This is a flow chart that asks questions about how information is reused in order to determine what type of reuse or duplciation it is . The colors generalize the acceptability of each type. 

San Jose State University

When an entire work or its core content is published again for a different readership. This can be done to make a work more accessible. Examples would be publishing an article in another language or adapting a journal article into a book chapter. Acceptability of this depends on permissions from the publisher of the original work. 

Adaptive Publication in Stand-Alone Learning Content

When material from an unpublished work is recycled and used in a work that is then published. An example would be taking a conference poster and using content in a journal article. This is a common in academic literature and widely accepted. 

Developmental Recycling in Stand-Alone Learning Content

When an entire work or its core content is published again without meaningful changes such that it is essentially the same document. An example would be submitting the same manuscript (even with minor changes) to multiple journals. This is widely considered unacceptable. 

Duplicate Publications in Stand-Alone Learning Content

When material from a published work is used in a limited form in another published work. In this case, the content is adjusted to fit in the context of another work. An example would be using content from the background section or methodology from an article in another article. Acceptability of this type of recycling is complicated and can depend on a number of factors. Generally, it is acceptable given that the ammount is small. 

Adaptive Recycling in Stand-Alone Learning Content

Moskovitz, C. (2021). Standardizing terminology for text recycling in research writing. Learned Publishing, 34(3), 370-378. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1372

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