Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success - Mary Renck Jalongo, Olivia N. Saracho 2016

Policies Concerning Simultaneous Submissions
From Unpublishable to Publishable
Professional Roles and Publishable Writing

Many scholars are unaware about the rules that govern submitting manuscripts for review. The committees responsible for reviewing conference proposals, for example, may limit the number of proposals on which a presenter’s name can appear. When articles are submitted to professional journals, there also is a prohibition against sending it to more than one outlet simultaneously. The reasons behind both of these policies are easier to understand when you consider that reviewing others’ work is uncompensated service from respected scholars. If an individual “floods” the conference with several proposals or sends the same manuscript to several different possible publications, it is an imposition on the good will and volunteer time of other scholars. Furthermore, if a manuscript is simultaneously submitted to multiple journals and is accepted by more than one, what then? The worst thing to do is allow it to be published twice; that would be embarrassing for the journal editors and a clear case of self-plagiarism. The alternative would be to withdraw the manuscript from one of the outlets that accepted it—another irritating outcome for the reviewers and editor who took the time to read and critique the work. One exception to this policy against simultaneous submission is in the case of pursuing a contract with a commercial publisher. In this situation, it is a for-profit business and the reviewers probably get some form of modest compensation—for example, a free book chosen from the publisher’s current catalog or a small honorarium. Even in this situation, in the interest of fair play, authors should let the publishing company know if they intend to pursue more than one publisher.

Online Tool

Check to see if your institution has a site license with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) http://www.citiprogram.org. If so, complete the Authorship module that discusses ethical issues in intellectual property.