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Plagiarism policy

The journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism, which is regarded as a serious breach of academic integrity and ethical standards. Plagiarism encompasses the deliberate misattribution or unattributed reproduction of another individual's work, including data, text, or ideas, derived from any published or unpublished source in either print or electronic format, without appropriate acknowledgment. All material, whether used directly or indirectly, must be properly credited in every instance. Authors whose work is reused must receive due recognition through accurate quotation, citation, and referencing, and, where applicable, permission must be obtained from the original publisher and rights holder. These requirements align with international copyright law and ethical publishing guidelines to ensure transparency and proper attribution throughout the scholarly record.

To uphold these standards, the journal reserves the right to screen all submissions using industry-recognized plagiarism detection software, such as Turnitin. In cases where textual overlap is identified, the results of the Turnitin Similarity Check will be reviewed by the journal to determine whether the overlap constitutes plagiarism or is justified by legitimate circumstances. If plagiarism is suspected or confirmed in a submitted or published work, the journal will initiate an investigation and take appropriate action, which may include rejection of the manuscript or post-publication measures such as issuing a corrigendum, an expression of concern, or a retraction. The author's affiliated institution may also be notified. For manuscripts under review, authors may be asked to address the identified issues through proper citation and quotation. For published works, a correction notice may be issued only in cases of minor textual similarity where there is no evidence of misattribution or deliberate omission of attribution; such notices cannot be used to rewrite plagiarized content.

All allegations of plagiarism will be handled in accordance with the journal's investigation procedures and the relevant COPE guidelines for submitted and published works. Authors will always be given an opportunity to provide an explanation before any decision is made. The journal will conduct all investigations impartially and will not be influenced by external parties. The journal is under no obligation to discuss individual cases of alleged plagiarism with third parties and reserves the right to discontinue an investigation if the concerns are deemed unfounded.

Plagiarism can manifest in several forms, which are outlined below:

Verbatim Copying: The direct reproduction of another individual's work, or a substantial passage thereof, without acknowledgment. This includes the absence of references, quotation marks, or any indication that the material is quoted.

Mosaic Plagiarism: The incorporation of text or other material from multiple sources—including the author's own previously published work—into a new manuscript in a manner that creates the false impression of originality.

Paraphrasing: Improper paraphrasing occurs when material within a paragraph or section is rephrased or rearranged without appropriate attribution. Extensive paraphrasing without proper acknowledgment is regarded as seriously as verbatim copying.

Re-use of Content Without Attribution: The inclusion of figures, tables, or paragraphs from another source without acknowledgment, references, or quotation marks. Authors bear the responsibility of obtaining the necessary permissions from the copyright holder for any reused material.

Self-Plagiarism or Text Recycling: Text recycling, also referred to as self-plagiarism, involves the reuse of substantial portions of text from an author's own previously published work without proper attribution. This also applies to content translated from another language. It is distinct from redundant publication.

When evaluating the acceptability of text recycling in a submitted or published work, the journal will consider factors such as:

• The extent of the recycled text;
• The location of the recycled material within the manuscript;
• Whether the original source has been clearly acknowledged to inform readers appropriately;
• Whether copyright has been infringed.

All submissions must represent original work. Repetition of research is permissible only when it leads to new or different conclusions or when it is necessary for comparison with new data.

If any component of your current submission has been previously published, the original work must be fully cited and referenced, and this must be clearly indicated within the text.