Editors publishing in their own journals – a systematic review of prevalence and a discussion of normative aspects

Abstract

Journal editors are the main gatekeepers in scientific publishing. Yet there is a concern that they may receive preferential treatment when submitting manuscripts to their own journals. The prevalence of such self-publishing is not known, nor the consequences for reliability and trustworthiness of published research. This study aimed to systematically review the literature on the prevalence of editors publishing in their own journals and to conduct a normative ethical analysis of this practice. A systematic review was performed using the following databases: Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science. Articles that provided primary data about editors publishing in own journals were included. We identified 15 studies meeting inclusion criteria. There was large variability of self-publishing across fields, journals, and editors, ranging from those who never published in their own journal to those publishing extensively in their own journal. Many studies suffered from serious methodological limitations. Nevertheless, our results show that there are settings where levels of self-publication are very high. We recommend that editors-in-chief and associate editors who have considerable power in journals refrain from publishing research articles in their own journals. Journals should have clear processes in place about treatment of articles submitted by editorial board members.

Prolific non-research authors in high impact scientific journals: meta-research study

“…However, for researchers it is notoriously difficult to have such a pervasive presence in a single journal; their work is typically spread across many publication venues. Fourth, other scientists have previously voiced concern about editors-in-chief publishing in their own journals (Scanff et al, 2021; Helgesson et al, 2022). Here, one should separate between original research and editorializing.…”

Should editors-in-chief publish in their own journals? ‘Publish elsewhere’ is not a solution

“…Editors-in-chief (EICs) of journals are the main gatekeepers in scholarly publishing. 1 They must ensure, among other things, that their journals are of the highest possible publishing and scientific standard. 2,3 Some EICs are also active researchers.…”

“…[4][5][6][7] Several articles have been published in recent years investigating the extent of such self-publishing practice in various disciplines, including medicine, 8 communication, 9 and public administration. 10 The recent article by Helgesson et al 1 Is 'publish elsewhere' an ethical solution? Some publishers, as well as professional and publication ethics bodies, have issued guidelines for the publication of EICs in their own journals.…”