Legitimate matching text
- References and bibliographies
- Properly marked quotations
- Standard methodological language
- Required declarations or common terminology
Home / Policies / Originality
Plagiarism and Originality
Attribution, transparent reuse and contextual scholarly assessment.
Original work, visible sources
Similarity is evidence to examine, not a verdict.
CIJFMR combines screening tools with editorial judgement. Source, context, attribution, extent and scholarly significance determine the response.
Every author must submit original work and acknowledge ideas, language, data, images, code, and other material derived from earlier sources. Similarity indicators are screening aids, not automatic findings of misconduct. Editors assess the location, extent, context, attribution, and scholarly significance of any overlap. Reuse of an author’s own published material must be transparent and appropriately cited. The Journal may seek clarification, request correction, reject a manuscript, notify relevant parties, or correct the published record when unattributed or misleading reuse is established.
Plagiarism concerns words, ideas and research material
- Copying text without appropriate acknowledgement
- Presenting another person's ideas or distinctive argument as one's own
- Unattributed translation or cosmetic paraphrasing
- Copying figures, tables or data without acknowledgement or permission
- Submitting another person's manuscript under false authorship
- Using unpublished material obtained through confidential review or professional access
Every quotation, paraphrase, dataset, image and source-derived argument must be distinguished from the author's original contribution.
Build on earlier research transparently
Authors may develop their previous scholarship, but substantial reuse of wording, analysis, data or structure without explanation can amount to inappropriate text recycling or duplicate publication. Related work should be cited and the new manuscript's distinct contribution made clear.
- Disclose related manuscripts and prior dissemination
- Identify reused tables, data or central arguments
- Avoid presenting a previously published article as new
- Do not fragment one study artificially to conceal substantial overlap
No universal percentage replaces editorial judgement
Similarity software may identify matching passages and source patterns. It cannot decide whether attribution is adequate or whether overlap is legitimate.
Material misconduct
- Misappropriated ideas
- Translated copying
- Subtle paraphrase dependency
- Small but central unattributed passages
CIJFMR does not publish a fixed rejection threshold. The central question is whether the manuscript clearly distinguishes original contribution from material derived from others or from earlier work.
Verify every source and every reference
- Cite sources accurately and mark direct quotations
- Paraphrase genuinely rather than cosmetically
- Acknowledge previous publication and obtain permissions
- Disclose related submissions and avoid concurrent duplicate publication
- Verify references produced by AI tools or reference managers
- Ensure every co-author understands the originality requirements
Authors remain responsible for content prepared with assistance from research assistants, editors, translators, generative AI, software or external service providers. Invented or materially inaccurate citations can create a serious integrity concern.
Action follows the evidence and the stage of publication
01
Before review
Clarification, correction, rejection or further integrity assessment may follow.
02
During review
A reviewer reports the concern privately; the editor controls the response.
03
After publication
A correction, notice, expression of concern or retraction may be required.
04
Serious pattern
Communication with an institution or appropriate body may be considered when credible evidence warrants it.
The Journal distinguishes allegation from established evidence and selects a response proportionate to the reliability of the record and the seriousness of the conduct.
Translation, experience and the right to respond
Translating another author's work without attribution does not make it original. The same originality standards apply at every level of academic seniority.
Where limited citation mistakes appear inadvertent and can reasonably be corrected, an educational and proportionate response may be appropriate. Authors may provide evidence and explanation. A software match alone is not treated as a substantiated allegation.
Protect the contribution
Attribute sources and explain prior dissemination.
Authors should resolve uncertainty about overlap before submitting the manuscript.