Abstract
What purpose does a medical journal serve? Ideally, a medical journal is a conduit for the transmission of information useful in the understanding and treatment of disease. Realistically, medical journals also serve a less noble role. They provide a mechanism by which careers are advanced, reputations are made, and job security is enhanced. It is unfortunate that these two missions are not separable. The very existence of the latter may lead to the corruption of the former. 1 Although fraudulent manipulation of scientific data is the most blatant example of crimes, other more subtle, softer violations are increasing in frequency. Duplicate publication is possibly the most creative of the ethical transgressions. 2 This involves the deliberate transformation of a manuscript from an original to an altered state. The change is effected to create the illusion of two independent publications. The similarities between the two are blurred so that the
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
