Apologies for Cross-posting

Dual Publication:  Emerald's Response

We respect the right of the author to pursue this kind of study and have
extended our full cooperation, including personal conversations between
the author and one of our Directors.

We accept that explicit notice of dual publication should have been
published alongside each article and regret any inconvenience as a
result of that notice not being given.  However, the activity was not
without the knowledge of the authors as implied, as all reasonable steps
were taken by MCB to contact and inform the authors of our intent to
publish their article in another journal.

During the period 1989 to 2000, articles considered to be of particular
merit were occasionally published within another MCB journal where it
was felt that their content would be of interest or benefit to the
additional journal audience. Today, Emerald relies on comprehensive
databases and search engines to provide wide dissemination of noteworthy
articles.
   .
In addition, when certain journals were acquired, previously published
articles were used to help where we had inherited a significant delay in
the despatch schedule.  Again, we acknowledge that explicit notice of
republication should have been made when it took place in these
circumstances.  To put this into context, the republication of articles
in Clinical Performance in Quality Healthcare were from the British
Journal of Clinical Governance, with which it was subsequently merged
(within 3 months) and for which there was an identified subscriber
overlap between the two journals of five customers worldwide. We have
conducted our own research and will contact all those customers
affected.

In order to explain to researchers and users working with Emerald
content now, and in the future, that certain articles were published
twice in different journals, Emerald is adding a 'note' to the SGML
(which is the header information) following the abstract which will
explain where the paper is also published.   This work will be complete
by the end of the year.

There has been no deliberate dual publication since 2001.  There are two
accidental instances of dual publication to our knowledge in recent
times - one a book review and one an article that appeared in Equal
Opportunities International.  This is a journal owned and published by
Barmarick Publications.  The content is not owned by Emerald, but is
currently hosted on the Emerald website.

To reiterate, our policy is not to practice dual publication.  We may
however, occasionally republish an article with the author's consent and
full attribution.   These circumstances may include a themed collection
or review issue, a landmark paper / classic article or an anniversary
issue of a notable journal.

Publishing practices at Emerald today emphasize our communication and
service levels to customers.  We are dedicated to building lasting
relationships with librarians and faculty members and to focusing on the
future.  In 2002 Emerald was awarded the Charleston Advisor Award for
customer support.  We regularly survey our authors and library customers
to gauge their views on how we serve their needs, and the results are
very positive.  Ongoing communication with our stakeholders provides
valuable feedback to improve the service to our authors, library,
researchers and user communities.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused to our authors and
customers and fully acknowledge that attribution should have been given.
We now have an explicitly stated policy and are correcting the SGML of
affected articles.

If you were affected by any of the issues covered within this article,
please contact:

Gillian Crawford
Head of Corporate Communications
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Tel:    +44 1274 777700
Email:  gcrawford@emeraldinsight.com
Web:    www.emeraldinsight.com