Q: How should I report a case of duplicate submission anonymously?

If you’ve identified a case of duplicate publication, and want to report it to the proper authorities, you can write a mail to the editors-in-chief of both the journals. One of the reasons the editors of the journals find it difficult to seriously investigate anonymous complaints is lack of clarity about the specific misconduct being alleged. To help the editors or the concerned authorities assess the validity of your allegations, please ensure your mail contains a detailed explanation and specific evidence to support your claim.

While some publishers like Springer Nature consider anonymous complaints, some publishers do not accept anonymous complaints about the chance of complainant’s prejudice or biases or the lack of credibility of the facts. Therefore, while communicating your complaints to the journal please check if the publisher has any guidelines regarding the preferred way of accepting complaining.

Related reading:   

• Increased openness is the best way to tackle ethical problems in research and publishing
• Do journals' instructions for authors pay enough attention to ethical issues?
• What can I do to resolve the problem of duplicate submission?