Plagiarism Policy
Definition and Forms of Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when another person’s words, ideas, findings, data, arguments, or other scholarly contributions are presented without appropriate attribution. The journal considers concerns involving:
- Verbatim copying without proper quotation and acknowledgment.
- Improper paraphrasing or using the intellectual substance of another source without citation.
- Uncredited reproduction or inappropriate reuse of tables, figures, data, or research materials.
- Self-plagiarism, extensive undisclosed text recycling, redundant publication, or duplicate submission.
- Misleading citation practices intended to conceal the origin of material.
Similarity Screening and Interpretation
Manuscripts are screened using Turnitin. Under the journal’s published Plagiarism Screening policy, a manuscript with a similarity index above 20% may be rejected or considered at the editor’s discretion for conditional acceptance. This is an editorial threshold, not a declaration that every overlapping passage constitutes plagiarism.
Editors assess the sources, extent, location, and nature of similarities, the adequacy of attribution, and the overall originality of the manuscript. Properly attributed quotations, reference lists, and conventional methodological language may require contextual interpretation. A score at or below 20% does not itself establish that a manuscript is free from misconduct.
