Plagiarism Issue

Plagiarism Policy & Screening

Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism & Similarity Threshold
Sam Ratulangi Politics Review (SRPolRev) maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy against academic plagiarism, duplicate publication, and data fabrication. All submitted manuscripts are screened using automated similarity software (Turnitin) prior to peer review. The maximum overall similarity index allowed is 20%.

1. Similarity Threshold Criteria

Overall Similarity Limit:
The total similarity index must not exceed 20% across the entire manuscript.
Single Source Limit:
Similarity with a single publication source must not exceed 3% to 5%. Excessive reliance on a single source may trigger a revision request.
Exclusions Allowed:
Bibliography / References, properly formatted block quotes with explicit citations, and standard institutional affiliations are excluded during calculation.

2. Forms of Unethical Content Prohibited

  • Direct Plagiarism: Verbatim copying of texts, paragraphs, or ideas without quotation marks and proper acknowledgment.
  • Self-Plagiarism / Duplicate Submission: Reusing substantial parts of the author's own previously published work without explicit citation or submitting the same paper concurrently to multiple journals.
  • Improper Paraphrasing: Modifying words or sentence structures of another author's work while retaining the original idea without giving clear attribution.
  • Data Fabrication & Falsification: Inventing, manipulating, or altering empirical political data, survey results, or interview quotes.

3. Actions & Sanctions

Pre-Review Stage (Similarity > 20%):
If the Turnitin report indicates similarity above 20%, the manuscript will be returned for revision or desk-rejected immediately without review.
Post-Publication Discovery:
If plagiarism is proven after publication, SRPolRev will issue an official Retraction Notice following COPE Guidelines, notify the author's institution, and update indexing databases.
Institutional Compliance: SRPolRev follows COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Flowcharts when investigating allegations of plagiarism and ethical breaches.