UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Duplicate publication occurs when essentially the same research findings are published in more than one place without clear disclosure or justification. This can distort the scientific record and waste editorial and reviewer resources. The stem describes publishing the same article with minor changes in multiple journals without disclosure, which matches duplicate publication. Therefore, Option B is the correct answer.

Option A:
Duplicate publication is considered unethical because it gives a misleading impression of the amount of evidence supporting a finding and can unfairly inflate an author’s publication count. Ethical guidelines in higher education and research explicitly warn against this practice, aligning with the scenario in the question.

Option B:
Salami slicing refers to splitting one substantial study into several small publications, each reporting part of the findings. While also problematic if misused, it is conceptually different from publishing the same article multiple times, so Option A is not the best completion.

Option C:
Open access refers to a model of making publications freely available and is not itself a form of misconduct. It can coexist with ethical or unethical practices, so Option C does not fit the stem.

Option D:
Peer mentoring involves experienced researchers guiding junior colleagues and is a positive practice, not a form of publication misconduct. Therefore, Option D is not appropriate.