attribution.14

for publication to a journal based

in the US. Would this be

considered a case of duplicate

publication?

Answer: Yes! The author must

inform the second journal of the

already published paper in the

university journal.

4. It leads to a waste of editorial and review resources.7,13

5. It denies other authors the chance to publish their work by unjustly taking up

limited/competitive journal space.13

6. It is a “sign of poor scholarship”12 and may indicate that the “study contributes only

marginally to the literature.”9

Why is duplicate publication a problem?

� Ethical and editorial committees7-9, 15,16and academic journals 1-3,5,6,17 explicitly instruct

authors not to submit papers or variations of papers on studies that have already

been published elsewhere.

� Several journals have stringent policies that require authors to send copies of older,

related articles along with the submitted paper2,3,12 if the study findings and subjects

overlap.

What do journals and ethical guidelines have to say about the issue?

overlap.

� Some journals are very specific and require that this be done when the overlap is

more than a certain percent.2

� Others permit only a few identical sentences; previously published results or larger

portions of text taken verbatim from the author’s older publications, without

acknowledgment, are not accepted.17

However, republication is permitted1,7,8in

the case of specific article types. These are:

� A complete paper, that follows up on a

published preliminary report (e.g., an

abstract, poster, or conference

presentation)

� A paper listing guidelines prepared by

professional societies or governmental


Dire consequences for authors

attempting duplication publication1-

5,7

� Rejection of the manuscript

without review

� A public notice in the journal

(with full citation and author professional societies or governmental

agencies, which need to be disseminated to

a wide and varied readership

� A paper that substantially re-analyses the

study findings or re-interprets the results

for a different audience

� A translation of the original paper

� In some fields like physics, authors are

allowed to post their papers in e-print

repositories (notably, at arXiv.org)

(with full citation and author

names) if the article has already

been published

� Demand for public letter by the

authors acknowledging the

duplicate publication

� Notification to the authors’

employers or academic

institution

While these exceptions can be made, authors must

adhere to the following guidelines7,8 in these cases as

well:

� Obtain permission from the copyright holders.

� Get approval from the editor of the journal in which

the paper was first published and the editor of the

journal in which it will be republished.


journal in which it will be republished.

� Acknowledge that the paper has been republished

in whole or is based on a previously published paper

and provide the full citation for the primary

publication.

Dos and don’ts for authors7,15

� Do not replicate content from any of your other published papers.

� Do not offer preliminary reports about unpublished papers to the media, companies,

or other agencies, without the permission of the journal.

� When quoting material from your previously published work, do not include more

than a few sentences from the older work. Also, place the text in quotation marks

and cite the source

� When using a single dataset to write more than one manuscript, ensure that


� When using a single dataset to write more than one manuscript, ensure that

a. each manuscript addresses separate and important questions

b. the manuscripts are cross-referenced

c. you inform the journal editors about this matter in a cover letter

� If you have published related papers, provide details of these papers to the journal

editor at the time of submission. Include copies of these papers with the submitted

manuscript. This will ensure full transparency and will help the editor make the right

decision.

� Simultaneous submission refers to the “practice of submitting the same

manuscript to two or more journals at the same time”1 without informing

the journal editor that the manuscript has been submitted elsewhere.

� It has also been termed multiple submissions or dual submission.

� While duplicate publication involves the submission of a previously

published manuscript to another journal, simultaneous submission

Simultaneous submission

published manuscript to another journal, simultaneous submission

involves the submission of a manuscript that is under consideration at

another journal.

Although some researchers argue that this practice is not dishonest and is

merely a way to counter the long-drawn-out journal publication

process,18 journals consider it to be “unethical publishing behavior”1 for the

following reasons:7,9

� A copyright violation or a copyright dispute could ensue, if more than one

journal decides to publish the paper.

� It leads to a waste of academic and scientific resources as two (or more)

Why is simultaneous submission a problem?

� It leads to a waste of academic and scientific resources as two (or more)

journals would spend time and money on carrying out the same production

tasks.

However, in some exceptional cases, multiple submissions may be allowed,

provided the authors have notified editors of all the journals involved about the

concurrent submission. These exceptions are listed below:

� When the editors of the 2 (or more) journals agree to simultaneously or

jointly publish the paper, because doing so is in the best interest of society

at large.7,15

� When scholarly or scientific conferences explicitly authorize authors to

Why is simultaneous submission a problem?

� When scholarly or scientific conferences explicitly authorize authors to

simultaneously submit papers to other meetings with overlapping

submission periods.19

Dos and don’ts for authors 3,9,15

� Do not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal.

� If you wish to submit a paper that is “under consideration” at one journal, to another

journal:

a. Get written consent from your co-authors.

b. Write to the first journal editor about this, asking that the paper be withdrawn.

c. Get a formal notification from the first journal editor that has been withdrawn


c. Get a formal notification from the first journal editor that has been withdrawn

from consideration.

d. Preserve this notification and present it to the second journal at the time of

submission.

� If you have written 2 related papers and wish to submit them to 2 different journals:

a. Disclose the details of each paper to both journals.

b. Inform the editors that you have a similar paper under review at another journal

(even if these papers are written in different languages).

c. Enclose copies of these papers along with your submission.

Conclusion:

Authors must be careful not to attempt duplicate publication and simultaneous

submission. Apart from the fact that these practices are serious violations of copyright

laws and that they can dent the integrity of scientific literature, they are also viewed as

“violations of authorial integrity”17 and can reflect poorly on an author’s honesty and

scholarly abilities. We recommend, therefore, that authors study the resources listed in

the reference list below and read through relevant case studies20 so that they are able to


the reference list below and read through relevant case studies so that they are able to

understand and follow ethical submission practices.


References

1. Elsevier. Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication.[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/ethical_guidelines.

2. BMJ Publishing Group. Scientific Misconduct. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/authors/editorial-policies/scientific-misconduct.

3. Nature Publishing Group. Guide to Publication Policies of the Nature Journals. [Accessed: Aug 10,

2011] Available from: http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/publication.html.

4. Sage Publications. Ethics and Responsibility. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://www.sagepub.com/journalgateway/ethics.htm.from:http://www.sagepub.com/journalgateway/ethics.htm.

5. PloS.org. PLoS Editorial and Publishing Policies.[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://www.plosone.org/static/policies.action.

6. ACS Publications .Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research.[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011]

Available from: http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218054468605/ethics.pdf.

7. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts

Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publications.[Accessed: Aug

10, 2011] Available from: http://www.icmje.org/urm_full.pdf.

8. The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals. Good Publication Practice for

Communicating Company Sponsored Medical Research: The GPP2 Guidelines.[Accessed: Aug 10,

2011] Available from: http://gpp-guidelines.org/GPP2.pdf.

References

9. Council of Science Editors.CSE's White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal

Publications, 2009 Update.[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available from: www.councilscienceed-

itors.org/files/public/entire_whitepaper.pdf.

10. Committee on Publication Ethics.Code of Conduct for Journal Editors. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011]

Available

from: http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf.

11. Morse JM, 2007. Duplicate Publication. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10): 1307–1308.

12. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Other


12. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Other

Suspected Author, Editor, or Referee Misconduct. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://www.siam.org/journals/plagiary/Plagiarism_guidelines_Mar2011.pdf.

13. Roig M. Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: A Guide to

Ethical Writing. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism/Redundant%20and%20Duplicate.html

14. Editorial, 2009:Combating Plagiarism. Nature Photonics, 3; 237. [Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from: http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v3/n5/full/nphoton.2009.48.html.

15. World Association of Medical Editors. Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals. [Accessed:

Aug 10, 2011] Available from: http://www.wame.org/resources/publication-ethics-policies-for-

medical-journals.

References

16. Committee on Publication Ethics. What to Do If You Suspect Redundant (Duplicate) Publication.

[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available

from:http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/01B_Redundant_Published.pdf andhttp://publicationethi

cs.org/files/u2/01A_Redundant_Submitted.pdf.

17. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Authorial Integrity in Scientific Publication.

[Accessed: Aug 10, 2011] Available from: http://www.siam.org/journals/plagiarism.php.

18. Torgerson DJ, Adamson J, Cockayne S, Dumville Jo, Petherick E, 2005. Submission to Multiple

Journals: A Method of Reducing Time to Publication? British Medical Journal, 330(7486):305–307.


Journals: A Method of Reducing Time to Publication? British Medical Journal, 330(7486):305–307.

19. Association for Computing Machinery. Policy on Prior Publication and Simultaneous Submissions.


from: http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/sim_submissions/.

20. Elsevier. Decision Trees: Multiple, Duplicate, Concurrent Publication/Simultaneous Submission.


from:http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/editorshome.editors/3_Multiple_publication.

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Date post:	18-Dec-2014
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Duplicate publications and simultaneous submissions

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