Re-publishing an Article in Another Language

A challenge! We received a manuscript that had been issued earlier in an Italian journal. Our journal is an English one. The writer believes that to address a wider audience, it is reasonable to print it again in English, which encompasses a wider scope. I consider it a kind of self-plagiarism? Am I right? What is your policy and what is the formal thinking?

MB Rokni
Associate and Copy Editor of Iranian Journal of Public Health
Associate and Copy Editor of Iranian Journal of Parasitology
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I believe it's duplicate publication, regardless of language. Presumably the editor of the Italian journal had not been consulted by the author before the paper was submitted to you?

Bob Bury
Clinical Radiology
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Yes, it is duplicate publication.
 
Arun Kumar Agnihotri
Editor in Chief, Internet Journal of Medical Update
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Why can't you publish this as a "reprint in English translation"?

Diana J Mason
Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Nursing
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I think it is a reprint of the original article. The original publisher should be consulted. The publication should state "this is an English version of the original article "X" published in ..

Rodolfo Soca
Former Genral Director, Cuban Journal of Medical Students
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This has been considered by the ICMJE and is treated in the Vancouver guidelines, section III.D.3. When it’s legitimate, it’s given the name of “secondary publication”—whether in another language or not.

The way I interpret the spirit of the guideline is that secondary publication may be acceptable if its purpose is to reach a wider or different readership in order to deliver IMPORTANT information.

So, the essential question is this one: Will re-publication really get some IMPORTANT scientific information into the hands of the right readers?

If the answer is “yes”, then please go to section III.D.3 because certain other conditions should also be met.

If the answer is “no”, you can still go to section III.D.3 for phrases to use in the rejection letter to the author.

I note that the guideline ends with the following slightly confusing words about different language versions. It’s confusing to me because I wonder if the NLM really “does not cite or index” them and how the NLM would know if you didn’t tell them? I say that because I’ve happened upon quite a few identical MEDLINE abstracts published in English and German language journals, and one or two in English and Spanish language journals, too. The English publication always preceded the other language in the ones I detected. (One supposes the articles were the same too.) I suspect this is widespread practice, an effort to get certain content to readers in an easier-to-read language, an effort by expatriate authors to stay in contact with home journals, an effort by authors to write for their own community, not just the amorphous “international” one. If so, perhaps it ought to be made more transparent and the indexing issue ought to be discussed by people who know more about it than I do.

On the indexing of translations/republications, at the end of Section III.D.3:

“Of note, the National Library of Medicine does not consider translations to be “republications,” and does not cite or index translations when the original article was published in a journal that is indexed in MEDLINE.”

Hope that helps.

ME Kerans
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Read the  ICMJE’s Web page in the section III.D.3., and you decide.

Oscar  Quirós

III.D.3. Acceptable Secondary Publication

Certain types of articles, such as guidelines produced by governmental agencies and professional organizations, may need to reach the widest possible audience. In such instances, editors sometimes choose deliberately to publish material that is also being published in other journals, with the agreement of the authors and the editors of those other journals. Secondary publication for various other reasons, in the same or another language, especially in other countries, is justifiable, and can be beneficial, provided all of the following conditions are met.

1. The authors have received approval from the editors of both journals; the editor concerned with secondary publication must have a photocopy, reprint, or manuscript of the primary version.

2. The priority of the primary publication is respected by a publication interval of at least one week (unless specifically negotiated otherwise by both editors).

3. The paper for secondary publication is intended for a different group of readers; an abbreviated version could be sufficient.

4. The secondary version faithfully reflects the data and interpretations of the primary version.

5. The footnote on the title page of the secondary version informs readers, peers, and documenting agencies that the paper has been published in whole or in part and states the primary reference. A suitable footnote might read: “This article is based on a study first reported in the [title of journal, with full reference].”

Permission for such secondary publication should be free of charge.

6. The title of the secondary publication should indicate that it is a secondary publication (complete republication, abridged republication, complete translation, or abridged translation) of a primary publication. Of note, the National Library of Medicine does not consider translations to be “republications,” and does not cite or index translations when the original article was published in a journal that is indexed in MEDLINE.
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I agree with Rodolfo's opinion that the “secondary” journal MUST state "this is an English translation of the original article published in the primary journal" and the author(s) MUST obtain the permission of the original publisher to reproduce the article in English. Otherwise, this is an obvious case of plagiarism.

Diaa EE Rizk 
Associate Editor, International Urogynecology Journal
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I believe if someone wants to republish her/his production in another language, the author has to obtain permission from the original publisher to reproduce the article in English. For example, I believe for a book publication, it is possible.

Jafar Nouri
Co-Editor in Chief, International Journal of Environmental Science & Technology (IJEST)
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My response is that this is a reasonable request by the authors; if they have disclosed the fact that the paper had been previously published in another journal, if there is permission from the previous journal to re-publish, and if the current journal will clearly label the paper as having been previously published in journal X and with full reference to that journal. I have found, ‘though, that a good re-write and the declarations may be what may be needed—not verbatim translation of previous publication. I am sure Margaret Winker will send a link to previous guidelines on this!

Adamson Muula
Malawi Medical Journal
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My question would be: Why did they publish in Italian in the first place if they didn't think that was a good way to disseminate the information?

As authors, we all make decisions. The same reason for republication could be made for publication in any small or hard to get journal.

I had a graduate student who wanted to publish the results of her dissertation in Korean, because it would help her get a job in Korea more effectively than publishing in an English language journal. This was disappointing to me (her co-author), because I knew it limited the number of people who would read or cite this work in the United States and Europe, where I was most active. But that was her decision. I did not feel I could resubmit the same material elsewhere.

What I did do to increase the dissemination of the information was to briefly summarize the results in the lit review of one paper and in a review I wrote (both in English). In the reference list, I listed the original citation and also an English summary of the work that I made available through our Web site.

Nancy Darling
Editor, IJEST
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As far as I know, you can publish that subject to the agreement of the Italian journal's editor, and acknowledging its secondary publication in your journal. However, there is no specific criterion for recognizing if a paper should be republished or not. (The ICMJE lacks clarity on acceptable duplicate publications.) I believe that in most cases, even in the context of different languages, republication is not justified. The authors could have submitted their work in an internationally recognized English journal if they thought it should be read in a wider scope. While we should not lessen the role of other languages in the scientific literature, we cannot deny that not all the papers add to the knowledge! So, the English abstract of the Italian journal might suffice.

Farhat Farrokhi
Executive Editor, Urology Journal
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It is  the view of the Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE) that republication in a language different  from the original is acceptable, provided the original paper is cited and—preferably—that the second publication contains a note along the lines of 'this paper was previously published in [language] in [previous citation].

By this means, duplicate counting for systematic reviews is presented, but useful information is transmitted to more readers.

Harvey Marcovitch
Chair, COPE
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I don't agree that it would be duplicate publication if you're reprinting a translated version of a paper with permission from whoever holds the copyright and you include a reprint statement with the translated version you're publishing. The point here is wider dissemination of important works. Duplicate publication is not the same as reprinting with permission and telling readers where the original first appeared.

Diana J Mason
Editor-in-chief, American Journal of Nursing
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I agree Diana, but that was not the situation outlined to us in the original posting (unless I misunderstood it). The impression was that the author had taken it upon him or herself to decide that his or her work was so important that it deserved a wider audience, and, consequently, submitted it to an English language journal. That was why I was explicit in my initial reply that I had assumed no permission to reprint from the editor of the Italian journal.

Clearly there will be papers where a decision is made by editors working together that a particular paper deserves multiple publication, and I don't think any of us have a problem with that. But it's not a decision for the author to make, and just re-submitting it to another journal without permission is duplicate publication, regardless of the language those journals are printed in.

Crick and Watson made do with a single publication, and so, I believe, did Einstein!

Bob Bury
Clinical Radiology
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Most of the dilemma and controversies in this matter may be avoided if the original title is translated and followed by a brief segment in parentheses mentioning that it is a 'translation'. The actual translated article should mention all other details of the original article including the needed permissions and acknowledgements.

Eg: "Republication in a different language from the original is acceptable, provided the original paper is cited (Translation of XXlanguageXX article)."

This would also make it clear to the reading scholars up front that it was published previously in other language. This would allow the scholars to know the exact situation just by referring to the bibliography of referring articles and even during electronic search.

Vinod B. Shidham
Co-editor-in-chief & Executive editor, CytoJournal  
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How would Crick, Watson, and Einstein have fared under the current research assessment exercises?

Tim Albert