Does Cloned Template Text Compromise the Information Integrity of a Paper, and is it a New Form of Text Plagiarism?

Abstract

Word templates exist for select journals, and their primary objective is to facilitate submissions to those journals, thereby optimizing editors’ and publishers’ time and resources by ensuring that the desired style (e.g., of sections, references, etc.) is followed. However, if multiple unrelated authors use the exact same template, a risk exists that some text might be erroneously cloned if template-based papers are not carefully screened by authors, journal editors or proof copyeditors. Elsevier Procedia® was used as an example. Select cloned text, presumably derived from MS Word templates used for submissions to Elsevier Procedia® journals, was assessed using Science Direct. Typically, in academic publishing, identical text is screened using text similarity software during the submission process, and if detected, may be flagged as plagiarism. After searching for “heading should be left justified, bold, with the first letter capitalized”, 44 Elsevier Procedia® papers were found to be positive for vestigial template text. The integrity of the information in these papers has been compromised, so these errors should be corrected with an erratum, or in the case of extensive errors and vast tracts (e.g., pages long) of template text, papers should be retracted and republished.