Text Recycling in Scientific Writing: What Editors Need to Know
Ruth A Isaacson · Science Editor · 2023
MODERATOR: Kelly Hadsell Federation of State Medical Boards SPEAKERS: Cary Moskovitz Duke University David Hansen Authors Alliance @DigLibCopyright REPORTER: Ruth Isaacson Genetics Society of America Text recycling has long been a source of confusion for researchers, editors, and publishers and is inappropriately regarded as a form of self-plagiarism. To provide clarity regarding text recycling and consensus about what is ethically and legally acceptable, the Text Recycling Research Project1 (TRRP), a multi-institution, NSF-funded initiative, investigates text recycling in STEM research. TRRP members Cary Moskovitz and David Hansen shared some of the TRRP findings and recommendations. TRRP’s definition of text recycling is as follows: Text Recycling is the reuse of textual material (prose, visuals, or equations) in a new document where (1) the material in the new document is identical to that of the source (or substantively equivalent in both form and content), (2) the material is not presented in the new document as a quotation (via quotation marks or block indentation), and (3) at least one author of the new document is also an author of the prior document.2 Moskovitz explained that in publishing, editors often ask authors to rework their materials in 1 of 3 ways to avoid ethical and legal concerns. While on the surface these appear to be reasonable approaches, Moskovitz detailed why text recycling is often more appropriate. Summarize and Cite Editors may ask authors to paraphrase and cite text when it is recycled from a large block of text. However, when documents are behind paywalls, […]