As an academic, Emerald has full right to defend themselves and explain
their position.  However as the author of the report, I must highlight some
factual errors in the response:

In the second paragraph Ms. Crawford writes, "However, the activity was not
without the knowledge of the authors as implied".  I did not imply in my
article that the authors did not know -- in fact I acknowledged in my
Results section that they did.  Emerald/MCB UP activity was covert to
*readers and subscribers*.  This is the main point of the research and why
Emerald/MCB UP behavior was considered unethical.

In the third paragraph Ms. Crawford writes, "During the period 1989 to
2000".  This should be 1989 to 2001.  In June 2001, MCB University Press
officially changed their name to Emerald, and I found many instances of
article duplication up until the final issues of 2001.  While I did
identify other later instances of duplication in 2002 and 2003, the
publisher notes that these might have been mistakes or the responsibility
of another editorial group and not purposeful duplication.  I accept this
interpretation for the latter instances, yet need to state that article
duplication took place on Emerald's watch and not relegated to the old
company name.

Respectfully,
Philip Davis

>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date:    Tue, 9 Nov 2004 14:58:55 -0000
>From:    Gillian Crawford <GCrawford@EMERALDINSIGHT.COM>
>Subject: Dual Publication : Emerald's Response
>
>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