Multiple, duplicate, concurrent publication/Simultaneous submission

As with plagiarism, duplicate submission may take several forms: literal duplication, partial but substantial duplication, or even duplication by paraphrasing. Some journals have editorial policies that prohibit or discourage the publication of numerous papers based on the same research.

Cases of literal or substantial literal duplication should be reasonably easy to detect and remedy. Cases closer to paraphrasing or involving the same research are much more difficult to detect or analyze. This is particularly so when an author writes about his or her own research in two or more articles from different angles or on different aspects of the research. In such cases, an objective judgment of whether duplicate submission has taken place must be made, based on your knowledge of the area of research. In difficult cases, you may need to seek guidance from other specialists in that field of research.

English-language version submission of paper published in other language

An author may publish a paper in a language other than English in a journal of local circulation and may then submit an English-language version to an Elsevier journal. You may decline to publish a paper of this kind. If it is the journal’s policy is to publish some papers of this kind, and you feel it is appropriate to do so, you may agree to publish the paper provided that the proper procedure has been followed:

• Full disclosure has been made to the editor of all previous publications of the paper in any language.
• A full and reasonably prominent note, usually in the form of a footnote on the title page that records the prior publication, accompanies the English-language version of the paper.
• All necessary consents have been obtained from the previous publisher of the paper in any other language and from any other person who might own rights in the paper.

• Then the editor should communicate accordingly with the corresponding (or complained-about) author and likely the other journal. Either the editor or possibly the publishing staff may contact the other journal where the duplicate publication occurred. The editor is more likely to contact the other editor (see Form letter D for this purpose). Elsevier's publishing staff are more likely to contact the publisher.
• It may be useful for the editor to involve other peer reviewers, editorial board members, or experts in the relevant field, using standard peer review procedures, to review the texts (especially if the allegation is a more complex form of multiple publication).
• In the communication to the corresponding (or complained-about) author (see Form letter A1), the editor may indicate that it is possible that the matter may be referred to the institution or company where the research took place or any other relevant institution or agency (for example a funding agency) unless the author provides a reasonable explanation (accepted as reasonable by the editor).

Then a corrigendum or the retraction procedure are the normal remedies. Note that there may still be disagreement concerning the appropriate description of the reason. It is normally sufficient to simply indicate that the complained-about version was in essence previously published in the other journal.

Then the editor will have to consider whether the author’s explanation is reasonable. Normally the editor would also inform the complainant of the author's explanation and seek comment (see Form letter B).

Then it would be fair for the editor to draw an inference that there is some substance to the complaint.

Then the editor will be expected to make a determination, in his or her reasonable judgment, as to the underlying facts, and to make a recommendation to Elsevier (and possibly the society for a society journal), which Elsevier will implement normally through some form of notice, corrigendum, or the retraction and removal process.