INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC WORLD
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the act of presenting the work, ideas, data, words or language (or other intellectual property) of others as one’s own without proper attribution or authorization. To maintain the highest standards of research integrity, the Journal identifies the following types of prohibited misconduct:
- Direct Plagiarism: The word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else’s work without quotation marks or citation.
- Self-Plagiarism (Redundant Publication): Reusing significant portions of one’s own previously published work without disclosure or citation.
- Mosaic/Patchwork Plagiarism: Borrowing phrases or ideas from various sources and weaving them together into a new text without proper attribution.
- Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Summarizing or rephrasing an original idea or unique finding without citing the primary source.
- Data Fabrication or Falsification: Manipulating research data or results to provide a false representation of findings.
- Unauthorized Use of Visuals: Copying elements such as figures, tables, equations or illustrations without acknowledging the source.
Plagiarism Threshold and Judicial Review
The Journal will judge every case of plagiarism based on its specific limits and context. All manuscripts undergo rigorous initial screening via proprietary/commercial software such as Turnitin and other industry-standard tools to detect similarities with previously published work.
If plagiarism is detected by an editorial board member, reviewer or editor at any stage of the article process—including before or after acceptance, during editing or at the page proof stage—the Journal will take immediate action based on the following threshold levels (aligned with UGC guidelines):
| Similarity Level | Percentage Range | Editorial Action and Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Level 0 | Up to 5% | Acceptable: Minor similarities; no penalty provided they do not involve core results. The manuscript is assigned a Submission ID and authors are asked for minor content revisions if necessary. |
| Level 1 | Above 5% to 15% | Revision Required: No Submission ID is assigned; manuscript is returned to authors for comprehensive revision before peer review begins and must be resubmitted within a stipulated timeframe. |
| Level 2 | Above 15% to 25% | Rejection & Debarment: The manuscript is rejected and authors are prohibited from submitting to the journal for one year. |
| Level 3 | Above 25% | Severe Sanction: Immediate rejection and a debarment from publishing for a period of six months to a permanent ban. |
Plagiarism Detection Stages
1. Plagiarism Before Publication
If plagiarism is detected during any stage of the article process (review, formatting or page proof), it will result in immediate rejection or a mandatory request for revision, strictly according to the severity levels defined in the Plagiarism Threshold table.
2. Plagiarism After Publication
If plagiarism is discovered after an article has been published, the journal will conduct a formal investigation. If misconduct is proven, the journal will issue a formal retraction or publish an erratum in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
Stakeholder Responsibilities
Author Responsibilities:
- Originality: Authors must ensure that the manuscript is entirely original and has not been published elsewhere.
- Proper Attribution: Authors must provide accurate citations for all sources and obtain necessary permissions for quoted work.
- Data Transparency: Authors must be prepared to provide raw data if requested by editors to verify the validity of the research.
- Disclosure: Any use of AI tools or potential conflicts of interest must be explicitly declared.
- Accountability: Accidental or unintentional plagiarism does not exempt an author from these sanctions.
Publisher Rights & Legal Compliance
- Right to Sanction: The publisher reserves the right to debar authors found guilty of misconduct from publishing for a specified period.
- Right to Retract: The publisher has the authority to remove or retract fraudulent work to preserve the scholarly record.
- Confidentiality Oversight: The publisher maintains the secure infrastructure required to protect the anonymity and intellectual property of all contributors.
- Legal Disclosure: The publisher may disclose user data if required by law, regulation or a formal investigation into scientific misconduct.
- Legal Defense & Jurisdictional Rights: The publisher reserves the right to retain integrity investigation data indefinitely to prevent future malpractice.
- AI Protection Mandate: Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading manuscripts into Generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) for summary or critique generation, as this violates the confidentiality of the author's unpublished work.
