Duplicate publication

Duplicate publication is the publication of the same paper or substantially similar papers in more than one journal. Authors must explain in the submission letter any prior publication of the same or substantially similar paper, and should explain any circumstances that might lead the editor or reviews to believe that the paper may have been published elsewhere (for example, when the title of a submitted paper is the same as or similar to the title of a previously published article).

If the editor learns that a submitted paper has been published elsewhere (in either the same or substantially similar form), the editor reserves the right to consult with other editors about the content of the papers in question. Further, the editor may return the paper unreviewed, may consider no papers by any of the authors for a period of time, may announce publicly in the journal (perhaps as a simultaneous announcement with the editor of the journal that published the earlier paper) that the authors have submitted a previously published article, or may do any combination of these actions, at the editor's discretion.

If the paper is accepted and published before the duplication is discovered, the editor will announce the duplication in the journal or have the authors write a letter acknowledging the duplicate publication, and the editor will notify the authors' employers, at the editor's discretion.