May I submit a manuscript which has already been published or accepted by some international conferences?
Yes, you may submit such a manuscript. Based on the IPSJ policy where the final research result will be published as a journal paper, the following manuscripts are regarded as research in progress and not as a multiple-submission: 1) manuscripts presented by National Conferences, SIG-meetings, Symposiums, and International Conferences, regardless of being sponsored or carried out in cooperation with IPSJ, 2) manuscripts that are extensions of technical notes published by the IPSJ. When submitting the above manuscripts to the IPSJ, be careful about possible copyright violations. Some scientific societies retain their copyrights to prevent unwanted usage including translations. In such case, you must obtain permission for reuse of your previously published manuscript before submitting it to the IPSJ. Moreover, suppose you have manuscripts that are published as research in progress. In that case, you are recommended to cite them for the following reasons: to avoid self-plagiarism and to avoid confusing readers who find similar manuscripts. (For example, “This proposed method was developed based on a previously proposed method in [x],” or “The preliminary research results are reported in [x].”) Additionally, you are also recommended to provide such information for reviewers. Please submit an attachment document summarizing the previously submitted manuscripts. This does not mean your manuscript can omit describing the contents reported by the research-in-progress paper. You should explain the contents to help the readers fully understand its novelty, detail, and evaluation results. If there are some reasons you decide that the citation is unnecessary, you should write the reason on the attachment document and submit it.
May I submit a manuscript which is under review at international conferences?
No, you may not. Based on (1) of the first paragraph in article 4 of Editing Regulations, a manuscript which is currently under review that is also submitted to the IPSJ will be regarded as a multiple-submission.
May I submit a manuscript which is under review at a domestic conference? The manuscript is written in a different language.
No, you may not. Such a manuscript will be regarded as a multiple-submission if both contents are same regardless of the language it is written in.
May I submit a manuscript to an international conference which has already been submitted to the IPSJ?
No, you may not. Based on (1) of the first paragraph in article 4 of Editing Regulations, a manuscript submitted to other journals or conferences for review and whose content is the same as the manuscript submitted to the IPSJ is regarded as a multiple-submission. This is not allowed because it would mean there are two manuscripts with identical contents under review at the same time.
Explain the definition of the “under review” period.
The “under review” period is the term from the submission date until the acceptance date/rejection date/publication date/cancellation date (only when the cancellation is admitted), whichever comes first.
A manuscript which I will submit to the IPSJ is similar to other manuscripts that have been submitted to international conferences or journals (including all journals/transactions of the IPSJ). What should I do?
If your manuscript content is the same as other submitted manuscripts (regardless of the language they are written in), this will be judged a multiple-submission and rejected. Make sure the contents of your paper are different in order to avoid this problem. Besides that, as shown in “Information for Authors,” any related papers written by the author(s) (including papers written in other languages) should be cited as reference literature in the manuscript to submit the IPSJ or a list of these related papers should be attached when submitting the manuscript to the IPSJ. Manuscripts under submission cannot be listed in the reference literature, so clearly specify them on a separate sheet attached to the manuscript. Failing to take actions may cause your manuscript to be judged as a multiple-submission and rejected.
May I submit a manuscript (manuscript A) whose contents are an extended version of my previously published manuscript (manuscript X) in an international conference followed by submitting a manuscript (manuscript B) whose contents are same as manuscript X?
Yes, you may. In this case, you must clarify the originality of manuscript A in comparison with manuscript X so that the ECJ is able to review manuscript A appropriately. In other words, the authors should state in writing how manuscript A differs in originality from manuscript X, even though it is an extension of manuscript X. Besides that, for manuscript B, authors should state in writing that manuscript B is based on manuscript A and has been granted copyrights from the sponsor of the international conference. If the above explanations are not stated in writing in the body of these manuscripts or their footnotes, then manuscript B might be judged as a multiple-submission.
What points should I pay attention to when submitting a manuscript in order to avoid making a multiple-submission?
The most important point is to make it clear in what way the manuscript is original. Though almost all authors understand the importance of the originality, that originality might be hard to find or written ambiguously in a manuscript. Hard to find originality may cause the reviewer to interpret the content different from the authors and might result in multiple-submissions. In other words, the reviewers might not find any difference between your submitted manuscript and the previously submitted manuscript. Authors must therefore clarify show the originality of their manuscript when submitting it. Besides, when there are similar or related publications or some manuscripts under review, you are required to cite those manuscripts and to attach a list of manuscripts that are under review followed by a clear explanation of how they differ from the manuscript you are submitting. An attached list can be uploaded with your original manuscript.
What is plagiarism?
Based on the definition in “Guidelines on dishonest research practices” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “plagiarism is the unallowed use of the ideas, analysis methods, data, research results, papers, or terminology that are the property of other researchers without citing those researchers or obtaining their relevant consent.” The IPSJ adopts this same definition.
What is self-plagiarism? How can one avoid self-plagiarism?
When you use a part of your previously published manuscript unchanged in a manuscript you are submitting without citing the previous paper, this is regarded as self-plagiarism. The part you used might include not only text but also “experimental data.” Assume for example that “Experimental data X” was created in manuscript A. When you use this “Experimental data X” in other manuscripts, you must also cite the manuscript A. You are not permitted to explain how to create “Experimental data X” in other manuscripts without citing the source. Please also check about the first answer if you write the manuscript using your previous research results presented at National Conferences, SIG-meetings, and so on.
My manuscript needs a citation from my another manuscript. However, the manuscript is under review. How should I submit my manuscript?
Although reviewers have to check the novelty of your submitted manuscript, the manuscripts under submission cannot be listed in the reference. Thus, you should notify the manuscripts under submission by using the attachment document. The IPSJ may ask you to show the manuscript under submission depending on peer review needs.
