Submission to multiple journals: a method of reducing time to publication?

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7486.305

BMJ 2005;330:305-307 (5 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7486.305

Education and debate

Submission to multiple journals: a method of reducing time to publication?

David J Torgerson, professor¹, Joy Adamson, lecturer¹, Sarah Cockayne, research fellow¹, Jo Dumville, research fellow¹, Emily Petherick, research fellow¹

¹ York Trials Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York YO10 5DD

Correspondence to: D J Torgerson djt6@york.ac.uk

Getting a manuscript accepted by a journal can be a long, drawnout process and delays dissemination of clinical research. Allowingauthors to submit to several journals simultaneously could speedup publication

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Most medical journals do not allow simultaneous submission ofarticles to more than one journal. The need for sequential submissionis an important factor in delaying the publication of research.We propose that journals should allow authors to submit to twoor more journals at the same time. This would lead to greatercompetition among journals and shorten publication delay, whichwould benefit both patients and authors.

Publishing delays

Timely publication of research findings is crucial because delayswill have a harmful effect on patients' health. In a reviewof AIDS trials, Ioannidis found a delay of between 1.7 and 3years between study completion and publication, with negativetrials taking significantly longer to be published.¹ Furthermore,a study looking at economic evaluations found that on averagethe economic results were published two years after the clinicalresults.²

Morally, as well as ethically, all those involved in the researchprocess have a . . . [Full text of this article]

Process of publication

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Sequential submission

Multiple submission

Discussion

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Some other issues that delay the publication of research: Wen-Hung Kuo
bmj.com, 4 Feb 2005 [Full text]
article submitted to multiple journals- If it happens as below...who is responsible???????: akhtar sherin
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