PSPB Approves New Guidelines on Multiple Submission
And Prior Publication

For many years, IEEE multiple publication policy has established a useful
standard for authors and publication volunteers. Authors should only
submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication,
nor which was under review for another refereed publication. Multiple
publication is considered wasteful of funds and space, does not give
members and libraries full value for their subscriptions, and causes
citation and indexing confusion. It is to be avoided except under unusual
circumstances.

However, until recently, there had been little or no specific guidance on
what should be done in the event these standards were not followed. On 18
November 2004, the IEEE Publications Products and Services Board approved
new policies and procedures for handling reported cases of authors who have
submitted the same manuscript to two or more publications, or who have not
properly cited the reuse of their previously published work in newly
submitted papers. These new guidelines are part of the recently approved
(June 2004) guidelines for handling complaints of plagiarism. Section "8.2
Publication Guidelines" of the PSPB Operations Manual now contains another
new sub-section entitled, "Guidelines for Adjudicating Prior Publication,
Multiple Submission, and Reuse of Previous Publications." The purpose of
this new section is to describe The Editor's and Society's prerogative with respect to acceptable
reuse of previously published material.
The author's obligations regarding multiple submission, prior
publication and reuse of previously published work and
appropriate corrective actions that correspond to the degree or type
of misconduct.

The new guidelines recognize that it is common in technical publishing for
material to be presented at various stages of its evolution. As one
example, this can take the form of publishing early ideas in a workshop,
more developed work in a conference and fully developed contributions as
journal or transactions papers. This publication process is an important
means of scientific communication. At the same time, however, the IEEE
requires that this evolutionary process be fully referenced by the author.

Authors who do not properly cite their previous work or who submit a given
manuscript to two or more publications without informing the editor that
the paper is concurrently under review by another publication, are subject
to corrective actions, such as a reminder that the practice is considered inappropriate scholarly
practice. A requirement to submit an apology to the publication editor for
possible publication, and/or suspension of publication in the IEEE publication where the offense
took place for 1 year or, if appropriate, the next volume of the
conference proceedings.

It is at the discretion of each IEEE Organizational Unit whether or not to
allow multiple submissions. The editor of a publication may choose to
re-publish existing material for a variety of reasons, including promoting
wider distribution and serving readers by aggregating special material in a
single publication. This practice continues to be recognized and accepted
by the IEEE.

An updated version of the PSPB Operations Manual is now available at
https://a957.g.akamai.net/f/957/3680/1h/www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/pab/opsmanual.pdf.
The new multiple submission guidelines appear in section 8.2 Publication
Guidelines.

For more information, contact

Bill Hagen, Manager
IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08855
w.hagen@ieee.org
+1 732-562-3966