Plagiarism and duplication

The editors do not accept texts that show signs of plagiarism or duplication.

The editors use a system for checking the similarity of texts https://plagiat.pl. Articles submitted for publication are scanned with an anti-plagiarism programme before being sent for review. The report on the analysis of the text submitted for publication, indicating the sources and volume of possible borrowings, is available to all participants in the editorial process – editors, author or co-authors, and reviewers. A positive evaluation of the originality of the submitted work is a condition for enabling it to proceed further in the editorial process.

What is plagiarism?

The editors consider the following as plagiarism:

  • presenting someone else’s work as one’s own;
  • a literal borrowing from someone else’s work published as one’s own (without specifying the source from which the borrowing comes);
  • presenting someone else’s concept as one’s own, without referencing the work from which it has been taken;
  • copying excerpts of one’s own, previously published works, without referencing the source publications (auto-plagiarism);
  • omitting a quotation mark in the quoted excerpts of the text (also if the source publication is properly indicated);
  • copying excerpts of other people’s works and presenting them as one’s own, omitting references to the sources, after introducing minor changes (e.g. replacing individual words with their synonyms, changing the order of a sentence);
  • copying excerpts of other people’s works and composing text from them in such a way that the borrowings constitute the majority of the work, even if the borrowings are properly referenced (the text contains appropriate references to source publications);
  • providing incorrect information about the sources from which the borrowings come.

What is redundant publication?

Redundant (duplicate) publication occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of their own, already published work without providing appropriate references. This may include, for example, publishing an identical article in multiple journals or adding a small portion of new text (or new data) to a previously published work.

Duplicate publications shall not be published and disclosed attempts to publish such texts will be treated as plagiarism.

Liability for plagiarism

The editors take steps to counteract the phenomenon of plagiarism but are not liable for any abuses found. The author who committed plagiarism bears full liability.

Editorial activities counteracting the phenomenon of plagiarism

  1. The instructions for authors contain information on the methods for disclosing and documenting information sources used in the submitted text.
  2. In accordance with the publication policy, articles submitted for publication in the journal should be original and previously unpublished (they should contain the results of author’s own research or the author’s original position on the discussed issues).
  3. The declaration of the originality of the work and non-infringement of third-party copyrights is made by the author or authors when the article is registered in the publication system.
  4. The editors require disclosure of the authorship of all persons who have contributed to the article and their contribution, respectively, for: the preparation of the research (A); data collection (B); statistical analysis of the results obtained (C); interpretation of the results obtained (D); preparation of the original version of the text (E); literature review (F); as well as correction and revision of the text (G).
  5. The editors require authors to be ready to submit raw source data, particularly for the purposes of reviewing and assessing the originality of the work.
  6. The editor-in-chief appoints a person responsible for the implementation of the anti-plagiarism policy – accepting reports of suspected plagiarism, conducting explanatory proceedings (see the editorial team).
  7. The editorial office trains editors in the use of the anti-plagiarism system and allows both editors and reviewers to report doubts regarding the originality of the work at every stage of the publishing process.

Editors’ actions in the event of suspected plagiarism and disclosure of plagiarism

  1. If any irregularities are noticed in a text submitted for publication (suspected of plagiarism), the editors conduct explanatory proceedings in this matter, following the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
  2. If, as a result of the explanatory proceedings, the editors confirm the occurrence of plagiarism, the article is retracted from the editorial process (rejected) at every stage.
  3. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the editors can correct the text in agreement with the author (authors) and replace it with a new version on the website with a note about the change; the article can also be retracted from the website and indexing databases and the reason for doing so stated.
  4. In the event that readers make critical comments and remarks about published texts, the editors will post appropriate explanations and corrections, enabling the authors of the questioned articles to answer in the journal’s forum.
  5. In the event that the explanatory proceedings reveal that plagiarism is evident, the author’s action is deliberate, and the author does not respond to the editorial office’s call to provide appropriate explanations, the editor-in-chief will notify the institution employing the author.
  6. In justified cases, the editor-in-chief can also notify the aggrieved parties, including the publisher of the journal or monographs that have been the source of the plagiarism.