Fourteen days after publication in a journal an email was received from a reader indicating that two closely related papers had already been published recently, one in the same month as the current paper, and one five months previously. Close examination of the papers by the editor indicated that there was considerable overlap between these three papers. The editor sent the three papers to an independent reviewer, specifically asking for an assessment of “triplication”. What should the editor do next?
_ The independent reviewer confirmed that there was 85–90% overlap. _ The editor wrote to the authors who agreed that the papers were identical but thought that it was such a good study that it deserved to be read widely. However, there had been no cross-referencing of the papers.
A notice of triplicate publication should be published in all three journals.