Duplicate and salami publication: a prevalence study of journal policies

Ding, Ding, Nguyen, Binh, Gebel, Klaus, Bauman, Adrian, and Bero, Lisa (2020) Duplicate and salami publication: a prevalence study of journal policies. International Journal of Epidemiology, 49 (1). pp. 281-288.

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DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyz187

View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz187

Abstract

Background: Duplicate and salami publication are unethical, but are common practices with substantial consequences for science and society at large. Scientific journals are the 'gatekeepers' of the publication process. We investigated journal policies on duplicate and salami publication.

Methods: In 2018, we performed a content analysis of policies of journals in the disciplines of 'epidemiology and public health' and 'general and internal medicine'. Journal policies were searched, extracted, coded and cross-checked. The associations of disciplinary categories and journal impact factors with journal policies were examined using Poisson regression models with a robust error variance.

Results: A total of 209 journals, including 122 in epidemiology and public health and 87 in general and internal medicine, were sampled and their policies investigated. Overall, 18% of journals did not have any policies on either practice, 33% only referred to a generic guideline or checklist without explicit mention about either practice, 36% included policies on duplicate publication and only 13% included policies on both duplicate and salami publication. Having explicit journal policies did not differ by journal disciplinary categories (epidemiology and public health vs general and internal medicine) or impact factors. Further analysis of journals with explicit policies found that although duplicate publication is universally discouraged, policies on salami publication are inconsistent and lack specific definitions of inappropriate divisions of papers.

Conclusions: Gaps exist in journal policies on duplicate and salami publication, characterized by an overall lack of explicit policies, inconsistency and confusion in definitions of bad practices, and lack of clearly defined consequences for non-compliance. Scientific publication and the academic reward systems must evolve to credit good research practice.


Item ID:	63569
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1464-3685
Keywords:	Publication ethics, journal policies, duplicate publication, dual publication, redundant publication, salami publication, salami slicing, smallest publishable unit, least publishable unit
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s) 2019; all rights reserved. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2020 07:41
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420299 Epidemiology not elsewhere classified @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420699 Public health not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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