Plagiarism Policy
SALIK: Studies in Advancing Learning, Ideology and Knowledge is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal expects all authors to adhere to internationally recognized standards of research and publication ethics, particularly with regard to originality, proper attribution, citation practices, and the responsible use of previously published material.
SALIK strongly condemns all forms of plagiarism, including direct plagiarism, substantial textual copying, inappropriate paraphrasing, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and other forms of unattributed use of another person's intellectual work.
Plagiarism Screening
All manuscripts submitted to SALIK are subject to plagiarism and similarity screening as part of the initial editorial assessment. The editorial team may use recognized similarity-detection tools, including Turnitin and Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate, to identify potentially overlapping text between submitted manuscripts and previously published or publicly available scholarly works.
Similarity screening is conducted before a manuscript is forwarded to external reviewers. The purpose of the screening is to identify potentially problematic textual overlap at an early stage and to assist the editors in assessing the originality and integrity of the submission.
A similarity report is not, by itself, evidence of plagiarism. The percentage of similarity may result from legitimate quotations, references, commonly used academic terminology, methodological descriptions, institutional names, or other appropriately attributed material. Therefore, every similarity report is reviewed and interpreted by the editorial team in its academic context.
As a general editorial guideline, manuscripts with an overall similarity index below 20% are normally considered acceptable for further assessment, provided that the identified similarities do not indicate plagiarism or other forms of inappropriate textual reuse. A similarity score above this threshold does not automatically constitute plagiarism, but it may require further examination, clarification, revision, or other editorial action.
SALIK reserves the right to reject a manuscript when the editorial assessment establishes substantial plagiarism, inappropriate textual reuse, fabricated attribution, or other serious violations of academic integrity, regardless of the reported similarity percentage.
Definition of Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's ideas, words, expressions, data, arguments, findings, or intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment, attribution, or citation.
Plagiarism may occur intentionally or unintentionally. Lack of intention does not eliminate the responsibility of authors to provide appropriate attribution. Authors are therefore expected to understand and comply with accepted academic citation and referencing practices.
Proper citation is required whenever authors use specific information, arguments, interpretations, findings, data, concepts, or wording derived from a particular source. Information that constitutes widely established common knowledge generally does not require citation; however, authors should exercise caution when determining whether information genuinely qualifies as common knowledge.
Forms of Plagiarism
Direct or Verbatim Plagiarism
Direct plagiarism occurs when an author copies words, sentences, paragraphs, or other substantial portions of another person's work verbatim without quotation, appropriate attribution, or citation.
This form of plagiarism can generally be identified by comparing the submitted manuscript with the original source. Even when only selected portions of a source are copied, the use of the material must be properly acknowledged and cited.
Substantial Plagiarism
Substantial plagiarism occurs when an author reproduces a significant portion of another person's intellectual work without appropriate acknowledgment or citation.
The concept of "substantial" may be considered in both quantitative and qualitative terms. A relatively small amount of copied material may nevertheless constitute substantial plagiarism if it represents a central argument, distinctive idea, original conceptual framework, key finding, or other intellectually significant contribution of the original work.
Inappropriate Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is the process of expressing information, ideas, or arguments from a source in one's own words while preserving the underlying meaning.
Paraphrasing becomes plagiarism when the author changes only a limited number of words or sentence structures while retaining the original author's distinctive expression, argument, or structure without appropriate citation.
Effective paraphrasing requires genuine reformulation of the source material while maintaining proper attribution to the original author.
Self-Plagiarism and Text Recycling
Self-plagiarism occurs when authors reuse substantial portions of their own previously published work without appropriate disclosure, citation, or justification.
Limited reuse of previously published material may sometimes be academically justified, particularly in methodological descriptions or closely related scholarly contexts. However, authors must disclose and appropriately cite any previously published material that has been reused.
Authors must not present previously published material as entirely new or original when doing so could mislead readers regarding the novelty of the work.
Duplicate and Redundant Publication
Authors must not submit or publish substantially the same research in multiple journals without legitimate scholarly justification and appropriate disclosure.
Submitting the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals is considered an unethical publication practice.
Authors are responsible for informing the editor if the submitted manuscript is closely related to previously published or simultaneously submitted work.
Authors' Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all submitted manuscripts are original and that all sources of ideas, words, data, figures, tables, arguments, and other intellectual contributions are properly acknowledged.
Authors should:
- provide accurate and complete citations for sources used in the manuscript;
- use quotation marks when directly reproducing another author's wording;
- clearly distinguish their own ideas and findings from those of other scholars;
- properly paraphrase and cite source material;
- disclose the reuse of previously published material;
- obtain permission where required for copyrighted material;
- avoid duplicate and redundant publication; and
- retain appropriate documentation supporting the originality and integrity of their work.
Authors are also responsible for verifying the accuracy of references and citations before submitting their manuscripts.
Editorial Actions in Cases of Plagiarism
SALIK takes suspected plagiarism seriously and will assess each case carefully and fairly.
If potential plagiarism is identified during the initial screening process, the editor may request clarification from the author, require appropriate revision, or reject the manuscript depending on the nature and severity of the identified problem.
Where substantial plagiarism or serious academic misconduct is established after publication, SALIK may take appropriate post-publication action, including issuing a correction, publishing an expression of concern, or retracting the article.
In cases involving serious or systematic misconduct, the journal may notify the author's affiliated institution or other appropriate bodies when necessary and consistent with applicable ethical and legal standards.
The final editorial action will be determined based on the nature, extent, context, and seriousness of the suspected misconduct rather than solely on the numerical similarity score.
Academic Integrity and Scholarly Responsibility
SALIK considers academic integrity to be a fundamental principle of scholarly communication. Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher share responsibility for maintaining a trustworthy and reliable scholarly record.
The journal therefore encourages authors to adopt responsible citation practices, respect intellectual property rights, accurately acknowledge the contributions of other scholars, and ensure that all published work reflects genuine scholarly contribution.
SALIK reserves the right to reject a manuscript, withdraw an acceptance decision, or take appropriate post-publication action when credible evidence demonstrates that the manuscript or published article violates the journal's standards of academic integrity.
By submitting a manuscript to SALIK, authors acknowledge their responsibility to comply with this plagiarism and similarity-check policy and with the journal's broader Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.