Plagiarism Policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all research published in IJMCR is original, ethical, and credible. It sets clear standards to prevent, detect, and address plagiarism in compliance with DOAJ, Scopus, and COPE guidelines. This policy applies to all authors, reviewers, and editors involved in the journal’s publication process.

This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to IJMCR, including research articles, reviews, case studies, short communications, and editorials. It covers textual content, figures, tables, images, graphs, and data from both published and unpublished sources, including digital and online content. All participants in the publication process—authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members—are expected to comply with this policy.

Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s ideas, words, data, or work as one’s own without proper acknowledgment. It includes:

  1. Direct Plagiarism: Copying text verbatim without citation.
  2. Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting someone else’s work without acknowledgment.
  3. Self-Plagiarism / Redundant Publication: Reusing one’s own previously published work without disclosure.
  4. Mosaic Plagiarism: Combining ideas, phrases, or data from multiple sources without proper attribution.
 5. Data / Idea Plagiarism: Using another researcher’s results, datasets, or concepts without permission or citation.
 6. Image / Figure Plagiarism: Using images, figures, or tables without permission or credit.

Note: Even publicly available content must be cited properly.

Authors must:

  1. Ensure manuscripts are original and unpublished elsewhere.
  2. Cite all sources including text, images, tables, figures, and data.
  3. Declare any previous publication or submissions related to the manuscript.
  4. Submit a Plagiarism and Conflict of Interest Declaration during submission.

Reviewers are expected to identify potential plagiarism in manuscripts under review, report any suspected plagiarism to the editors, and maintain confidentiality and objectivity in their evaluation.

Editor and Editorial Board Responsibilities

  1. Ensure all submissions are checked for plagiarism before peer review.
  2. Recuse themselves if they have any conflict of interest with the manuscript.
  3. Assign independent reviewers to maintain fairness.
  4. Investigate any reported cases of plagiarism and take appropriate actions.
  5. Maintain confidentiality during investigation.

Plagiarism Detection and Screening

All submitted manuscripts undergo:

  1. Plagiarism Check: Using recognized software such as iThenticate or Turnitin.

 2. Similarity Index Assessment: Manuscripts exceeding 15–20% similarity may be returned for revision or rejected.

  3. Editorial Review: Editors assess context, proper citations, and ethical compliance.

Consequences of Plagiarism

The IJMCR follows a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism:

  1. Manuscript Rejection: At any stage of submission or review.

  2. Correction / Retraction: If plagiarism is detected post-publication.

  3. Notification to Affiliated Institutions: For serious ethical violations.

  4. Ban on Future Submissions: For repeated or severe violations.

Minor, unintentional errors may be corrected under guidance, but all instances are documented for transparency.

Preventive Measures

Authors are encouraged to use plagiarism detection tools prior to submission. Guidance is provided on proper citation, referencing, and acknowledgment. Editors and reviewers receive training to identify and manage plagiarism effectively.

Every submission must include a declaration confirming originality, disclosure of prior publications, and proper acknowledgment of all sources.

The journal adheres to international standards, including COPE guidelines and DOAJ and Scopus indexing requirements, to ensure ethical and original content. IJMCR is committed to transparency, accountability, and research integrity.

Policy Review

This policy is reviewed annually to ensure compliance with international publishing standards, alignment with DOAJ and Scopus requirements, and integration of evolving best practices in research ethics. The IJMCR reserves the right to update this policy as necessary to maintain ethical standards.