Plagiarism and Similarity Screening Policy

1. Purpose and Scope

The International Journal of Multidisciplinary Inquiry (IJMI) is committed to protecting the originality, credibility, and integrity of scholarly research. The journal expects all submitted manuscripts to demonstrate appropriate academic attribution, responsible engagement with existing scholarship, and compliance with established standards of research and publication ethics.

This policy outlines the journal's requirements concerning plagiarism, textual overlap, duplicate publication, and manuscript similarity screening. It applies to all manuscripts submitted to IJMI, including Original Research Articles and Review Articles, irrespective of disciplinary field or research methodology.

IJMI recognizes that similarity between scholarly texts does not necessarily constitute plagiarism. The journal therefore distinguishes between legitimate textual overlap, appropriately attributed material, and practices that may compromise academic originality or publication integrity.

2. Originality and Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to IJMI must ensure that their work represents an original scholarly contribution and has not been previously published or submitted simultaneously to another journal for consideration.

Authors are responsible for acknowledging the intellectual contributions of others through appropriate citation and referencing. Ideas, arguments, findings, data, quotations, figures, tables, and other materials originating from existing sources must be properly attributed.

Where a manuscript builds upon an author's previously published research, the relationship between the new submission and the earlier work must be clearly established. Relevant previous publications should be cited, and any substantial reuse of material should be disclosed where appropriate.

Authors must ensure that the manuscript provides a sufficiently distinct scholarly contribution and does not misleadingly present previously published material as entirely new research.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors are aware of the journal's originality requirements and have approved the manuscript submitted for editorial consideration.

3. Forms of Plagiarism and Unacceptable Textual Reuse

Plagiarism involves presenting another person's intellectual work, ideas, expressions, findings, or other scholarly contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment.

Plagiarism may include direct copying of text without attribution, close paraphrasing that reproduces the substance or structure of another source without acknowledgment, unattributed use of research findings or data, and the unauthorized reproduction of figures, tables, or other protected materials.

Self-plagiarism or inappropriate textual recycling may arise when authors reuse substantial portions of their previously published work without adequate disclosure or justification, particularly where the reused material is presented as a new scholarly contribution.

Duplicate publication occurs when substantially the same research is published or submitted for publication more than once without appropriate disclosure or a legitimate scholarly justification.

The journal also considers the inappropriate division of a single research project into multiple publications with insufficiently distinct contributions, sometimes described as redundant or fragmented publication, to be a potential concern requiring editorial assessment.

The seriousness of any identified overlap will be evaluated according to its nature, extent, location within the manuscript, attribution, and implications for the originality of the scholarly contribution.

4. Manuscript Similarity Screening

IJMI may undertake similarity screening as part of its initial editorial assessment or at another appropriate stage of the publication process.

The journal intends to incorporate a recognized manuscript similarity-screening service, such as Crossref Similarity Check, which uses iThenticate technology, subject to the completion of the necessary membership, subscription, and technical arrangements.

Until such arrangements are operational, the editorial team may assess originality through available editorial procedures, examination of relevant sources, and other appropriate verification methods.

Similarity-screening tools identify textual matches between submitted manuscripts and materials available within their comparison databases. These reports assist editorial assessment but do not independently establish whether plagiarism or publication misconduct has occurred.

The editorial team is responsible for interpreting any similarity findings in their scholarly context and determining whether further clarification or investigation is warranted.

IJMI does not represent similarity screening as a guarantee that all forms of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or research misconduct will be detected.

5. Interpretation of Similarity Reports

IJMI does not apply a universal numerical similarity threshold as the sole basis for accepting, rejecting, or returning a manuscript.

A similarity percentage represents the extent of textual matching identified by a particular screening system under its applicable settings and database coverage. It is not, by itself, a definitive measure of plagiarism or academic originality.

Editorial assessment will consider the sources and distribution of matched material, the presence or absence of appropriate attribution, and the nature of the text involved.

Similarity arising from references, commonly used disciplinary terminology, standard methodological descriptions, properly attributed quotations, institutional names, or other conventional academic expressions may be legitimate.

Conversely, a relatively low overall similarity score may still warrant concern where a manuscript contains substantial unattributed material from a particular source, reproduces distinctive arguments without acknowledgment, or presents previously published findings as original.

The editorial team may also consider whether textual overlap affects the manuscript's substantive contribution, analytical originality, or compliance with the journal's publication requirements.

Decisions will therefore be based on reasoned academic judgment and the circumstances of each manuscript, not on an automated score alone.

6. Similarity Screening and Editorial Procedures

Where similarity screening is undertaken, the resulting report will be considered alongside the manuscript's academic content, referencing practices, submission declarations, and other relevant information.

If the assessment identifies potentially problematic overlap, the editorial team may examine the original sources, review the manuscript's attribution, and determine whether the concern requires clarification.

Depending on the circumstances, authors may be requested to correct inadequate attribution, revise overlapping passages, clarify the relationship between the submission and earlier publications, or provide relevant supporting information.

Where the overlap appears substantial, misleading, or inconsistent with the journal's originality requirements, the manuscript may be declined during initial editorial screening or at a later stage of consideration.

If there are reasonable grounds to suspect serious publication misconduct, the matter may be examined under IJMI's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

Authors should be given an appropriate opportunity to explain substantive concerns before conclusions concerning misconduct are reached.

7. Previously Disseminated Research and Related Publications

IJMI recognizes that research may have been disseminated through academic theses, dissertations, institutional repositories, conference presentations, preprint servers, or other scholarly channels before submission to a journal.

Such dissemination does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration. However, authors must disclose relevant prior availability and ensure that the submitted article satisfies the journal's requirements concerning originality, scholarly contribution, and publication rights.

Manuscripts developed from theses or dissertations should demonstrate appropriate adaptation for journal publication. Authors should clearly identify relevant prior dissemination where necessary and ensure that the article makes a coherent and sufficiently developed scholarly contribution.

Where multiple manuscripts originate from the same research project, dataset, or thesis, authors must ensure that each submission has a distinguishable research purpose, analytical contribution, and substantive scholarly value.

Related publications must be appropriately acknowledged. Authors should avoid unnecessary duplication of findings, arguments, or substantial passages that could mislead readers concerning the novelty of the work.

The editorial team may request copies of related publications or additional clarification to determine whether the submitted manuscript meets these requirements.

8. Generative Artificial Intelligence and Originality

The use of generative artificial intelligence does not exempt authors from the journal's originality and attribution requirements.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content does not reproduce unattributed material, introduce fabricated references, misrepresent existing scholarship, or present unsupported information as verified research evidence.

Similarity-screening software and AI-detection software perform different functions. A textual similarity report identifies matches with available source materials, while an AI-detection tool attempts to estimate whether content may have been generated using artificial intelligence.

IJMI does not regard an automated AI-detection score as conclusive evidence of inappropriate AI use, plagiarism, or research misconduct.

Authors must comply with the journal's Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use and Disclosure Policy, including its requirements concerning transparency, verification, and human accountability.

Where concerns involve both originality and the use of generative AI, the editorial team may assess the issues together under the journal's applicable publication ethics procedures.

9. Confidentiality and Responsible Use of Screening Tools

Manuscripts submitted to IJMI are treated as confidential scholarly documents during editorial evaluation.

Access to similarity reports and related screening information will be restricted to individuals with legitimate editorial responsibilities or other authorized roles in the publication process.

The journal will seek to use screening services and manuscript assessment procedures in a manner consistent with applicable confidentiality, data protection, and publication ethics requirements.

Reviewers and editors must not independently upload confidential manuscripts to unauthorized external screening platforms, generative AI systems, or other third-party services.

Where authors are requested to respond to similarity concerns, relevant information may be communicated to them to enable a meaningful explanation or correction.

Similarity reports are intended to support responsible editorial evaluation and must not be used to make unsupported allegations of plagiarism or misconduct.

10. Post-Publication Concerns and Corrective Action

Concerns regarding plagiarism, redundant publication, unattributed material, or substantial undisclosed textual overlap may arise after an article has been published.

Where such concerns are brought to the journal's attention, IJMI may examine the relevant publication record, compare the materials concerned, request explanations from the authors, and seek additional information where appropriate.

The journal will distinguish between errors that can reasonably be addressed through correction and serious concerns that may undermine the integrity or originality of the published work.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the findings, appropriate actions may include publication of a correction, an expression of concern, or retraction in accordance with the journal's established publication ethics procedures.

Any corrective action will be considered with reference to the available evidence, the reliability of the published work, and the need to maintain an accurate and trustworthy scholarly record.

11. Policy Compliance and Review

All authors are expected to comply with IJMI's requirements concerning originality, accurate attribution, disclosure of related publications, and responsible scholarly conduct.

Editors and reviewers are responsible for identifying and communicating substantive originality concerns through the journal's established editorial procedures.

IJMI may revise its similarity-screening arrangements and associated requirements as appropriate technologies, publishing standards, and institutional capabilities develop.

This policy should be read alongside the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, Peer Review Policy, a