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Letters to the Editor to:

Scientific Articles:
Edwin E. Spencer, Jr., Antonio Valdevit, Helen Kambic, John J. Brems, and Joseph P. Iannotti
The Effect of Humeral Component Anteversion on Shoulder Stability with Glenoid Component Retroversion
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2005; 87: 808-814 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
*Letters to the Editor: Submit a response to this article

Electronic letters published:

[Read Letter to the Editor] Redundant publications – It is time to control
KRISHNA REDDI BODDU SIVA RAMA, SUNIL APSINGI   (27 July 2005)
[Read Letter to the Editor] Dr. Iannoti responds to the Editor and to Dr. Rama
Joseph P. Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D.   (26 July 2005)

Redundant publications – It is time to control 27 July 2005
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KRISHNA REDDI BODDU SIVA RAMA,
Orthopaedic Research Fellow
Imperial College, London,
SUNIL APSINGI

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Re: Redundant publications – It is time to control

r.rama{at}imperial.ac.uk KRISHNA REDDI BODDU SIVA RAMA, et al.

Dear Sir,

We read the article by Spencer Jr., et al, (1) with great interest. But unfortunately this happens to be a ‘redundant publication’ (2). A recent publication by Iannotti, et al, (3) in a peer reviewed orthopaedic journal contained essentially similar data, discussion and conclusions as the present article. The principle author of each of these two articles co- authored the other article. The sections of materials and methods, results and discussion of the present article (1) are merely elaborated versions of the section titled “Glenoid malpositioning: humeral stability in a cadaveric model” in the article by Iannotti, et al, (3). Figure 4 and figure 5 in the present paper (1) are two dimensional charts of the same data, which was presented as three dimensional charts in figure 5 and figure 6 respectively in the other article (3). Neither article has provided a cross reference identifying the other.

A recent call by the editors of three major orthopaedic journals (4) strongly criticises the practice of redundant publication. Dual publications not only waste the editorial time and resources (5), but also cause a confounding effect on the meta-analysis (6).

Concurrent submission seems to be the main reason in the present case, which made the ‘duplication’, undetectable by the editors. Ultimately it is the authors’ ethical responsibility to both the journal and the readers to avoid such practice.

References:

1. Edwin E. Spencer, Jr., Antonio Valdevit, Helen Kambic, John J. Brems, and Joseph P. Iannotti. The Effect of Humeral Component Anteversion on Shoulder Stability with Glenoid Component Retroversion. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2005;87:808-814.

2. Committee on publication ethics. Guidelines on good publication practice: COPE report 2003.London. http://www.publicationethics.org.uk/ guidelines/reports/2003/2003pdf15.pdf (accessed 01/04/2005).

3. Iannotti JP, Spencer EE, Winter U, Deffenbaugh D, Williams G. Prosthetic positioning in total shoulder arthroplasty. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2005 Jan-Feb;14(1 Suppl S):111S-121S.

4. Brand RA, Heckman JD, Scott J.Changing ethical standards in scientific publication. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2004 Sep;86-A(9):1855-6.

5. Lowry S, Smith J. Duplicate publication. BMJ. 1992 Apr 18;304(6833):999-1000.

6. Tramer MR, Reynolds DJ, Moore RA, McQuay HJ. Impact of covert duplicate publication on meta-analysis: a case study. BMJ. 1997 13;315(7109):635-40.
Dr. Iannoti responds to the Editor and to Dr. Rama 26 July 2005
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Joseph P. Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D.,
Professor & Chairman
Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Fdn., Cleveland, OH 44195

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Re: Dr. Iannoti responds to the Editor and to Dr. Rama

iannotj{at}ccf.org Joseph P. Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Upon receipt of the letter from Dr. Rama, the Editors in Chief of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery conferred. They asked for and received an independent review about whether there had been duplicate publications, and then requested a response from Dr. Iannoti. Dr. Ionnoti's response follows.

Dear Dr. Heckman:

This letter is in response to a Letter to the Editor from Dr. Rama regarding redundant publication in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery.

Please accept our apology for any apparent duplication of our research work. It was the author's intention to publish a review article in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and to have our only peer reviewed publication of the entire work published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. The Journal of Bone and Joint paper presented the methods, and all of the data and conclusions of a cadaver study to help define the effect of humeral torsion on humeral stability in the presence of glenoid component retroversion. It is stated in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery that this publication is a review article. The material published in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery was a brief summary of this cadaver work and also included the work of other investigators and a general summary of the issues related to component malposition. It was our original expectation when writing the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery review article that the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery article would have already been in print. Both papers were printed about one month apart. We regret any perception of duplication of publication.

Sincerely yours,

Joseph P. Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D. Professor and Chairman Department of Orthopaedic Surgery