Q: Is adding literature review of a published paper in another manuscript considered duplicate publication?

Detailed Question -

I am a medical clinician. Would it be regarded as a duplicated publication if I use a clinical case accepted as a short communication (I was a first author for it), in another paper as narrative review? I am adding some literature review to the Discussion section of the published short communication in order to exclude differential diseases. As per my understanding for medical clinical papers, it is a natural process that; first, a new disease or knowledge is recognized and then they are summarized to be a narrative review.

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

A duplicate submission is one where the second paper is substantially similar to another published paper by the same author. In your case, since the only additions are a discussion to exclude differential diseases; in essence, you are not reporting a new finding, and this would be considered as a duplicate submission.

If, however, you think that the discussion is very novel or important for understanding the case, you may try to submit it again. In this case, you will need to cite the previous publication, obtain permission from the publisher to re-publish some of the data (as inevitably, at least some of the data will overlap), and also, clearly mention in your cover letter to the editor of the next journal that you have previously published the case as a short communication, and a provide a rationale as to why you strongly feel that an additional discussion on it would be beneficial to the medical community.

Related reading:

Duplicate publications and simultaneous submissions

Can I submit a modified version of an already submitted paper to a new journal?

Can two papers with same data but different analysis be considered duplicate publication?