The Journal of Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders has retracted a 2012 study by a group of Iranian researchers. The reason: the authors had published the paper three years earlier, in a different journal.
Here’s the notice for the article, titled “Mobile phone text messaging and Telephone follow-up in type 2 diabetic patients for 3 months: a comparative study”:
This article has been retracted as it has already been published in the Iranian Journal of Diabetes and Obesity.
The IJDO paper was titled “Mobile Phone Text Messaging and Telephone Follow-Up in Iranian Type 2 Diabetic Patients for 3 Months: A Comparative Study.”
In addition to the slight change in wording — the word “Iranian” in the original article — the name of the last author in each paper differs.
We’re guessing the long delay argues against any claim of duplicate submission and in favor of the suggestion that the authors simply thought they’d reap a second publication out of their study. However, both publications are national — the JDMD is affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, as are the authors of the articles in question, while the IJDO, a quarterly, is associated with Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services.