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Ethical Issues in Scientific Publishing
The possible consequences for an author who gets caught submitting the same manuscript to 2 or more journals simultaneously include the following: Dual submission damages an author’s reputation . The manuscript under consideration may be immediately rejected by both journals . Journals may penalize the author by not allowing him or her to submit any manuscripts for a certain period of time. Duplicate Publication Duplicate publication is the unacceptable practice of publishing a paper that overlaps substantially with 1 already published. The primary reason authors engage in duplicate publication is to add to their list of publications. There are several consequences of duplicate publication. First, duplicate publication wastes readers’ time . Readers of articles deserve material that is original unless there is a clear statement to the contrary. Second, duplicate publication wastes space . Duplicate publication clogs the literature with redundancy and is not a cost-effective use of resources. It also potentially denies that space to another author. Third, duplicate publication distorts the true picture . The duplicate set of data take on twice the importance of a single set of data. That is, there are twice as many data showing the same thing. Fourth, duplicate publication violates the copyright law . And finally, duplicate publication is scientific misconduct . Authors who are caught publishing the same material twice face several possible consequences: A notice of redundant publication may be published without the author’s explanation or approval. There may be academic penalties . Journals may penalize the author by not allowing him or her to submit any manuscripts for a certain period of time. The first consequence is not just an embarrassment to the author. It also causes readers and other researchers to be concerned about the author’s scientific integrity, and these are concerns that do not disappear quickly.
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