Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is the use or presentation of another person's words, ideas, data, results, methods, equations, algorithms, code, images, figures, tables, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgement of the original source. Plagiarism constitutes a serious breach of research and publication ethics and may also involve copyright infringement.

International Journal of Economic Sciences (IJES) requires all submitted manuscripts to represent original scholarly work and does not tolerate plagiarism, inappropriate attribution, or other forms of unauthorized appropriation of previously published or unpublished material.

Forms of Plagiarism

Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to:

  • copying text word-for-word, or substantially word-for-word, from another source without appropriate quotation and citation;
  • closely paraphrasing another person's work without appropriate acknowledgement of the original source;
  • presenting another person's ideas, arguments, methods, models, algorithms, data, results, or interpretations as one's own;
  • reproducing or adapting equations, figures, tables, photographs, illustrations, source code, or other material without appropriate acknowledgement of the original source;
  • reproducing copyrighted material without obtaining permission where such permission is required;
  • using unpublished material obtained through confidential access, peer review, collaboration, editorial work, or other restricted circumstances without appropriate authorization; and
  • substantial reuse of an author's own previously published material without transparent disclosure and appropriate citation.

Text Recycling and Reuse of Previous Work

Authors must appropriately acknowledge their own previously published or publicly disseminated work where it is relevant to the submitted manuscript. Substantial reuse of previously published text, data, figures, tables, models, algorithms, analyses, or results without appropriate disclosure and citation may constitute inappropriate text recycling, redundant publication, or another form of publication misconduct.

Legitimate prior dissemination through preprints, working papers, theses or dissertations, conference papers or proceedings, institutional reports, or similar scholarly channels does not automatically constitute plagiarism or prevent consideration by IJES.

Authors must, however, transparently disclose relevant earlier versions of the work and appropriately cite or link to them where applicable. Where a manuscript substantially extends previously disseminated work, the relationship between the earlier and submitted versions must be clear and the new scholarly contribution must be identifiable.

Questions involving duplicate submission, redundant publication, or inappropriate reuse extending beyond plagiarism will be considered under the journal's Publication Ethics Statement and other applicable publication ethics policies.

Similarity Screening

Manuscripts submitted to IJES are screened for textual similarity using iThenticate. Similarity screening may be performed at different stages of the editorial process, including during initial editorial assessment and, where appropriate, before a final acceptance decision.

A similarity percentage or similarity report does not, by itself, establish that plagiarism has occurred. Legitimate textual similarity may arise from properly cited quotations, references, standard terminology, established methodological descriptions, preprints, earlier versions of the authors' own work, or other appropriately acknowledged material.

Similarity reports are therefore evaluated by the Editorial Office on a case-by-case basis. Editors consider the nature, extent, location, context, and sources of textual overlap, together with the adequacy of citation, quotation, disclosure, and attribution.

IJES does not determine plagiarism solely on the basis of a fixed overall similarity percentage.

Plagiarism Identified Before Publication

Where similarity screening or editorial assessment raises concerns about possible plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, redundant publication, or other forms of unattributed reuse, the Editorial Office may request an explanation, revised manuscript, source material, or other relevant information from the authors.

Editorial action will depend on the nature, extent, context, and seriousness of the identified issue. Minor or inadvertent attribution problems may, where appropriate, be returned to the authors for correction.

Substantial, systematic, or deliberate plagiarism, serious misrepresentation of originality, unauthorized use of confidential material, or other major breaches of publication ethics may result in rejection of the manuscript and further action under the journal's Unethical Behavior policy.

Plagiarism Identified After Publication

Allegations of plagiarism concerning published articles will be assessed regardless of the time elapsed since publication.

The journal may request explanations, underlying files, source material, or other relevant documentation from the authors and may seek additional information from institutions, rights holders, or other appropriate parties where reasonably necessary to assess the concern.

If plagiarism, inappropriate redundant publication, or another serious form of unattributed reuse is established after publication, IJES may take appropriate action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Depending on the nature and severity of the case, such action may include publication of a Correction, an Expression of Concern, Retraction, or another appropriate post-publication notice. Formal actions affecting the published scholarly record will be handled in accordance with the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies.

Copyright and Permissions

Appropriate citation does not necessarily remove the requirement to obtain permission where copyrighted material is reproduced or adapted and permission is required by the applicable license or law.

Requirements concerning copyright, licensing, third-party material, attribution, and permissions are provided separately in the journal's Copyright and Licensing policy.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are accurately and appropriately acknowledged and that their manuscript complies with the journal's requirements concerning originality, copyright, duplicate and redundant publication, and research and publication ethics.

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality and integrity of all text, data, figures, tables, equations, algorithms, code, references, supplementary materials, and other content included in their submission.

COPE Guidance

In assessing suspected plagiarism and determining appropriate editorial action, IJES will consider relevant guidance and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).