Journal Policy
Plagiarism and Similarity Policy
Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences
Policy Statement
The Journal of Biological and Sustainability Sciences is committed to maintaining high standards of originality, research integrity, ethical publication, and responsible scholarly communication.
Manuscripts submitted to JBSS must be original and must not contain plagiarism, duplicate publication, unattributed copying, improper image reuse, citation manipulation, fabricated data, or misleading reuse of previously published work.
Similarity screening may be used during editorial assessment. The purpose of similarity screening is to help editors identify possible overlap and determine whether the manuscript meets the journal's standards for originality and ethical publication.
Similarity Screening
- All submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism, excessive similarity, duplicate publication, text recycling, and improper reuse of previously published material.
- Similarity reports are used as editorial tools and are interpreted by editors with academic judgment.
- A similarity percentage alone does not automatically determine acceptance or rejection.
- Editors consider the source of similarity, the type of overlap, proper citation, quotation, methodology description, and the originality of the work.
- Manuscripts with serious plagiarism, unattributed copying, fabricated content, or misleading reuse may be rejected or subjected to further investigation.
Examples of Plagiarism
- Copying text, data, figures, tables, images, or ideas from another source without proper attribution.
- Using another author's work as original work.
- Paraphrasing substantial content from another source without appropriate citation.
- Reusing published figures, tables, or images without permission where permission is required.
- Submitting work that has already been published elsewhere without proper disclosure.
- Using unpublished material from theses, reports, manuscripts, or grant proposals without authorization.
Similarity Concerns
- Large blocks of identical or near-identical text copied from published sources.
- Excessive overlap with the authors' own previous publications without proper citation.
- Duplicate publication or redundant publication of substantially the same study.
- Fragmented publication of one study into multiple minimally different papers.
- Unattributed reuse of methods, results, discussion, tables, figures, or conclusions.
- Similarity from non-transparent use of templates, third-party writing services, or automated text generation.
Acceptable Overlap
Some limited overlap may be acceptable when it is unavoidable, properly cited, transparent, and not misleading.
- Properly cited standard methodology descriptions may show limited overlap.
- Common technical terminology, instrument names, reagent names, and standard phrases may overlap naturally.
- Short quoted text may be acceptable when quotation marks and citation are used appropriately.
- Preprint or thesis overlap may be considered if clearly disclosed and allowed by journal policy.
- Previously published conference abstracts may be acceptable if the full manuscript provides substantial new content and disclosure is made.
Duplicate and Redundant Publication
Authors must not submit manuscripts that have already been published elsewhere or are under consideration by another journal. Duplicate publication and redundant publication are considered serious publication ethics concerns.
Authors must disclose any related manuscripts, previous versions, preprints, thesis chapters, conference papers, reports, or overlapping publications at the time of submission.
The editor may request copies of related work to assess the degree of overlap and determine whether the submission is sufficiently original.
Text Recycling and Self-Plagiarism
Authors should avoid excessive reuse of their own previously published text, data, figures, tables, or discussion without proper citation and disclosure.
Limited reuse of standard methodological descriptions may be acceptable when necessary, but the manuscript must still provide original results, interpretation, and contribution.
AI-Generated Text and Research Integrity
Authors may use language-support tools responsibly, but they remain fully accountable for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of the manuscript.
- AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, images, references, reviewer identities, ethical approval, statistical outputs, or experimental results.
- AI-generated or AI-assisted text must be checked by authors for accuracy, originality, proper citation, and scientific integrity.
- Authors remain fully responsible for all manuscript content, including text, data, analysis, references, images, and interpretations.
- AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work.
- Undisclosed or misleading use of AI-generated content may be treated as a research integrity concern.
Editorial Actions
If plagiarism, excessive similarity, duplicate publication, or unethical reuse is suspected, the editorial office may take one or more appropriate actions.
- Request clarification from the authors.
- Ask authors to revise copied or insufficiently paraphrased text.
- Request additional citations, quotation marks, permissions, or disclosure.
- Return the manuscript before peer review for correction.
- Reject the manuscript during editorial assessment.
- Contact author institutions or relevant bodies in serious cases.
- Issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction if plagiarism is discovered after publication.
Author Responsibilities
- Submit only original work that has not been published elsewhere unless clearly disclosed.
- Cite all sources accurately and completely.
- Use quotation marks where exact wording is reproduced.
- Obtain permission for copyrighted third-party figures, tables, images, or other material when required.
- Disclose related manuscripts, preprints, thesis material, conference versions, or prior publications.
- Check the manuscript carefully before submission to avoid plagiarism, excessive similarity, and reference errors.
Reviewer Responsibilities
- Reviewers should inform the editor if they suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, image manipulation, data fabrication, citation manipulation, or unethical reuse.
- Reviewers should not use unpublished manuscript content for personal advantage.
- Reviewers should keep manuscripts confidential during and after the review process.
- Reviewers should provide clear evidence or source details when raising similarity or plagiarism concerns.
Post-Publication Concerns
If plagiarism, duplicate publication, image misuse, or serious similarity concerns are discovered after publication, the journal may investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
Possible post-publication actions include correction, expression of concern, retraction, article update, or communication with authors, institutions, or relevant bodies.
Contact for Plagiarism Concerns
Questions or concerns regarding plagiarism, similarity, duplicate publication, text recycling, AI misuse, or research integrity may be directed to the editorial office.