Serious Problems of Multiple Publication or Redundant publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal. The rationale for this standard is the potential for disagreement when two (or more) journals claim the right to publish a manuscript that has been submitted simultaneously to more than one journal, and the possibility that two or more journals will unknowingly and unnecessarily undertake the work of peer review, edit the same manuscript, and publish the same article. The bases of this position are international copyright laws, ethical conduct, and cost-effective use of resources. Duplicate publication of original research is particularly problematic because it can result in inadvertent double-counting of data or inappropriate weighting of the results of a single study, which distorts the available evidence.

Definition of Terms

Multiple Publication: Same study being published more than one journal. Same study refers to have identical material (subject) more than half and methods used in the study.

Redundant Publication: When a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/ are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification, or When the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/ justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realise that most or all the findings have been published before.

Secondary Publication

Secondary publication of material published in other journals or online may be justifiable and beneficial, especially when intended to disseminate important information to the widest possible audience (e.g., guidelines produced by government agencies and professional organizations in the same or a different language). Secondary publication for various other reasons may also be justifiable provided the following conditions are met:

• 1. The authors have received approval from the editors of both journals (the editor concerned with secondary publication must have access to the primary version).
• 2. The priority of the primary publication is respected by a publication interval negotiated by both editors with the authors.
• 3. The paper for secondary publication is intended for a different group of readers; an abbreviated version could be sufficient.
• 4. The secondary version faithfully reflects the data and interpretations of the primary version.
• 5. The secondary version informs readers, peers, and documenting agencies that the paper has been published in whole or in part elsewhere—for example, with a note that might read, "This article is based on a study first reported in the [journal title, with full reference]"—and the secondary version cites the primary reference.
• 6. The title of the secondary publication should indicate that it is a secondary publication (complete or abridged republication or translation) of a primary publication. Of note, the NLM does not consider translations to be "republications" and does not cite or index them when the original article was published in a journal that is indexed in MEDLINE.