For cases like this, I suggest to go to the Committee on Publication Ethics website. They have flowcharts for each case. In a similar case they did this:

"What to do if you suspect a reviewer has appropriated an author’s idea or data” in such cases. Even if the other journal has published the paper first, the editor can consult the submission dates for confirmation. The first journal would then have to retract the paper on the grounds of plagiarism, if indeed this had been investigated and proven by the institution. It is hoped that the journal would follow the COPE guidelines on retraction. Since the journal’s review process was exonerated, it is really up to the author to pursue the matter and the editor should encourage the author to do this. The author and/or editor could consider contacting the grant giving body as well as the reviewer’s institution and ask them to investigate. The editor should also contact the editor of the journal that published the possibly plagiarised work and inform him/her of the situation."

From: http://publicationethics.org/case/suspicion-breach-proper-peer-reviewer-behaviour

Best Regards

For cases like this, I suggest to go to the Committee on Publication Ethics website. They have flowcharts for each case. In a similar case they did this:

"What to do if you suspect a reviewer has appropriated an author’s idea or data” in such cases. Even if the other journal has published the paper first, the editor can consult the submission dates for confirmation. The first journal would then have to retract the paper on the grounds of plagiarism, if indeed this had been investigated and proven by the institution. It is hoped that the journal would follow the COPE guidelines on retraction. Since the journal’s review process was exonerated, it is really up to the author to pursue the matter and the editor should encourage the author to do this. The author and/or editor could consider contacting the grant giving body as well as the reviewer’s institution and ask them to investigate. The editor should also contact the editor of the journal that published the possibly plagiarised work and inform him/her of the situation."

From: http://publicationethics.org/case/suspicion-breach-proper-peer-reviewer-behaviour

Best Regards

Hi Rolando. Thank you. That is a great site. I'll try to figure out if this is worth pursuing. I mean - does it really mean anything in the long run. Maybe we're better off just getting our manuscript published and then hopefully people ignore the Letter when searching for manuscripts on pubmed.

I will find it very difficult to pursue such things - Is it possible that the reviewer comes up with the same idea independently?

I guess it really depends on how close the idea is. Maybe another thought is this - is it possible to "graciously" cite the letter and use it to add strength to your own argument?

Personally, I had heard of a case whereby someone copied another researcher's hard disk and published the paper in the copied hard disk. To make matters worse, one of the author of the presumably published manuscript (which was stolen from another person) is a dean in a university.

I agree with you Maurice. It's very hard to pursue such things. I don't think that the reviewer came up with the same idea but I cannot know. It's just pretty coincidental that the titles of the manuscripts are "almost" identical. Their manuscript has things that are changed and they have left things out that we've included. Seems like a "revised version" of our leaving out the things that were of minor importance.

How likely is it to add a bit more evidence into your paper?

Then pitch your paper in a sense that you "validated" the results of a recent publication and came to the same conclusion. By citing their letter and with your chair's approval, send the authors of the letter a copy of your eventual published paper - almost like saying "we know what you did".

From a bystander's point of view, I will think it is critical to get your paper out as soon as possible to make it appear as 2 parallel papers.

@Lars: I think it is definitively worth pursuing. First of all, reviewers have to refuse reviewing a manuscript based on conflict of interest. Second, that is why the submission date appears on the manuscrip. If your manuscript was submitted before (although rejected because of the unethical reviewer) there is record of that.

All this is independent from two scientists having the same idea at the same time and publishing it, which is valid.

I recommend voicing your concerns to the editors of the journals that are involved.

I agree with Rolando. I addition, no matter the similarities in published articles, no two papers should be exactly the same as per idea, concept, flow and conclusion. Also, the reviewer should have given a reason for rejecting the manuscript. What was/were his reason(s)? There could be similar papers but certainly not the same approach. This is worth pursuing if the author(s) wish(es) to.

Both papers are published so I'll let it go. Thanks for all advices.

Being a novice in this "world of research", I was chocked by the situation you described.

But it's a bit sad to see you are letting it go...

That reviewer will probably continue such behaviour, and someone should put an end at that kind of atrocity. On the other hand, I understand that it might not be so easy to accomplish, since your case would have to be exposed to the community and it seems there is not an effective way for protecting the "victims" of this kind of theft.

It was an open access journal BMC emergency medicine and the reviewer is not anonymous. Both names of reviewers where stated there.

Helia Jacinto: I agree with you in general. The problem is that the reviewer claims that he already had the study ready when he received our manuscript and then paused his submission. This is almost impossible to prove...

Case closed. :)

I consider this worse than Plagiarism!!

I agree with Issan. This is worse than plagiarism. But a think that some reviwer to block papers in own benefits or colleagues benefits. The reasons to reject many times are umbelievable, and other times ridiculous.

How is it possible to publish something in a week? because that is the time I consider he had, so that his journal could be published before yours. (just a thought)

There are really very few original and only views on any given topic.

In my humble opinion, this is a clear case of conflict of interest. Usually when a manuscript is handed out for review, only the abstract is made available to the potential reviewer. By reading the abstract, the reviewer should have refrained from assessing the merit of the manuscript.

This case has many aspects:

1. LEGAL: If the reviewer has exactly copied your work, you must write a letter to the editor-in-charge and note that your reviewer has done this act and prove yourself . If there are any laws in your country related to such cases, you can sue them. But the point is a smart editor-in-charge will omit the reviewer from the journals reviewers list. But be very careful! You must prove your claim- sent a copy of your article and a copy of the copied article. Give a link of the new copied article or scan it. If your country does not have any laws and regulations, send your article and the copy of the copied article to your colleagues and professors related to the study. But be very careful- this is a dangerous method and OF COURSE the last STEP. Of course, if this happens by someone in the same university/institution, you must follow the laws of the university/institution.

2. DERIVING From OTHERS IDEAS: You can't stop people from getting/coming to an idea by reading a book, article,.... or even reviewing one. The point is that people in history have got their new ideas from others' previous ideas. Many authors write a novel, short story, screenplay,... from the theme of others. This is a NEW version of the same theme. This is also seen in science history- two scientists coming with the same idea even not knowing from each others thought.

If this is true, it is very bad to hear that. Do you think this is science or this is a real scientist or research. I suggest to write to theJournal (editor in chief) as well as a short comment to the journal as a letter to the editor describing your article and his article to answer your comment on. Once again. I do not think this is science and can be a referee for a journal.

If this is true, it is very bad to hear that. Do you think this is science or this is a real scientist or research. I suggest to write to theJournal (editor in chief) as well as a short comment to the journal as a letter to the editor describing your article and his article to answer your comment on. Once again. I do not think this is science and can be a referee for a journal.

One point of clarification. The above responses point to contacting the editors. It is unclear to which Journal each is referring, the one that "leaked"  the stolen work or the one that published it.

It might be a coincidence that the editor was working on the same study/project when you submitted your manuscript for publication. You must also note that rejection or acceptance of manuscript for publication is subject to reviewers' comments on the manuscript not only the decision of the editor. However, if the editor purposely rejected your manuscript in order to steal your idea and publish it elsewhere, it is unethical and it worths challenging.

I am stuck in this situation right now. I had submitted my manuscript in a reputed journal on june 19th 2019and it got rejected on aug 8th 2019.

I was about to submit it in another journal today with minor changes. When i checked the plagiarism at turnitin, it was showing 97%. My complete article is stolen and submitted as a student paper at Universidad de Sevilla, spain.

Can someone help how to tackle this situation?

I will create turnitin account for you..

Contact me by mail

[email protected]

Whats-app: +8801756240880

Himanshu,

I'd suggest contacting the editor of the publishing journal, sharing briefly your concern and offer to provide the PDF of the submission to the aforementioned journal for comparison to the final published document.

Md.Irfanul Islam Thank you. I do have a turnitin account provided by my institution.

Christopher A Taylor Thank you for the suggestion. I had contacted the chief editor of the journal regarding this but didn't received any response yet.