Policy of Screening for Plagiarism

 

Policy of Screening for Plagiarism

The International Journal of Community Health Sciences (IJCHS) holds a strict zero-tolerance policy against plagiarism and scientific misconduct. All submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous automatic plagiarism screening before entering the peer-review process to ensure scientific originality, proper attribution, and ethical compliance.

Similarity Threshold

Manuscripts submitted to IJCHS must have an overall similarity index of less than 20% (using Turnitin or iThenticate).

Additionally, matching text from a single source must not exceed 3% to prevent localized verbatim copying.

Scope of Misconduct

Screening covers all forms of intellectual property infringement, including:

  • Verbatim copying without quotation marks.
  • Inappropriate paraphrasing without citation.
  • Self-plagiarism and redundant publishing.

Action & Handling Procedure

Depending on the degree of similarity identified during the initial screening or peer-review stage, the Editorial Office will execute the following actions:

1. Similarity < 20%: The manuscript passes screening and proceeds to peer review.
2. Similarity 20% – 30%: The manuscript is returned to the authors for mandatory revision and re-phrasing before peer review.
3. Similarity > 30%: The manuscript is immediately rejected without peer review. In cases of severe misconduct, the corresponding author's institution may be informed.

COPE Protocol Alignment

All plagiarism investigations strictly follow Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowcharts.

Strict Zero-Tolerance