Plagiarism Screening

Plagiarism Screening Policy

The Editorial Board of the Journal of Social Transformation and Community Development (JSTCD) recognizes that plagiarism is unacceptable and constitutes a serious violation of publication ethics. Therefore, JSTCD has established this plagiarism screening policy to ensure the originality and integrity of all manuscripts submitted for publication.

JSTCD uses Turnitin plagiarism detection software to identify similarities in submitted manuscripts as well as in final versions of articles prior to publication. A maximum similarity index of 25% is permitted. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for revision and resubmission. Manuscripts with excessive or unethical similarities may be rejected.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use, imitation, or reproduction of another author’s language, ideas, data, or work without proper acknowledgment and presenting them as one’s own original work.

General Policy

  • Manuscripts submitted to JSTCD must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.

  • Any text quoted verbatim from other sources must be clearly identified using quotation marks, indentation where appropriate, and proper citation.

  • Reproduction of text beyond fair use (more than two or three consecutive sentences), figures, tables, or other materials requires written permission from the copyright holder and proper acknowledgment of the original source.

  • All authors listed in a manuscript share full responsibility for its content.

Levels of Plagiarism and Editorial Actions

1. Minor Plagiarism

Definition:
Limited copying of text without significant data, findings, or original ideas taken from another source.

Action:
Authors will receive a warning and be required to revise the manuscript by correcting the text and adding proper citations.

2. Intermediate Plagiarism

Definition:
Substantial portions of text are copied without appropriate citation, but without reproducing core results or original ideas.

Action:
The manuscript will be rejected, and the author(s) will be prohibited from submitting manuscripts to JSTCD for one year.

3. Severe Plagiarism

Definition:
Significant reproduction of another work’s original ideas, data, results, or interpretations.

Action:
The manuscript will be rejected, and the author(s) will be banned from submitting manuscripts to JSTCD for five years.

If repeated plagiarism is identified from the same author(s), the Editorial Board may impose stricter sanctions, including a permanent submission ban.

Self-Plagiarism and Redundant Publication

This policy also applies to self-plagiarism. Authors who reuse material from their own previously published work must clearly identify the source and explain the distinction between the previous and current publication.

  • Self-plagiarism exceeding 50% of the manuscript will be treated as severe plagiarism.

  • Self-plagiarism between 10% and 50% will be treated as intermediate plagiarism.

  • Limited overlap confined to the methods section may be considered minor plagiarism.

Simultaneous submission of substantially similar manuscripts to more than one journal is considered unethical and will be treated as severe misconduct.

Retraction and Corrections

JSTCD editors may issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions in accordance with COPE guidelines if plagiarism or other ethical violations are discovered after publication.

A retraction may be issued if:

  1. The article contains plagiarism
  2. The findings are unreliable due to misconduct or serious error
  3. The work has been previously published without proper disclosure
  4. Copyright infringement or legal violations are identified
  5. Ethical standards in research or publication have been breached

Retraction notices will:

  1. Be clearly identified and linked to the original article
  2. State the reason(s) for retraction
  3. Be published promptly and made freely accessible
  4. Use objective and factual language

Final Statement

The plagiarism screening mechanism of JSTCD follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. By submitting a manuscript to JSTCD, authors agree to comply fully with this plagiarism policy and accept all editorial decisions resulting from the screening process.