I checked the link and it focusses on medical journals, so I don't know
whether these two papers will be picked up. The authors are well known in
the field and one is on the verge of the retirement, so flagged for life is
probably not a big concern.
Also we should distinguish between two kinds of publication which could show
up in this way - if two substantially identical papers by different authors
appear, then plagiarism can be suspected and this is very serious. However
when the same author(s) publish substantially the same paper several times
then I think we have to think about the matter more carefully.
I offer my own publication record as an example. I've done a lot of research
which I publish once and that is it, but I also have a couple of themes that
I have been promoting, such as the use of fuzzy logic in ecology and the
development of decision support systems for aquaculture licensing, which
means that I have written several papers on each of these topics which
overlap quite a bit. Part of the reason for this is that I have spoken about
these topics at conferences, and if the conference proceedings get published
then similar talks end up in print. But I think that the nature of these
articles as putting forth ideas is easily distinguished from multiple
publication of research results.
And of course it is not always clear how much duplication there is between
papers, and an author may think that he has written a new paper that the
rest of us think is just a repeat performance. I keep getting papers to
review by someone who seems to me to have published the same paper several
times before, but who cites the earlier papers so he certainly is not trying
to cover up the duplication. So I get dragged into debates about how
original the new paper is!
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim van der Linde" <[email protected]>
To: "William Silvert" <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: segunda-feira, 2 de Novembro de 2009 4:24
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Journal impact factor
William Silvert wrote:
By the way, some colleagues of mine just scored a real scoop. They
published basically the same paper in both Science and Nature
simultaneously! Talk about impact factors. I really gasped when I saw
this.
Really, you think. if they are so similar, they will be soon enough at the
duplication database, and basically flagged for life:
http://spore.swmed.edu/dejavu/
Personally, I think it despicable.
Kim
--
http://www.kimvdlinde.com
