Scooping is a nightmare of an academic. You spend months (or maybe years) preparing experiments and gathering information and perfecting your research paper writing. Next, you receive a notification: you have just been overtaken by a competitor team with a paper in one of the most prestigious journals with almost similar findings.
The first emotion is usually frustration and defeat. Nevertheless, getting scooped does not mean that the publishing process is over. In a lot of respects, it confirms that you are dealing with a high priority, topical problem.
This is the way to manoeuvre around the situation and have your work published anyway.
Assess the Overlap Dispassionately
Read the opponent’s paper carefully before panicking. Two studies are hardly the same in all aspects. Look for differences in:
- Methodology: Have they employed another model, reagent or statistical method?
- Scope: Have they targeted a particular group when you targeted a larger population?
- Conclusion: Does your result agree with theirs, or is there a contradictory (and hence interesting) result that you give?
A lot of times something that seems to be a complete scoop actually is a thankless study. Science flourishes on imitation. In case you get their results, you have given critical validation. In case of difference, you have brought a needed scientific discussion.
Pivot Your Narrative
In case the major findings are actually similar you will need to change your concentration when writing the research paper. Abdicate the pronouncement of novelty of discovery, and enter on the pronouncement of profundity.
revise your paper to recognize the new research that has been published. Cite them immediately. This is an indication to the editor that you are up to date with literature. Position your work as a research that builds upon, or polishes, or confirms the results of the other team.
Move Fast but Stay Precise
Time is now of the essence. When writing a research paper, and you were at its last stages, do not leave the research paper on your desk. The second paper on a subject is always very citable, and the fifth or sixth might not be adopted in high-impact journals.
Choose your individual data points. Maybe your research involves some longitudinal component that the other group overlooked or you may have a bigger sample. These are the strengths that you should emphasize in your cover letter to the journal editor.
Capitalize the Policies of the Scoop Protection
This issue is getting more understanding in the academic world. Some high profile journals have adopted a policy of scoop protection, especially in the life sciences (such as PLOS and eLife).
These policies indicate that in case of a similar paper being published during your work under review (during a specified period, say six months) the journal will not dismiss your paper on the grounds of novelty. In selecting a place of submission, look at the editorial policy of the journal on pre-existing literature.
Take into Account Another Level of Journal
In case a “top-five” journal recently published the competitor study, they are not likely to publish the second paper on the same case right away. Do not target that particular journal but target specialized journals or field-specific journals. Such publications traditionally place a high premium on sound replication and full methodology over glitzy first-to-market findings.
The Power of Preprints
To avoid scooping in the future, one can use preprint archives such as bioRxiv or arXiv. Listing a preprint in place gives a date stamp of your work publicly. Although it is not a peer-reviewed journal, it informs the community about your discovery and gives you a lead in the matter. This has the potential to safeguard your intellectual property as you work through the formal research paper writing and peer-review process.
How Mars Publications Can Help
It is tiresome to go through the emotional and technical challenges of being scooped. Mars Publications is a company that deals with strategic research paper writing and the positioning of the manuscript. Our consultants assist you in finding the special “hooks” in your information that have not been released. We help you restructure your results in a way that will help showcase the unique work of your study to the scholarly community globally.
Final Thoughts
You are the scooped one, which means you are at the head of your profession. It establishes the fact that the issue you are resolving is relevant to the world. With a strategy twist, recognising the competition and improving your writing of a research paper, you can still get your publication high in impact.