How not to boost your list of publications

The pressure on academics to publish is increasing, and with this pressure there is an alarming trend for some workers, in their naivety, to attempt multiple publication of the same piece of work.

In recent weeks I have had to reject at the last minute two papers, which had gone through the thorough review process for Minerals Engineering. Both papers had been found acceptable for publication, until a Scopus search revealed that they had in fact been published elsewhere, with thinly- veiled different titles, but essentially the same content.

Apart from wasting the valuable time of reviewers and editors, this practice is completely unethical, and those authors found guilty are likely to be blacklisted by the journal.

My advice, therefore, is simple- don't even think about doing this! With modern electronic search tools such as Scopus and ScienceDirect available to journal editors, you are bound to be found out, and your chances of further publication greatly curtailed.