Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism Policy
Originality, proper attribution, and publication integrity

The Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy is committed to protecting the originality, integrity, and credibility of the scholarly record. All submitted manuscripts must be original, appropriately cited, and free from plagiarism, duplicate publication, and undisclosed reuse of previously published material. The journal applies ethical publishing practices consistent with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Similarity Screening

Every manuscript is screened using Turnitin before peer review. The journal applies a maximum similarity index of 20% as an initial editorial screening reference. A similarity score does not by itself establish plagiarism; each report is assessed by the editorial team to identify the source, context, extent, and nature of any textual overlap.

1. Plagiarism Detection Process

Submitted manuscripts are compared with academic publications, theses, conference proceedings, websites, and other available sources. Editors review the similarity report to distinguish acceptable overlap, such as references, standard terminology, properly quoted material, or limited methodological descriptions, from unattributed or inappropriate reuse.

2. Authors’ Responsibilities

By submitting a manuscript, all authors confirm that:

? Original work
The work is original and is not published or under consideration elsewhere.
? Proper attribution
All ideas, words, data, and findings obtained from other sources are correctly cited.
? Reuse permission
Required permission has been obtained for reused figures, tables, or other copyrighted material.
3. Forms of Plagiarism
  • Copying text, ideas, data, or findings without proper citation.
  • Paraphrasing substantial content without appropriate attribution.
  • Reusing an author’s own published material without citation or disclosure (self-plagiarism).
  • Using figures, tables, images, graphs, or other materials without permission or acknowledgment.
  • Submitting substantially similar content to more than one journal or republishing the same findings without disclosure.
4. Editorial Actions

Actions are determined by the nature, extent, and stage at which the concern is identified.

Minor overlap
The author may be asked to revise the text and correct or add citations.
Substantial overlap
The manuscript may be rejected before or after peer review.
Serious misconduct
The journal may contact the authors’ institutions or other relevant parties and take corrective action in accordance with COPE procedures.
5. Appeals

Authors may appeal a plagiarism-related decision by submitting a written explanation and supporting evidence to the editorial office. The appeal will be reviewed objectively, and the journal’s final decision will be communicated to the corresponding author.

6. Policy Review

This policy may be updated to reflect developments in publication ethics and scholarly publishing practices. Authors are responsible for reviewing the current policy before submitting a manuscript.

Manuscripts that fail to meet the journal’s originality and attribution requirements may be returned or rejected.