Plagiarism Notice

Policy Statement

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PENAMAS does not accept plagiarism. All submitted manuscripts are checked with similarity-checking software (Turnitin) before review and again before publication. When plagiarism is identified, the actions set out in this policy are applied.

Similarity index. A similarity index below 15% is the guideline for initial screening. The index is only an indicator and does not by itself prove plagiarism. Editors examine the report in detail, distinguishing properly quoted and cited text from unattributed copying, in line with the Research Misconduct policy.

Definition

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Plagiarism is copying another person’s text or ideas and passing the copied material off as one’s own work. Authors must clearly separate copied text from their own (for example, by quotation marks or block quotes) and credit the source by citing it. Plagiarism is a form of academic fraud and may have serious consequences, including loss of reputation and professional or academic sanctions.

Scope

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This definition applies to copied text and ideas:

  1. regardless of the source of the copied text or idea;
  2. regardless of whether the author of the source copied it from another source;
  3. regardless of whether the authorship of the source is known;
  4. regardless of the type of work into which the text or idea is copied (journal article, web page, book chapter, student paper, etc.);
  5. regardless of whether the author of the source gives permission for the material to be copied; and
  6. regardless of whether the person copying is the author of the source (self-plagiarism).

Review Process

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When the similarity check or the editors’ reading indicates possible plagiarism, the editorial board responsible for the manuscript reviews the report and agrees on measures according to the extent of the plagiarism found, following the levels below. Authors may respond to the editors’ findings, and disputes are handled under the Complaints and Appeals policy.

Levels and Actions

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Minor Plagiarism
A small sentence or short paragraph is copied without significant data or ideas taken from other publications.
Action: a warning is given to the authors, with a request to revise the manuscript and cite the original sources properly.
Intermediate Plagiarism
Significant data, a paragraph, or sentences are copied without proper citation of the original source.
Action: the submitted manuscript is rejected.
Severe Plagiarism
A large portion of the article is copied, involving many aspects such as results (data, formulation, equation, statement), ideas, and methods presented in other publications.
Action: the manuscript is rejected and the authors are barred from submitting further manuscripts to the journal.

If plagiarism is found in an article that has already been published, the Retraction, Withdrawal & Correction policy applies.

Pre-Publication Check

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Before publication, the complete manuscript is checked again with Turnitin, with the assistance of the PENAMAS editorial team. Authors are advised to run their own similarity check and to use reference management software (for example, Mendeley) with the APA citation style to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

Related Policies

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