The policy of considering a manuscript for publication only if its substance has not been submitted or reported elsewhere. This policy was promulgated in 1969 by Franz J. Ingelfinger, then the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. The aim of the Ingelfinger rule was to protect the Journal from publishing material that had already been published and thus had lost its originality.

I knew about the practice but not that it had a name. You learn something new every day – even on Fridays…

Photo Absolutely Nothing is Allowed Here by Vicki & Chuck Rogers (CC by-nc-sa)