Journal A is planning on publishing translations of some of their articles, either in the publisher's national journal or in a web publication as popularized versions. Both are diamond open access journals which are indexed by DOAJ. One publishes in English, the other in two other languages.
Questions for COPE Council
- What would be good ethical practice for this?
- Would the journal require any changes in their publishing agenda to achieve it?
Advice on this case is from a small number of COPE Council Members. Most cases on the COPE website are presented to the COPE Forum where advice is offered by a wider group of COPE Members and COPE Council Members. Advice on individual cases is not formal COPE guidance.
COPE’s flowcharts on duplicate publication includes a statement on translations:
'ICMJE advises that translations are acceptable but MUST reference the original.'
In this case, if one version is designated as the original and the translated version follows, only the translated one would include a footnote (or similar declaration) referencing the original. A possible form of words used elsewhere is as follows:
'This is a [LANGUAGE] language translation/reprint of [TITLE OF ORIGINAL] originally published in [PUBLICATION NAME]. [NAME] prepared this translation with support from [FUNDING SOURCE, if any]. Permission was granted by [NAME].'
However, if the journals plan to publish both versions simultaneously (by embargoing both DOIs to post at an agreed day and time), that footnote or declaration would instead state that the article is being jointly or co-published in Journals A and B.
Journal staff should also be aware that they may need to seek permission from the copyright holder and potentially also the publisher of the original article, where the translation follows an earlier publication. If the original article is open access, or if the copyright has expired then this will not be necessary, although it might still be regarded as best practice. Where it has been necessary to obtain permission then the journal may also want to request documents to verify this, or copies of any related and relevant publications. The terms of reproduction and the open access status for each journal will be important, as will whether these cover the same dates for articles which have already been published. This should be borne in mind when consulting the Related resources, below.