A paper was submitted describing observations in patients with symptoms confined to one area of the body. The paper was sent out to two expert reviewers, one of whom produced an unfavourable report and suggested rejecting the manuscript. The second reviewer, however, reported promptly to the editor that he knew this manuscript had also been submitted to another journal. The editor wrote to the authors to confirm whether this was indeed the case. They expressed surprise, but the senior author acknowledged that dual submission had occurred and apologised. Apparently the first and second authors had acted independently of one another, and neither had indicated whether the manuscript had been resubmitted to the two journals following rejection by a third journal. The editor rejected the manuscript explaining there had been a breach of publication ethics, and that it was the senior author’s responsibility to ensure a cohesive approach was sustained throughout the publication process. Should any further action be taken?
Check to see if all authors’ signatures were included in the covering letter.
All the authors had signed the covering letter. No further action taken.