Q: Can I submit my manuscript if my systematic review partly overlaps with a published paper?
I am writing a systematic review about an area, but I found a paper about the same area already published online. However, it is not entirely the same as my manuscript: the published paper compares a major A and B in the area, while my manuscript is about everything including A and B. Nevertheless, the area overlaps and there is considerable overlap. So, I am wondering if I should submit my manuscript to another journal.
It is great that you are keeping track of other related literature even while writing your own systematic review! Staying informed is one of the key habits of a highly productive researcher.
Based on the information you have provided, your concern is understandable. The other paper appeared in your target journal, is around two major aspects (A and B) in your research area, and has considerable overlap with the paper you are writing. Therefore, if you were to submit your paper to this journal, they may not see much novelty in your paper and therefore desk-reject your paper. So, you could consider the following things:
- A systematic review is around a specific research question. So, if your question is different from that in the published paper, there may indeed be novelty in your paper.
- In addition to the above, you could consider looking at literature other than that in the published paper. You could also aim to arrive at different findings and analyses.
- In case you believe that despite doing the above, you will not be able to make your paper very different from the published paper, you can go ahead and submit to another journal. When doing this, you can mention how your paper is different from the published paper and also cite the paper if needed.
All the best for your review and submission!
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This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage