Policy on plagiarism
The articles are checked for obvious instances of plagiarism on submission and when in the review process. Authors are encouraged to use Turn-it-In to check their articles before they are submitted.
The editor will investigate any allegations of plagiarism made to the journal. If the allegations appear to be well founded, the author will be requested to supply an explanation. The allegations and explanation can be referred to the editorial committee for further investigation. Based on the investigation and response from the author, the editorial committee will take the following actions based on the nature and severity of the case:
- If the article is in the process of being peer reviewed, it may be returned to the author to acknowledge the source(s) properly.
- If the nature of the plagiarism is minor and possibly unintentional, the author will be asked to rewrite the section that has been inadvertently plagiarised.
- If this revision cannot be effected owing to the extent of the plagiarism, the article may be rejected if there can be no other outcome.
- Once the article has already been published, a concern or retraction will be published.
- The author’s institution may also be approached, depending on the response of the author involved.
