ATS Policy on Duplicate Publication

The ATS would like to remind members, authors and readers of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM), American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology (AJRCMB) and Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society (PATS) about the journals’ policy on duplicate publishing.

“ATS journals do not publish original contributions that contain a significant portion of material that has been published or submitted for publication elsewhere, with the exception of abstracts containing no more than 400 words,” said journal publisher Diane Gern. “As a general guideline, any material that has been published in print or online is considered to be in the public domain and to have been published—and the journal editors reserve the right to determine what constitutes significant duplicate publication.”

Please refer to the journals’ instructions for authors, which can be found at www.thoracic.org/journals/ajrccm/instructions-for-contributors.php; www.thoracic.org/journals/ajrcmb/instructions-for-contributors.php; and www.thoracic.org/journals/pats/instructions-for-contributors.php. Alternatively, you may also refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ guidelines at www.icmje.org/index.htm.