Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 20:07:01 EST
From: Phil Davis (Cornell University) <pmd8_at_cornell.edu>
Subject: Covert Article Republishing Discovered in Emerald/MCB UP 1989-2003
[Ed. note: Originally posted to LibLicense-L and other lists]
>For immediate release:
>
>The Ethics of Republishing: A Case Study of Emerald/MCB
University Press Journals
>
>It is unethical to republish a journal article without citing
>the original source. Simple keyword searching of Emerald (formerly known
>as MCB University Press) online journals from the publisher's web
>site has identified 409 examples of articles from sixty-seven journals
>that were republished without such notification from 1989 through 2003.
>Many of these articles were published simultaneously in journals
>within the same or similar subject disciplines. Five examples of triple
>publication were identified. In several cases, neither the editor nor
>editorial board members had knowledge of this practice. This article will
>review the conditions of acceptable republishing plus document and
>provide examples of republication. It will discuss implications on the
>publication of record, and question whether this is a case of "let the buyer
>beware".
>
>Accepted for publication in _Library Resources & Technical Services_.
>Projected publication v49 n2 (spring 2005).
>
>Download draft manuscript from:
>http://people.cornell.edu/pages/pmd8/
>
>Philip Davis, Life Sciences Bibliographer
>Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
>(607) 255-7192 ; (607) 255-0318 fax
>pmd8_at_cornell.edu
>http://people.cornell.edu/pages/pmd8/
And the response from Emerald:
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 16:38:42 +0000
From Bill Russell (Emerald) <BRussell_at_emeraldinsight.com>
Subject: Dual Publication: Emerald Response
Dual Publication: Emerald's Response
We respect the right of the author to pursue this kind of study and have
extended our full cooperation, including personal
conversations between the author and one of our Directors.
We accept that explicit notice of dual publication should have been
published alongside each article and regret any
inconvenience as a result of that notice not being given. However, the
activity was not without the knowledge of the
authors as implied, as all reasonable steps were taken by MCB to contact
and inform the authors of our intent to
publish their article in another journal.
During the period 1989 to 2000, articles considered to be of particular
merit were occasionally published within another
MCB journal where it was felt that their content would be of interest or
benefit to the additional journal audience. Today,
Emerald relies on comprehensive databases and search engines to provide
wide dissemination of noteworthy articles.
.
In addition, when certain journals were acquired, previously published
articles were used to help where we had inherited
a significant delay in the despatch schedule. Again, we acknowledge
that explicit notice of republication should have been
made when it took place in these circumstances. To put this into
context, the republication of articles in _Clinical Performance
in Quality Healthcare_ were from the _British Journal of Clinical
Governance_, with which it was subsequently merged
(within 3 months) and for which there was an identified subscriber
overlap between the two journals of five customers
worldwide. We have conducted our own research and will contact all those
customers affected.
In order to explain to researchers and users working with Emerald
content now, and in the future, that certain articles were
published twice in different journals, Emerald is adding a 'note' to the
SGML (which is the header information) following the
abstract which will explain where the paper is also published. This
work will be complete by the end of the year.
There has been no deliberate dual publication since 2001. There are two
accidental instances of dual publication to our
knowledge in recent times - one a book review and one an article that
appeared in _Equal Opportunities International_.
This is a journal owned and published by Barmarick Publications. The
content is not owned by Emerald, but is currently
hosted on the Emerald website.
To reiterate, our policy is not to practise dual publication. We may
however, occasionally republish an article with the author's
consent and full attribution. These circumstances may include a themed
collection or review issue, a landmark paper / classic
article or an anniversary issue of a notable journal.
Publishing practices at Emerald today emphasise our communication and
service levels to customers. We are dedicated to
building lasting relationships with librarians and faculty members and
to focusing on the future. In 2002 Emerald was awarded
the Charleston Advisor Award for customer support. We regularly survey
our authors and library customers to gauge their
views on how we serve their needs, and the results are very positive.
Ongoing communication with our stakeholders provides
valuable feedback to improve the service to our authors, library,
researchers and user communities.
Once again, we apologise for any inconvenience caused to our authors and
customers and fully acknowledge that attribution
should have been given. We now have an explicitly stated policy and are
correcting the SGML of affected articles.
If you were affected by any of the issues covered within this article,
please contact:
Gillian Crawford
Head of Corporate Communications
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Tel: +44 1274 777700
Email: gcrawford_at_emeraldinsight.com
Web: www.emeraldinsight.com
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Received on Wed Nov 10 2004 - 00:51:15 EST