Plagiarism Policy

Malikussaleh Social and Political Reviews (MSPR) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. Plagiarism, in any form, constitutes a serious violation of academic integrity and is strictly prohibited.

1. Screening Process

All manuscripts submitted to MSPR undergo mandatory plagiarism screening before being sent for peer review. The journal utilizes Turnitin (or other recognized plagiarism detection software) to verify the originality of the work.

2. Threshold and Tolerance

While the Editorial Board evaluates each similarity report qualitatively, the general guidelines are as follows:

  • Similarity Index: A maximum similarity index of 20% is generally allowed.

  • Individual Source Limit: Similarity with a single source must not exceed 3%.

  • Exclusions: The bibliography/references and common technical terminology are typically excluded from the total percentage.

Manuscripts that exceed these limits will be returned to the author for revision or rejected immediately depending on the severity of the overlap.

3. Forms of Plagiarism

MSPR considers the following as unacceptable practices:

  • Direct Plagiarism: Word-for-word copying of text from another source without quotation marks and proper attribution.

  • Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): Reusing significant portions of the author’s own previously published work without proper citation or justification.

  • Mosaic Plagiarism (Patchwriting): Combining text from different sources and slightly rephrasing them without changing the original structure or meaning.

  • Inadequate Citation: Failing to credit the original author for ideas, data, or unique theories used in the manuscript.

4. Handling Plagiarism Allegations

If plagiarism is detected or reported at any stage (pre-publication or post-publication), the Editorial Board will follow the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) flowcharts:

  1. Pre-review Stage: The manuscript will be rejected, and the author will receive a formal warning.

  2. During Review: The review process will be suspended, and the author will be asked for an explanation. If the explanation is unsatisfactory, the paper will be rejected.

  3. Post-publication: If plagiarism is discovered after the article is published, the journal will issue a Formal Retraction or a Correction (Erratum), and the author's institution may be notified.

5. Author Responsibility

Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works. If authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. MSPR holds the authors solely responsible for the content of their submissions and any ethical breaches found therein.