Researchers estimate that the Medline database contains 121 000 duplicate articles. They analysed more than 62 213 abstracts indexed in Medline and found that 421 (1.4%) were duplicates with the same authors. They extrapolated this to the entire database, they write in a commentary in
Nature (2008;451:397-9; doi:
10.1038/451397a). The detection of duplicate papers has not kept up with the rapid growth in scientific publication, they say, and they call on journals to use software to identify duplication and the community to expose unethical authors. Duplicate publication was discussed on a
Nature blog
http://network.nature.com/forums/harvardpublishingforum/954. (See
Bioinformatics 2008;24:243-9; doi:
10.1093/bioinformatics/btm574.)
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