Plagiarism Screening and Prevention Policy

Sinnun Maxillofacial Journal (SMJ) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, originality, and ethical scholarly publishing. The journal strictly prohibits plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other forms of unethical publication practices. All submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism screening as part of the initial editorial assessment before proceeding to the peer review process.

1. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism refers to the use or presentation of another individual's ideas, words, research findings, data, or intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment or citation of the original source. Plagiarism constitutes a serious violation of academic integrity and undermines the credibility of scientific research and publication.

Plagiarism may occur through direct copying, inappropriate paraphrasing, inadequate citation, or the unauthorized use of previously published materials. Such practices are considered unacceptable regardless of whether they are intentional or unintentional.

2. Types of Plagiarism

SMJ recognizes several forms of plagiarism and inappropriate text reuse, including:

  • Direct Plagiarism: Reproducing another author's words, sentences, paragraphs, or substantial portions of published or unpublished work without appropriate quotation, acknowledgment, or citation.

  • Substantial Copying: Reproducing significant portions of another work, either quantitatively or qualitatively, without proper attribution. The significance of copied material is evaluated based on its extent, originality, and intellectual contribution to the work.

  • Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting another author's ideas, arguments, or findings using different words or sentence structures without properly acknowledging the original source.

  • Self-Plagiarism and Redundant Publication: Reusing substantial portions of one's previously published work, including text, data, figures, or research findings, without appropriate disclosure, citation, or justification. Submitting substantially overlapping research as a new publication without transparency is also considered an unethical publication practice.

  • Improper Attribution: Presenting research findings, concepts, illustrations, tables, or other intellectual contributions from external sources without providing accurate and sufficient acknowledgment.

3. Plagiarism Screening Procedure

All manuscripts submitted to SMJ undergo an initial similarity assessment using recognized plagiarism detection software, such as Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) or Turnitin, depending on the tools available to the editorial team.

The screening procedure includes the following stages:

  1. Initial Screening: Submitted manuscripts are evaluated by the editorial team to identify potential similarities with previously published scientific literature and other available sources.

  2. Similarity Report Evaluation: The editorial team examines the similarity report, including the overall similarity percentage, overlapping text, matched sources, and the context of identified similarities.

  3. Editorial Assessment: Potentially problematic similarities are reviewed to determine whether they represent acceptable scholarly text overlap, inadequate citation, inappropriate text reuse, or suspected plagiarism.

  4. Editorial Action: Manuscripts that raise concerns regarding originality or research integrity may be returned to the authors for clarification or revision, or rejected when substantial plagiarism or other serious publication misconduct is identified.

4. Similarity Index Requirements

SMJ requires submitted manuscripts to have an overall similarity index below 25% as part of its initial editorial screening criteria.

However, the similarity percentage alone does not constitute definitive evidence of plagiarism. The editorial team considers the nature, extent, and context of overlapping material, including appropriately cited references, commonly used scientific terminology, standardized methodological descriptions, and other legitimate textual similarities.

Manuscripts with a similarity index of 25% or higher will undergo further editorial assessment and may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected if significant originality concerns are identified.

Furthermore, manuscripts with a similarity index below 25% may still be rejected if the editorial evaluation identifies plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse, or other serious violations of publication ethics.

5. Editorial Actions and Consequences

SMJ maintains a strict policy against plagiarism and reserves the right to take appropriate editorial action when suspected publication misconduct is identified.

Depending on the nature and severity of the concerns, the editorial team may:

  • Request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors.

  • Require revisions to correct inappropriate quotations, paraphrasing, citations, or text reuse.

  • Reject manuscripts containing substantial plagiarism, redundant publication, or serious violations of academic integrity.

  • Investigate suspected plagiarism identified after publication and take appropriate corrective measures, including the publication of a correction or retraction when warranted.

The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board when necessary, holds the final authority regarding editorial decisions related to plagiarism and publication ethics.

6. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all submitted manuscripts represent original scholarly work and that information obtained from other sources is appropriately acknowledged.

Before submission, authors are expected to carefully review their manuscripts, verify the accuracy and completeness of citations and references, disclose relevant prior publications, and ensure that reused materials comply with applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

Proper citation alone does not necessarily justify extensive reproduction of previously published text or duplicate publication of research findings.

By submitting a manuscript to SMJ, authors acknowledge their responsibility to comply with the journal's plagiarism prevention policy and uphold the principles of originality, transparency, and ethical scientific publishing.

Sinnun Maxillofacial Journal is dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of the scientific literature by promoting responsible authorship, rigorous editorial screening, and ethical publication practices.