Plagiarism Policy

The International Journal of Innovative Studies (IJIS) maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism in any form. We are committed to upholding the integrity and originality of the scholarly work we publish and ensuring that all submissions meet the highest standards of academic ethics.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves presenting another person's words, ideas, data, or work as one’s own without proper acknowledgment. This includes, but is not limited to:

Direct plagiarism: Copying text verbatim without quotation marks or citation.
Paraphrasing plagiarism: Rewriting someone else's ideas or research without proper attribution.
Self-plagiarism: Reusing substantial parts of one’s own previously published work without disclosure or citation.
Mosaic plagiarism: Mixing copied phrases from various sources into one’s work without citation.
Unattributed data use: Presenting data, images, tables, or figures created by others without permission or acknowledgment.

Plagiarism Detection

All manuscripts submitted to IJIS are subjected to plagiarism screening using reliable detection software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate, Grammarly, or equivalent tools). The editorial office checks for:

Overall similarity index and content overlap;
Appropriateness of citations;
Proper paraphrasing and quotation formatting.

Acceptable Similarity Threshold

Overall Similarity Score: Should not exceed 20%.
Single-source Match: No more than 5% from a single source.
Bibliographic and properly quoted material may be excluded from the report.

Manuscripts that exceed the acceptable similarity threshold will be returned to the author for revision or rejected outright, depending on the severity of the overlap detected.

Editorial Action on Plagiarism

Plagiarism Type	Editorial Decision
Minor (5–10%)	Author requested to revise and properly cite sources.
Moderate (11–20%)	Manuscript returned for substantial rewriting and resubmission.
Major (>20%)	Immediate rejection with formal notification; future submissions may be restricted.

In extreme or repeated cases, the editorial board may notify the author’s institution or funder, blacklist the author from future submissions, and/or publish a retraction notice (if discovered post-publication).

Post-Publication Plagiarism

If plagiarism is discovered after an article is published, IJIS will:

Conduct a formal investigation;
Notify the authors and request a response;
If confirmed:
- Retract the article and label it clearly on the journal’s website;
- Publish a retraction notice detailing the misconduct;
- Update indexing and citation databases accordingly.