The Editorial Board of the International Journal of Informatics and Information Systems (IJIIS) recognizes that plagiarism is unacceptable and therefore establishes the following policy specifying the actions and penalties that may be imposed when plagiarism is identified in a manuscript submitted for publication in IJIIS. Plagiarism involves the “use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.”

Our Policy:

Manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Any material taken verbatim from another source must be clearly distinguished from the author’s original text through: (1) indentation, (2) the use of quotation marks, and (3) proper identification and citation of the original source.

Any text exceeding reasonable fair-use standards, defined in this policy as more than two or three sentences or their equivalent, or any graphic material reproduced from another source, requires permission from the copyright holder and, where feasible, the original author or authors. The source, including the previous publication, must also be clearly identified.

When plagiarism is identified, the Editor-in-Chief responsible for reviewing the manuscript will determine the appropriate measures according to the extent and severity of the plagiarism detected, in accordance with the following guidelines:

Levels of Plagiarism

1. Minor: A short section of another article is reproduced without proper attribution, but no significant data, findings, or original ideas are taken from the source.

Action: A warning will be issued to the authors, together with a request to revise the relevant text and properly cite the original article.

2. Intermediate: A significant portion of a manuscript is reproduced without proper citation or acknowledgment of the original source.

Action: The submitted manuscript will be rejected, and the authors may be prohibited from submitting further manuscripts to IJIIS for one year.

3. Severe: A significant portion of a manuscript is plagiarized, including the reproduction of original results, data, findings, figures, or ideas presented in another publication.

Action: The manuscript will be rejected, and the authors may be prohibited from submitting further manuscripts to IJIIS for two years.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• Directly copying text from other sources without proper attribution.
• Copying ideas, images, figures, tables, data, methods, or results from other sources without proper attribution.
• Reusing text from an author’s own previous publications without appropriate citation, disclosure, or editorial approval.
• Exception: Limited reuse of text from the Methods section of an author’s previous publication may be acceptable when the original source is properly cited and the reuse is necessary to accurately describe the methodology.
• Using an idea from another source with only minor changes to the wording and without acknowledging the original source.

If plagiarism is detected during the peer-review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, IJIIS may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the severity and circumstances of the case.

All manuscripts submitted to or published by IJIIS may be screened using Turnitin or another recognized similarity-detection system.

All authors are responsible for the content of their submitted manuscript. By submitting a manuscript to IJIIS, all authors confirm that they have reviewed and approved the submission and accept responsibility for its originality and ethical compliance. If a penalty is imposed for plagiarism, all listed authors may be subject to the same penalty unless evidence demonstrates that particular authors were not involved in or aware of the misconduct.

If a second case of plagiarism involving the same author or authors is identified, the Editorial Board, including the Editor-in-Chief and relevant editorial members, will determine the appropriate measures. Depending on the seriousness and recurrence of the violation, the author or authors may be permanently prohibited from submitting further manuscripts to IJIIS.

This policy also applies to material reproduced from another publication by the same author or authors. Where authors reuse previously published text, figures, tables, data, or other material, the relevant sections must be clearly identified and the original publication properly cited. In review articles or tutorial papers, where substantial discussion of previously published material is expected, all sources must still be appropriately acknowledged.

Authors must identify the source of previously published material and obtain permission from the original author and publisher where required. If an author submits a manuscript to IJIIS that substantially overlaps with another manuscript submitted simultaneously to another journal, and the overlap is discovered during review or after publication, the editor of the other journal may be notified, and the matter may be treated as a severe case of plagiarism.

Significant overlap includes the use of identical or nearly identical figures, tables, results, or text comprising approximately one-half or more of the manuscript. Self-plagiarism involving less than one-half but more than one-tenth of the manuscript may be treated as intermediate plagiarism. Where self-plagiarism is limited to the Methods section and the original source is properly cited, the case may be treated as minor plagiarism, depending on the circumstances.

If authors reuse portions of their previously published material to clarify the presentation of new findings, the previously published material must be clearly identified, and the distinction between the earlier and current work must be explained. Permission to republish copyrighted material must be obtained from the relevant copyright holder.

Where a manuscript was originally published in conference proceedings and is later submitted to IJIIS in an identical or expanded form, the authors must disclose the name of the conference, the title and date of the original publication, and the extent of any overlap. Permission to republish must be obtained from the copyright holder where applicable. The editor reserves the right to decline such a submission where the manuscript does not provide sufficient additional scholarly contribution.

Authors may use material from an unpublished presentation, including visual displays, in a subsequent journal publication, provided that the material does not violate the rights of third parties and all relevant sources are acknowledged.

Where a submitted publication was originally published in another language, the authors must identify the title, publication date, and journal of the original work and obtain any necessary copyright permission. The editor may consider a translated publication where it serves a clear scholarly purpose and is fully disclosed to readers.

The editor may, in exceptional circumstances, select a previously published paper for authorized republication where this provides important context or perspective for a thematic issue. Such republication must be clearly identified, include complete details of the original publication, and be undertaken only with permission from the authors and the original publisher.

The IJIIS editorial office is responsible for maintaining records of authors who are subject to submission restrictions or other penalties. The editorial team may verify whether any author of a newly submitted manuscript is included in these records. If a restricted author is identified, the responsible editor will inform the Editor-in-Chief, who will determine the appropriate action.

This plagiarism policy is published on the IJIIS website and forms part of the journal’s author guidelines and submission requirements. By submitting a manuscript, the author or authors confirm that they have read, understood, and agreed to comply with this policy.