ADDRESSING DUPLICATE SUBMISSION IN ACADEMIC PUBLISHING: WHO BEARS RESPONSIBILITY?
In a recent case brought to light by Journal A, the issue of duplicate submission or self-plagiarism has sparked debate within academic circles. The case in question involves an article flagged for similarity by the journal's anti-plagiarism software, prompting further investigation.
Upon scrutiny, it was revealed that the article, submitted for publication, had significant overlap with a previously published version presented at a conference. Remarkably, the similarity between the two versions was a staggering 80%, far exceeding the journal's allowable limit of 20%.
The authors defended their actions, explaining that they initially submitted only an abstract to the conference, with the understanding that the full article would not be published in the conference proceedings. However, due to a lack of communication from the conference organizers, the article was indeed published without their consent.
The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) weighed in on the matter, asserting that regardless of the authors' awareness, duplicate submission remains a serious offense. While efforts to retract the article from the conference proceedings were made, the lack of response from the organizers complicates the situation.
Moving forward, COPE suggests that if the authors received no response from the conference organizers regarding their request for non-publication, the article's status remains unchanged. However, the journal may consider allowing the authors to resubmit their paper, provided significant modifications are made, such as paraphrasing and incorporating new original content.
This case underscores the importance of clear communication between authors and conference organizers, as well as the need for journals to rigorously enforce policies against duplicate submission. Ultimately, the responsibility for ensuring the originality and integrity of scholarly work rests with both authors and publishers alike.
