Table 3

Whether overlapping papers are ever justified

Percentage who think both articles are justified
QuestionEditors
 (N=71)Authors
 (N=64)
*The percentage of respondents who answered “don’t know” to the question was between 10% and 20%.
Is it justified to publish two similar articles if the second article is published in:
    a symposium proceeding in a non-peer reviewed journal supplement3167
    the internet, in a limited access area31*53*
    the internet, in a public access area17*44*
    a non-English language journal3034
    a journal for a substantially different audience1519
Is it justified to publish two articles that have or are:
    identical text00
    exact duplication of important findings03
    exact duplication of background information1431
    segmented (“salami sliced”) articles3066
    a letter to the editor and research article with the same outcome data4566
    important findings that are similar and outcome data that overlap by …
         … 10%3966
         … 50%425
         … 100%15
    important findings that are different and outcome data that overlap by …
         … 10%5169
         … 50%3253
         … 100%2330