Professional Documents
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• Case Study
• Redundant Publications
– Duplicate publications
– Overlapping publications
– Salami slicing
Redundant publication: Case Study
Dual submission, salami slicing, redundant publication, or all three?
Case number:
02-17
Case text (Anonymised):
Editor A wrote to editor B, indicating that one of the reviewers of a paper
submitted to Journal A contained material that had been submitted at
about the same time to Journal B. Editor A requested a copy of the paper
submitted to Journal B. Editor B responded, confirming that the paper in
question had been submitted to Journal B (submission date two weeks
earlier than the paper submitted to Journal A), but had been rejected eight
weeks later after external peer review. Editor B sent a copy of the
rejected paper to editor A. Editor A examined the two papers and
confirmed that there was “some degree of overlap” between the two and
also felt that there was a degree of “salami slicing.” What should the
editors do now?
Dual submission, salami slicing, redundant publication, or all three? | COPE: Committee on
2
Publication Ethics
Redundant publication: Case Study
Advice:
•This was a case of an intelligent reviewer catching a dual submission
serendipitously.
•Sending a copy of the manuscript under review to another editor might
be considered a breach of confidentiality with the author, but in cases of
suspected misconduct, such action was part of the peer review process
and the information sent to the other editor would be on a ‘need to know’
basis.
• Public interest in preventing fraudulent publication overrides
confidentiality with the author.
•Sometimes authors write up different aspects of one research study and
send them to different journals, so dome degree of overlap is inevitable,
but as long as the authors openly declare what they have done, this is
acceptable practice. They should cross reference or include a copy of the
companion paper.
Dual submission, salami slicing, redundant publication, or all three? | COPE: Committee on
3
Publication Ethics
Redundant publication: Case Study
Advice:
•Many journals have this sort of provision in their instructions to authors. These make
authors think twice about attempting inappropriate dual submission.
•What would happen if an editor requests the author to provide the companion paper
and the author refuses? The COPE guidelines on redundant publication state that at
submission, authors should disclose details of related papers. In cases where a reviewer
alerts an editor to the possibility of duplicate publication the duty to the author is to ask
them to respond to the allegation and provide the other paper.
•The duty of confidentiality to the author is not absolute, and where misconduct is
suspected a breach could be justified.
•The integrity of the literature is more important than maintaining author
confidentiality. And dual submission is a drain on the journal’s and reviewers’ time.
•The two journal editors should write “joint letters” to the authors about the matter,
pointing out why this is an important issue and requesting a response within a specified
time limit.
Dual submission, salami slicing, redundant publication, or all three? | COPE: Committee on
4
Publication Ethics
Redundant publication
7
Redundant publication: Salami Slicing
8
Salami Slicing- How to detect salami publication?
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Salami Slicing: What is the problem with salami publication?
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