Policies
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the use of another person's ideas, words, or results without proper acknowledgement. We take it seriously in any form, including self-plagiarism, and it applies equally regardless of an author's seniority or where the original source was published.
Types we screen for
Full plagiarism
Submitting another author's previously published work as one's own, largely unchanged.
Partial plagiarism
Rewriting or paraphrasing content from one or more existing sources while retaining their core ideas or structure, without proper attribution.
Self-plagiarism
Reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work, including submitting the same or a near-identical manuscript to more than one journal (duplicate submission), without disclosure.
Insufficient citation
Presenting ideas, data, or findings from another source with only vague or missing attribution, even without directly copying the original wording.
What's not plagiarism
Direct quotation with clear attribution, standard descriptions of well-established methods, and building on your own prior work with proper citation and disclosure are all normal, expected parts of scholarly writing – the line is attribution, not novelty of every sentence.
Enforcement
Submissions found to contain plagiarized content – whether identified during initial screening, peer review, or after publication – are rejected or retracted. Authors are notified of the specific concern identified and given an opportunity to respond before a final decision is made. Confirmed cases of serious or repeated misconduct may also be reported to the author's institution.
See also our broader Publication Ethics policy.
Last reviewed: September 6, 2026