Plagiarism Policy
1. Policy Statement
UNZA JABS is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and originality. All submitted manuscripts must be the authors’ own original work and must be free from plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and unauthorized reuse of others’ ideas, text, or data without proper attribution.
2. Definition of Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
- Copying text, ideas, figures, tables, or data from previously published work without proper citation.
- Submitting someone else's work under one’s own name.
- Reusing significant portions of one’s own previously published work (self-plagiarism) without acknowledgment or citation.
- Paraphrasing or rewording another author’s ideas without credit.
- Using content generated by AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) without disclosure and human verification (see Generative AI Policy).
3. Plagiarism Detection
- All submissions to UNZA JABS are screened using plagiarism detection software (e.g., Grammarly, Turnitin, iThenticate, or equivalent).
- The acceptable similarity index is generally <20% (excluding references, quotes, and commonly used phrases).
- Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be reviewed manually and may be rejected or returned for revision.
4. Consequences of Plagiarism
If plagiarism is detected:
| Stage | Action Taken |
|---|---|
| Pre-review | Manuscript is rejected; authors notified and invited to resubmit after revision. |
| Post-acceptance | Acceptance is withdrawn; editorial decision is documented. |
| Post-publication | A correction, expression of concern, or retraction is issued based on severity. The author's institution may be informed. |
Repeated offenses may result in blacklisting of authors for a specified period.
5. Author Responsibilities
Authors submitting to UNZA JABS must:
- Ensure that their manuscript is original and properly cited.
- Provide attribution for all ideas, text, data, and images from other sources.
- Declare if the manuscript contains any reused material, including their own prior publications.
- Certify that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere.
6. Editorial and Peer Review Oversight
- The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for enforcing this policy.
- Peer reviewers are encouraged to report suspected plagiarism.
- All investigations follow the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines.