Plagiarism Policy

Widyakara Journal does not accept plagiarism in any form. This policy explains what counts as plagiarism, how similarity is checked, and what happens when plagiarism is found.

Thresholds. Turnitin similarity ≤ 20% overall and ≤ 1% from any single source, excluding the reference list. The editor also reads the report: a low score does not prove originality, and a high score is examined before any decision.

1. What Counts as Plagiarism

  • Verbatim copying without quotation marks and citation.
  • Paraphrasing another's text or ideas without citation.
  • Translation plagiarism.
  • Text recycling: reusing substantial parts of the authors' own published work without disclosure.
  • Duplicate publication.
  • Using another's data, tables, figures, or instruments without permission and citation.

Not plagiarism: properly quoted and cited material; common phrases and standard method descriptions; material from the authors' own thesis or conference paper that is disclosed and cited.

2. Similarity Checking

Checks are made at initial screening, again before publication, and at any time after publication if a concern is raised. The Turnitin report is uploaded to the submission record in OJS.

Finding Description Action
Acceptable ≤ 20% overall, ≤ 1% per source, no copied passages Proceeds
Minor Slightly above the thresholds, or short uncited passages Returned for revision before review continues
Substantial Copied paragraphs, uncited data or figures, or major overlap with one source Rejected, with the evidence
Serious Large-scale copying, duplicate publication, or repeated offences Rejected and handled under Research Misconduct

3. Published Articles

The journal follows the COPE flowcharts: the authors are asked to respond within 30 days. Depending on the outcome, the journal publishes a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction (Correction and Retraction).

4. Sanctions

  • Rejection of the manuscript.
  • For substantial or serious cases, a ban on submissions by the responsible authors for up to three years, and notification of their institutions.
  • Sanctions apply only to the responsible authors.

Sources: COPE (2017) Core practices; COPE (2018) Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript [Flowchart].