Publication of your funded research in the NIHR Journals Library fulfils two purposes:
- To ensure that a full account of the research is available in the public domain in perpetuity; and
- To contribute to dissemination of the research findings.
Dual or redundant publication occurs when two or more papers, without full cross-reference, share the same hypothesis, data, discussion points or conclusions.
The NIHR considers that publication of its research, necessarily in briefer format, in specialist and general journals is important for the dissemination and uptake of research findings and therefore expects grant holders to seek such publication.
Although the possibility that this may constitute dual publication may cause concerns, it is considered that the NIHR Journals Library, which contains comprehensive accounts of whole funded projects, is different from other, smaller, journal articles and therefore publication in both formats is acceptable. We ask authors to give an original account of their work within their reports, and therefore that they avoid including lengthy passages of material that is (or will be) published elsewhere. However, if reasonable justification is provided and the Editors agree, we would instead require authors to acknowledge the source within the report in line with The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.
COPE defines redundant publication as:
When a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification,
or
When the same (or substantially overlang) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realise that most or all the findings have been published before
Further guidance can be found in the ICMJE Guidelines relating to Overlapping Publications.