A review article, written by two authors, was spontaneously submitted to Journal X and accepted for publication after favourable comments from the referees. A few weeks later, and before the paper had been published, Author A withdrew authorship because he could not guarantee the originality of the text. Apparently, Author A had recently discovered that another review paper, co-authored with the same colleague in Journal Y, contained large chunks of text plagiarised from a review published in Journal Z. The editor of Journal X checked the two texts against one another and verified that paragraphs of text had been copied, word for word. The editor of Journal X discussed the case with colleagues and decided to withdraw the paper, even though he had no direct evidence that it had been plagiarised. The editor of Journal X wrote to Author B to tell him that the paper had been withdrawn. Author B was unhappy and said that he thought the main problem with his disputed paper was that he had not cited the paper he had plagiarised. Indeed, he denied that he had plagiarised the other review. In a follow up email he threatened to take “further steps against” the editor of Journal X if the editor told anyone about the case. - Author B is the editor of a journal. The emails he sent the editor of Jounal X suggest that he thinks it is acceptable to plagiarise other people’s work. Should the owners of that journal be told about the above events? - Should the editor of Journal X inform the other two journals of the decision? - Should a life ban be imposed on Author B? - Author B has moved institutions since originally submitting the paper to Journal X. Should his new institution be informed of this case and, if so, by whom?
- Author A’s withdrawal did indicate problems with the paper, but it was difficult to know what to do without any evidence. - Plagiarism is generally discovered by reviewers and readers, and the editor of Journal X could also be seen as having information which should be investigated. - It was also unclear whether the editors of journals Y and Z knew about the plagiarism. - The editor of Journal X should write to journals Y and Z to ensure that the issue is brought to their attention. - The editor should contact the institution and request an investigation. - The editor should also notify the publisher of the journal that Author B edits.