Plagiarism Policy

1. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an unethical act of using another person’s ideas, words, data, processes, results, or works without proper acknowledgment of the original author and source. Plagiarism may occur in any part of a manuscript, including the introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion, tables, figures, and references.

All submitted manuscripts must be original and must not contain plagiarized content.

2. Definition of Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of their own previously published work without proper citation or acknowledgment. This includes reusing text, data, figures, tables, or research findings from previous publications.

Self-plagiarism may also occur when an author submits the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one journal or publication outlet.

3. Types of Plagiarism

3.1 Full Plagiarism

Full plagiarism occurs when an author presents previously published content as their own without any significant changes to the text, ideas, structure, or grammar. This includes copying exact text from another source without citation.

3.2 Partial Plagiarism

Partial plagiarism occurs when a manuscript contains copied or closely rephrased material from one or more sources without proper acknowledgment. It may involve combining content from multiple sources and presenting it as original work.

3.3 Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism occurs when an author republishes or reuses parts of their own previously published work without proper citation. This includes duplicate publication, redundant publication, or submitting the same manuscript to different journals.

3.4 Improper Paraphrasing

Improper paraphrasing occurs when an author changes only a few words or sentence structures from the original source while keeping the main wording or structure too similar, without proper citation.

3.5 Plagiarism of Data, Tables, or Figures

Using data, tables, charts, images, diagrams, or figures from other sources without permission, citation, or acknowledgment is considered plagiarism.

4. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

1. The submitted manuscript is original.
2. All sources used in the manuscript are properly cited.
3. Direct quotations are clearly marked with quotation marks and proper references.
4. Paraphrased ideas from other authors are properly acknowledged.
5. The manuscript has not been published elsewhere.
6. The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.
7. Any reused material from the author’s previous work is properly cited.
8. Permission has been obtained for copyrighted materials, such as figures, tables, or images, when required.

5. Duplicate Submission and Duplicate Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Submitting the same or substantially similar manuscript to multiple journals is considered unethical publishing behavior.

Authors should also not publish manuscripts that describe essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication without proper justification and acknowledgment.

6. Plagiarism Screening Process

All submitted manuscripts will be checked for plagiarism during the submission and review process. The plagiarism screening will be conducted using Turnitin or other plagiarism detection tools.

The editorial team will review the similarity report to determine whether the detected similarity is acceptable or indicates plagiarism.

7. Similarity Index Limit

The maximum acceptable similarity index is 20%.

Manuscripts with a similarity index of more than 20% may be rejected. However, the editorial team may also consider the nature of the similarity, including whether the similarity comes from references, standard terminology, quoted materials, or properly cited sources.

8. Consequences of Plagiarism

If plagiarism is detected, the editorial team may take one or more of the following actions:

- Return the manuscript to the author for revision.
- Request clarification from the author.
- Reject the manuscript.
- Withdraw the manuscript from the review process.
- Retract the article if plagiarism is discovered after publication.
- Notify the author’s institution or relevant authority in serious cases.

9. Editorial Decision

The editorial team has the final authority to determine whether a manuscript contains plagiarism. Decisions will be based on the plagiarism report, editorial assessment, and ethical publishing standards.

10. Final Statement

Full plagiarism, partial plagiarism, self-plagiarism, improper paraphrasing, and duplicate publication are not allowed. Authors must always give proper acknowledgment to the work of others and must follow ethical standards in academic publishing. Manuscripts that fail to comply with this plagiarism policy will not be processed further.