Anti-Plagiarism and Similarity Policy

The journal requires original scholarly work and assesses similarity in context. Submissions may be screened with similarity-detection or other research-integrity tools before peer review, during editorial assessment, before final acceptance, or after publication when a concern is raised. A similarity report is an investigative aid, not an automatic decision.

No Automatic Similarity Percentage

The journal does not use a single fixed similarity percentage as an automatic acceptance or rejection threshold. Legitimate overlap can arise from standard technical phrases, methods, references, legal text, protocol descriptions, or properly quoted material, while a low overall percentage can still conceal serious plagiarism. Editors therefore examine the location, source, amount, pattern, attribution, and scholarly significance of overlap.

Practices Considered Unacceptable

copying another person's text, ideas, arguments, data, images, tables, figures, code, results, or other material without appropriate attribution
close paraphrasing or mosaic plagiarism that disguises another source while preserving its structure or ideas
translation plagiarism, including translating previously published material without citation and presenting it as original
reuse of substantial portions of the authors' own published text or data in a way that misleads readers about novelty or duplicates publication
submission of substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time
fragmentation or salami publication when the division of one study into multiple papers is scientifically unjustified and misleading
reuse of figures, tables, datasets, questionnaires, software, or copyrighted material without citation, permission, or license compliance when required
concealment of source reuse through fabricated, irrelevant, incomplete, or misleading citations

Editorial Assessment

When a similarity concern is detected, the Editor examines the source material and may ask the authors for an explanation, quotations, permissions, raw data, earlier versions, or related publications. The manuscript may be returned for correction, rejected, or referred for a broader integrity assessment depending on the seriousness of the issue.

Before Publication

Minor problems that can be corrected without misrepresenting originality may result in a request for revision. Substantial plagiarism, deliberate concealment, duplicate submission, fabricated attribution, or serious redundant publication normally results in rejection and may lead to notification of the authors' institution or another journal when justified by the evidence.

After Publication

If plagiarism or inappropriate reuse is substantiated after publication, the journal may issue a correction, Editorial Note, Expression of Concern, or retraction according to the nature and extent of the problem. The published record is not silently altered to hide the concern.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must quote or paraphrase accurately, cite primary and relevant sources, obtain permissions when necessary, disclose related manuscripts and prior dissemination, and verify that all reused material complies with the applicable copyright or open license. Use of a reference manager or AI tool does not transfer responsibility for attribution or originality away from the authors.

Anti-Plagiarism and Similarity Policy