Q: Can I use content from my Japanese publication for an English paper?
I have published my Japanese paper in a journal 1 year ago. As a developmental research, I will translate the part of this Japanese paper to English, and will submit to an English journal after adding new contents. (The 3/4 will be new contents, and the old from Japanese paper will be 1/4.) From the Japanese paper, I will use the same 2 figures with saying “reproduce”, and a flowchart which is translated to English. The number of figures in the Japanese paper was about 15, and the one in the new English paper will be about 10. Would this practice be regarded as misconduct?
Ideally, you should inform both the editor of the Japanese and the English journal about this. In fact, there is nothing wrong in using content from a previous publication, provided you disclose it and cite the source. If you try to hide the fact, you might face allegations of self-plagiarism later. Moreover, if you are using figures from the Japanese paper, you will have to seek permission from the editor: else, it will be considered a breach of copyright. If you are clear about everything, your intent nobody will not be suspected.
Thus, you should first write to the Japanese journal, seeking permission to reuse the figures and informing them that you will use part of the content for an English journal. Once the editor approves, you can write to the English journal explaining that you wish to reuse some content and figures from an earlier publication and that you have secured the approval of the editor of the Japanese journal. You should provide your correspondence with the journal as evidence. You should also cite the source within the manuscript.
This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage