Plagiarism Screening Policy

Plagiarism Screening Policy

The journal is committed to maintaining academic integrity, originality, and ethical scholarly publication. All submitted manuscripts must be original works and must not contain plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate paraphrasing, or unauthorized use of text, data, figures, tables, or ideas from other sources.

To ensure the originality of submitted manuscripts, the journal applies a plagiarism screening process before a manuscript proceeds to peer review, editorial decision, and publication.

1. Scope of Plagiarism Screening

Plagiarism screening applies to all submitted manuscripts, including:

  1. research articles;
  2. project-based engineering articles;
  3. case study articles;
  4. conceptual or model-based articles;
  5. review articles, if accepted by the journal;
  6. revised manuscripts;
  7. manuscripts prepared in Indonesian or English.

The screening process may be conducted at several stages, including initial submission, revision, acceptance, and final production.

2. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  1. copying text from another source without proper citation;
  2. paraphrasing another author’s ideas without acknowledgement;
  3. using data, tables, figures, diagrams, maps, photographs, or models without permission or citation;
  4. translating text from another source without proper acknowledgement;
  5. using substantial parts of one’s own previously published work without citation, also known as self-plagiarism;
  6. submitting a manuscript that has been published elsewhere;
  7. using unpublished work, project documents, theses, reports, or institutional materials without permission or proper acknowledgement;
  8. citing a source but copying the wording too closely without quotation marks or appropriate paraphrasing.

3. Screening Method

All submitted manuscripts may be checked using plagiarism detection software or other similarity-checking tools selected by the editorial team.

The similarity report is used as an initial indicator and will be reviewed carefully by the editorial team. A similarity percentage does not automatically determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected. The editorial team will examine the nature, source, and distribution of the similarity.

The following elements may be excluded from similarity evaluation when appropriate:

  1. references;
  2. article title;
  3. author names and affiliations;
  4. standard terminology;
  5. commonly used technical phrases;
  6. properly cited quotations;
  7. mathematical equations and standard formulas;
  8. names of institutions, regulations, standards, or software;
  9. template text or journal metadata.

4. Similarity Threshold

As a general policy, the journal recommends that the total similarity index should not exceed:

20% overall similarity

In addition, similarity from a single source should generally not exceed:

5% from one source

However, the final assessment is based not only on numerical similarity but also on editorial judgment. A manuscript with a low similarity percentage may still be considered problematic if it contains uncited copied text, copied structure, duplicated data, or unethical reuse of previous work.

Conversely, a manuscript with a higher similarity percentage may be considered acceptable if the similarity comes mainly from references, standard methods, technical terminology, or properly cited materials.

5. Editorial Evaluation of Similarity Reports

The editorial team will evaluate similarity reports by considering:

  1. whether similar text is properly cited;
  2. whether the similarity appears in the introduction, methodology, results, discussion, or conclusion;
  3. whether the similarity is concentrated in one source or distributed across many sources;
  4. whether the manuscript contains copied arguments, interpretations, or conclusions;
  5. whether tables, figures, data, or models have been reused without acknowledgement;
  6. whether the manuscript overlaps with the authors’ previous publications;
  7. whether the similarity involves unpublished reports, theses, project documents, or online sources;
  8. whether the manuscript shows original analysis, interpretation, and contribution.

6. Self-Plagiarism and Redundant Publication

Authors must avoid self-plagiarism and redundant publication.

Self-plagiarism occurs when authors reuse their own previously published text, data, figures, tables, or analysis without proper citation or disclosure.

Authors may refer to their previous work when relevant, but they must:

  1. cite the previous publication properly;
  2. clearly distinguish new findings from previous findings;
  3. avoid excessive reuse of text;
  4. avoid submitting substantially similar manuscripts to different journals;
  5. disclose any related manuscripts under review or previously published.

Manuscripts that substantially duplicate the authors’ previous publications may be rejected.

7. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is original before submission.

Authors must:

  1. check the manuscript for originality before submitting it;
  2. cite all sources accurately;
  3. use quotation marks for direct quotations when necessary;
  4. paraphrase properly and avoid copying sentence structures;
  5. obtain permission for copyrighted materials when required;
  6. disclose any previous dissemination of the work, such as conference papers, preprints, reports, or theses;
  7. revise the manuscript when requested by the editorial team due to similarity concerns.

Submission of a manuscript indicates that the authors agree to the journal’s plagiarism screening policy.

8. Actions Based on Screening Results

Based on the plagiarism screening result and editorial assessment, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

  1. proceed with the review process if no significant plagiarism is detected;
  2. request revision if minor similarity problems are found;
  3. request clarification from the authors;
  4. return the manuscript for correction before peer review;
  5. reject the manuscript if substantial plagiarism or redundant publication is detected;
  6. reject the manuscript and notify relevant parties if serious misconduct is identified;
  7. retract or correct a published article if plagiarism is discovered after publication.

9. Plagiarism Detected Before Publication

If plagiarism is detected before publication, the editorial team may:

  1. return the manuscript to the authors for revision;
  2. require authors to reduce similarity and improve citation;
  3. request an explanation regarding overlapping text or duplicated content;
  4. reject the manuscript if plagiarism is substantial or intentional.

Authors must submit a revised manuscript within the time specified by the editorial team. Failure to revise the manuscript properly may result in rejection.

10. Plagiarism Detected After Publication

If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the editorial team will investigate the case.

Depending on the severity of the case, the journal may:

  1. publish a correction;
  2. publish an expression of concern;
  3. retract the article;
  4. remove the article from the journal website when legally or ethically necessary;
  5. notify the authors’ institution, funder, or relevant authority when appropriate.

Retraction will be considered when plagiarism significantly affects the originality, reliability, or integrity of the published article.

11. Use of AI-Generated Text and Plagiarism

Authors who use artificial intelligence tools for language editing, translation, or manuscript preparation must ensure that the AI-assisted text does not contain plagiarized or improperly reused content.

AI tools must not be used to generate copied content, fabricated references, false citations, or misleading paraphrases.

Any use of AI must be disclosed in the AI Use Declaration, and authors remain fully responsible for the originality and integrity of the manuscript.

12. Declaration of Originality

Authors may be required to submit a declaration of originality stating that:

  1. the manuscript is original;
  2. the manuscript has not been published elsewhere;
  3. the manuscript is not under review by another journal;
  4. all sources have been properly cited;
  5. all authors have approved the submission;
  6. the manuscript complies with the journal’s publication ethics and plagiarism screening policy.

13. Final Decision

The final decision regarding plagiarism, similarity, revision, rejection, correction, or retraction rests with the editorial team.

The journal reserves the right to reject or retract any manuscript that violates the principles of originality, academic integrity, and publication ethics.