Plagiarism Screening

Plagiarism Screening and Publication Integrity Policy

International Journal of Business, Law, and Education (IJBLE) is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity, originality, transparency, and ethical scholarly publishing. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, self-plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, or other forms of research and publication misconduct.

Originality of Submitted Manuscripts

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to IJBLE constitute original scholarly work. Any ideas, arguments, data, text, figures, tables, methods, or other materials derived from previously published or unpublished sources must be appropriately acknowledged and cited in accordance with accepted academic standards.

Direct quotations must be clearly identified and properly referenced. Paraphrased material must be sufficiently rewritten in the authors' own scholarly language and accompanied by appropriate citation to the original source.

Manuscripts submitted to IJBLE must not have been previously published in substantially the same form and must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal. Authors must disclose any substantial overlap between the submitted manuscript and their previously published, accepted, or submitted work.

Self-Plagiarism and Text Recycling

IJBLE recognizes that limited textual overlap may occasionally occur when authors describe standardized methods, established terminology, or previous work. However, substantial reuse of an author's own previously published material without appropriate citation, attribution, or disclosure may constitute self-plagiarism or inappropriate text recycling.

Authors should therefore cite their previous publications whenever concepts, data, analyses, figures, tables, or substantial portions of text are reused or substantially derived from earlier work.

Similarity Screening

All manuscripts submitted to International Journal of Business, Law, and Education may be screened using similarity-detection software as part of the journal's editorial quality-control and research-integrity procedures.

IJBLE currently uses Turnitin, or other appropriate similarity-detection systems where necessary, to identify potentially problematic textual overlap. Authors are encouraged to assess the originality of their manuscripts prior to submission.

Further information about Turnitin is available at: https://www.turnitin.com/.

Similarity Threshold and Editorial Assessment

As a general editorial guideline, IJBLE expects submitted manuscripts to have an overall similarity index of approximately 15% or lower. However, the similarity percentage is not used as the sole or automatic criterion for determining plagiarism, rejection, or acceptance.

Similarity reports are assessed contextually by the editorial team. Bibliographic references, properly quoted passages, commonly used technical terminology, standard methodological descriptions, institutional names, legal terminology, and other legitimate textual similarities may contribute to the overall similarity score without constituting plagiarism.

Conversely, a manuscript with a relatively low overall similarity score may still contain unacceptable plagiarism if substantial material from a particular source has been reproduced without appropriate attribution.

Accordingly, editorial decisions concerning plagiarism are based on the nature, location, extent, source, and scholarly significance of the textual overlap, rather than solely on a numerical similarity score.

Assessment of Potential Plagiarism

Where potentially inappropriate textual overlap is identified, the editorial team may consider:

  • the extent and location of the overlapping material;
  • whether the original source has been appropriately acknowledged;
  • whether quotation and citation conventions have been correctly applied;
  • whether the overlap involves previously published work by the same author or authors;
  • whether substantial ideas, arguments, data, results, or interpretations have been reproduced without attribution;
  • whether the overlap appears to result from inappropriate text recycling or duplicate publication; and
  • whether there is evidence of deliberate or systematic misrepresentation of authorship or intellectual contribution.

Editorial Actions

The editorial response will depend on the nature and severity of the identified issue. IJBLE may:

  • request clarification from the authors;
  • request additional citations or appropriate attribution;
  • require revision or rewriting of overlapping passages;
  • return the manuscript for substantial technical revision;
  • reject a manuscript containing serious plagiarism or duplicate publication; or
  • take appropriate post-publication action when misconduct is identified after publication.

Where serious plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, or other significant research misconduct is identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances and the severity of the case.

Author Responsibilities

Before submitting a manuscript to IJBLE, authors should ensure that:

  • the manuscript represents original scholarly work;
  • all external ideas, data, quotations, figures, tables, and other materials have been appropriately cited;
  • all direct quotations are clearly identified;
  • paraphrased material is appropriately rewritten and attributed;
  • relevant previous publications by the authors have been properly cited;
  • any substantial overlap with previous work has been transparently disclosed;
  • copyrighted material has been used with permission where required; and
  • the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors are aware of and comply with the journal's originality and publication-integrity requirements.

Language Quality and Grammarly

To support clarity, readability, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and consistency of academic language, manuscripts may be reviewed using language-support tools such as Grammarly or comparable professional language-editing applications.

The use of such applications is intended solely to support linguistic quality. Grammarly or similar tools do not assess scientific validity, methodological rigor, originality, theoretical contribution, legal accuracy, research ethics, or the scholarly significance of a manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, meaning, interpretation, originality, and academic integrity of all material included in their manuscripts. Automated language-editing tools do not replace careful author proofreading, professional academic editing, editorial assessment, or peer review.

Editorial Independence

Similarity screening and language assessment form only part of IJBLE's broader editorial quality-control procedures. A manuscript that satisfies a numerical similarity threshold is not automatically eligible for publication, and a manuscript exceeding the journal's general similarity guideline is not automatically considered plagiarized.

Final editorial decisions are based on multiple considerations, including originality, relevance to the journal's scope, methodological rigor, scholarly contribution, ethical compliance, transparency, quality of academic writing, and the outcome of independent peer review.

Commitment to Publication Integrity

Through similarity screening, editorial assessment, peer review, and responsible publication practices, International Journal of Business, Law, and Education (IJBLE) seeks to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and maintain the credibility of its authors, editors, reviewers, readers, and publishing institution.

Authors are expected to comply fully with the journal's publication ethics and research-integrity requirements throughout the submission, peer-review, revision, and publication processes.