In January 2004 a submission was made to Journal A from a laboratory in a different country. In April 2004 it was bought to the editor’s attention that the manuscript was a verbatim copy of a paper published in 2003 in another journal, Journal B. The only difference between the manuscripts was that the names and affiliations of the authors on the second paper were different to the first paper. On contacting the editor of Journal B, the editor of Journal A learned that Journal B had been contacted by a third journal, Journal C, who had received the identical submission in January (two days prior to submission to Journal A). What should the editor do now?
The committee felt that the reported plagiarism was a serious matter. The editors should contact the authors to request an explanation. Additionally, the editor should contact the authors’ institutions and regulatory body to request an investigation into the matter. The editor should let the authors know of his/her intention to do so. The editor of journal B should let the original authors know that their work had been plagiarised.