Plagiarism Policy

The Journal of Applied Science and Community Empowerment is committed to upholding the integrity of academic publishing and ensuring the originality of submitted manuscripts. The following outlines our policy on plagiarism:

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • Using someone else's work, ideas, or words without proper acknowledgment.
  • Copying substantial parts of text (verbatim or near-verbatim) from other sources without citation.
  • Self-plagiarism, which involves reusing significant portions of one's own previously published work without proper referencing.

Plagiarism Screening

  • All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using reliable plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin or iThenticate).
  • Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding the journal's acceptable threshold (typically ≤20% excluding references, direct quotations, and methodological standard texts) will be flagged for further review.

Actions in Case of Plagiarism

  1. Minor Overlap (Unintentional Plagiarism)
    • The manuscript is returned to the author(s) with a request to revise and properly cite the sources.
  2. Significant Plagiarism
    • The manuscript is immediately rejected.
    • The author(s) may be barred from submitting future manuscripts to the journal.
  3. Published Articles
    • If plagiarism is identified in a published article, the journal will issue a correction, retract the article, or take other necessary actions to preserve the academic record.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work and properly citing all sources. By submitting a manuscript, authors certify that the work is free from plagiarism and has not been published elsewhere.

Editor and Reviewer Responsibility

Editors and reviewers are also responsible for identifying potential plagiarism during the review process and reporting it to the editorial team.

By enforcing this policy, the Journal of Applied Science and Community Empowerment strives to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and publication ethics.