Waiting months for one journal is frustrating, but sending the same paper to a second one breaks a rule medical journals enforce. Here is what counts and what to do instead.
The short answer for medical journals
No. If you are submitting to a medical or health sciences journal, you cannot send the same manuscript to a second journal while the first one is still considering it. The ICMJE Recommendations, which many medical journals follow, put it plainly: "Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal."
Two details in that sentence matter. "The same manuscript" covers a lightly reworded or retitled version as well as an identical file. And "in the same or different languages" means that translating your paper and sending the translation to a journal in another country while the original is under review is still simultaneous submission.
The rule is about timing, not about how many journals a paper can try. You can submit to one journal, receive a decision or withdraw, and then submit to another, as many times as you need to. Sequential submission is normal. Parallel submission is the problem.
A paper can move between journals as often as it needs to. What it cannot do is sit at two of them at the same time.
Why journals insist on one at a time
The ICMJE gives two reasons. The first is a dispute over who owns the paper: if two journals accept the same manuscript, both can claim the right to publish it. The second is waste. Two or more journals might "unknowingly and unnecessarily undertake the work of peer review, edit the same manuscript, and publish the same article."
That second point is bigger than it looks. Peer reviewers are usually unpaid volunteers, and editors have limited time to find them. A manuscript under review at two journals consumes twice the goodwill for one paper. If both journals publish it, the same results then appear twice in the literature, and anyone pooling studies, such as a meta-analysis team, may count one set of patients as two.
There is also a practical reason that affects you directly. At submission, many journals ask you to sign or tick a declaration. Directive Publications' own submission form, for example, asks authors to confirm that the manuscript "is not under consideration or published elsewhere." Submitting the same paper twice means at least one of those declarations is false.
What counts as the same manuscript
The hard cases are rarely about identical files. They are about overlap. This table sorts the common situations using the ICMJE Recommendations.
| Situation | Treated as | What you need to do |
|---|---|---|
| Same manuscript sent to two journals | Duplicate submission | Choose one; withdraw from the other formally |
| Translated version sent to a second journal | Duplicate submission | Same as above |
| Retitled version, or authors reordered | Duplicate submission | Retitling does not create a new paper |
| Two distinct papers from one study, submitted in parallel | Allowed with disclosure | Say so in the submission letter and provide copies of the related paper |
| Preprint on a preprint server | Not prior publication under ICMJE | Tell the journal, and check its preprint policy |
| Abstract or poster at a scientific meeting | Not prior publication under ICMJE | Mention it if the journal asks |
| Brief results posted in a qualifying trial registry | Not prior publication under ICMJE | Cite the registration as required |
The fourth row is where early-career authors most often go wrong. Splitting one study into several papers is not automatically duplicate submission, but each journal must know about the others. The ICMJE asks that when a manuscript is "contained in or closely related to another paper that has been submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere, the letter of submission should clearly say so." Whether the split is justified at all is a separate question, covered in our explainer on salami slicing and duplicate publication.
Policies on preprints and conference material vary by journal, so check the instructions for authors of the journal you are targeting rather than relying on the ICMJE position alone.
How simultaneous submission comes to light
Authors who submit to two journals at once often assume nobody will notice. That assumption is weak for several reasons.
- Reviewers overlap. Within a specialty, the same experts review for many journals. A reviewer can receive the same manuscript from two editors, and the guidance editors use starts from exactly that scenario: a reviewer telling the editor about suspected redundant publication.
- Text-matching software. The COPE flowchart on redundant publication in a submitted manuscript notes that redundancy may be detected by text-matching software such as Crossref Similarity Check. Once one version is published, the other journal's check can find it.
- Publication itself. If both journals proceed, two published versions of one paper are easy for readers, indexers and meta-analysts to find.
What editors do when they find it
The ICMJE is direct about consequences. Authors who attempt duplicate publication without notification "should expect at least prompt rejection of the submitted manuscript." If the editor did not know and the article has already been published, it "might warrant retraction with or without the author's explanation or approval."
The COPE flowchart sets out the editor's side in more detail. Where the overlap is major, the editor contacts the corresponding author in writing, ideally enclosing the signed authorship statement or cover letter that said the work was not published elsewhere, along with the evidence. If there is no reply, the editor tries all the other authors.
What happens next depends on the explanation:
- A satisfactory explanation, such as an honest error or unclear journal instructions, can lead to a letter explaining the journal's position and expected future behaviour, with rejection or revision considered.
- An unsatisfactory explanation, or an admission, leads to a rejection letter to all authors, and the editor may consider informing the author's superior or the person responsible for research governance at the institution.
- No response at all leads the editor to contact the institution, and the flowchart suggests following up every 3 to 6 months if the institution does not reply.
For an early-career researcher, the institutional step is the costly one. A rejected paper can be resubmitted. A research integrity concern sent to your department is much harder to undo.
How to move a paper on properly
If a journal is taking too long, or you have decided another journal is a better fit, the legitimate route is short.
- Ask for a status update first. A polite message to the editorial office with your manuscript number often resolves the delay. Our guide to how long peer review takes in medical journals can help you judge whether a wait is unusual.
- Agree the decision with all co-authors. Every author approved the original submission, so every author should agree to withdraw it.
- Send a written withdrawal request. Give the manuscript number, the title and a brief reason. Ask the journal to confirm the withdrawal.
- Wait for written confirmation. Until the journal confirms, treat the paper as still under consideration there. Keep the confirmation email.
- Then submit elsewhere. Your declaration at the new journal is now true.
If the first journal offers to transfer the manuscript to another title, the paper still moves one journal at a time; see how manuscript transfers and cascades work.
Some publishers have their own withdrawal procedures or restrictions at later stages of review, so read the journal's withdrawal policy before you start.
Legitimate ways to shorten the wait
The pressure to submit twice usually comes from time: a thesis deadline, a grant report, a job application. There are honest ways to reduce that pressure.
- Choose more carefully up front. A desk rejection after a poor journal match costs weeks you cannot get back. Checking scope, article types and recent papers before you submit is cheaper than any shortcut.
- Ask about fit before you submit. Some journals invite you to ask the editors whether work in preparation fits the journal before a formal submission. PLOS Biology, for example, takes these inquiries by email, separately from its submission system.
- Post a preprint if the journal allows it. A preprint makes your findings public and citable while peer review runs, without being a second submission.
- Respond quickly to decisions. Days spent on your side of a revision count towards the total just as much as the journal's.
Fields where simultaneous submission is normal
You may hear colleagues in other disciplines say they submit to many journals at once. In some fields that is accurate. In US legal scholarship, for example, authors commonly submit one article to many law reviews at once; the University of Chicago Law Review asks authors to tell it when they have received an offer of publication from another journal so it can try to expedite its review.
That convention does not transfer to medicine or the sciences. What matters is the policy of the journal you are submitting to, stated in its instructions for authors and repeated in the declaration you sign. For medical journals following the ICMJE Recommendations, the answer is one manuscript at one journal, until you have a decision or a confirmed withdrawal.
Directive Publications sets out its peer review process so you can check fit and timelines before you commit a manuscript to one journal.
Frequently asked questions
Is it allowed to submit to two journals at once?
Not for medical and most scientific journals. The ICMJE Recommendations state that authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal. Journals that follow these recommendations usually ask you to confirm at submission that the paper is not under consideration elsewhere.
Can I submit to another journal while I wait for a decision?
Not with the same manuscript. If the wait is too long, ask the editorial office for a status update, and if you decide to move on, send a written withdrawal request agreed by all authors. Submit elsewhere only after the journal confirms the withdrawal in writing.
Does posting a preprint count as simultaneous submission?
No. A preprint server is not a journal, and the ICMJE Recommendations say a journal can still consider a full report after a preprint. You should tell the journal that the work has been posted as a preprint and check that the journal's own preprint policy allows it.
Can I send two different papers from the same study to two journals at the same time?
Yes, if they are genuinely different papers, but you must say so. The ICMJE Recommendations ask authors to state in the submission letter when a manuscript is closely related to another paper submitted or accepted elsewhere, and to provide copies of the related material so the editor can judge the overlap.
What happens if a journal finds out I submitted the same paper elsewhere?
The ICMJE Recommendations say authors should expect at least prompt rejection, and that an article already published might warrant retraction. COPE guidance for editors also covers writing to all authors and, where the explanation is unsatisfactory, considering contacting the authors' institution.