Plagiarism Policy & Screening
Originality, similarity limits, screening procedures, and actions on plagiarism.
Definition and forms of plagiarism
Plagiarism involves the use of another person’s ideas, words, data, or work without proper acknowledgement and presenting them as one’s own original work. SOCIA: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial considers plagiarism in any form to be a serious breach of academic integrity.
Unacceptable practices include:
- — Verbatim copying: reproducing text word-for-word from another source without quotation marks and proper citation.
- — Paraphrasing without citation: rewording another author’s ideas or arguments while retaining the original structure without giving credit.
- — Translation plagiarism: translating published work from another language (e.g., from Indonesian to English or vice versa) and submitting it without proper attribution.
- — Text recycling (self-plagiarism): re-using substantial portions of the author’s own previously published work without explicit citation or disclosure to the editors.
Screening and similarity limits
All submitted manuscripts are screened for text similarity using Turnitin / iThenticate similarity-detection software before entering the peer review process and again prior to final publication.
| OVERALL SIMILARITY LIMIT | Maximum 20% (excluding references and standard methodology phrases) |
| SINGLE-SOURCE MATCH LIMIT | Maximum 1% from any individual published source |
Note: A low similarity score does not guarantee the absence of plagiarism (e.g., translated text or paraphrased ideas), nor does a high score automatically confirm misconduct. Every similarity report is critically evaluated by an editor.
Screening stages
| STAGE 1: INITIAL SCREENING | Performed within 7 days of submission. Manuscripts exceeding similarity limits are flagged for editorial review before being assigned to peer reviewers. |
| STAGE 2: PRE-PUBLICATION | Performed on the final layout version before official publication to ensure no uncredited content was introduced during revision. |
Editorial procedure for suspected plagiarism
When a manuscript is flagged for potential plagiarism, the handling editor investigates the evidence and categorizes the severity of the issue:
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Minor overlap (Technical/Educational Fix): Limited text overlap, minor citation omissions, or poor paraphrasing. The manuscript is returned to the authors with specific instructions to revise and correctly attribute the sources within 14 days.
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Serious plagiarism (Rejection & Sanctions): Substantial verbatim copying, uncredited translation, or duplicate publication. The manuscript is immediately rejected. The author’s institution or funding body may be informed, and submission bans may apply.
Post-publication reports of plagiarism are handled strictly according to the journal's Research Misconduct Policy and COPE flowcharts.
Responsibilities of authors
- — Ensure that the submitted manuscript represents entirely original work.
- — Provide accurate citations, reference list entries, and explicit quotation marks for all quoted material.
- — Disclose any previous presentation or publication of preliminary findings (e.g., conference proceedings or preprints) upon submission.
- — Complete and sign the official Author Declaration Form during the submission process.
