Plagiarism Policy

Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy

Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy (JPHP) is committed to originality, accurate attribution, academic integrity, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, misleading duplication, unattributed reuse, redundant publication, or other practices that compromise the reliability and integrity of the scholarly record.

1. Similarity Screening

All submitted manuscripts are subject to similarity screening using Turnitin or an equivalent similarity-detection system. Authors must submit the required similarity report in accordance with the JPHP Author Guidelines.

The similarity report must correspond to the final manuscript uploaded to the journal. Reports generated from an earlier, incomplete, substantially different, or manipulated version of the manuscript are not acceptable.

The editorial team reviews the complete similarity report rather than relying only on the overall percentage. Reference lists, properly quoted material, commonly used terminology, institutional names, standard methodological descriptions, and correctly attributed content may be assessed differently from unattributed copying.

2. Authors' Responsibilities

By submitting a manuscript to JPHP, all authors confirm that:

• The manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere in substantially the same form.
• The manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
• All ideas, text, data, images, tables, figures, instruments, questionnaires, analytical methods, and other materials obtained from external sources are properly attributed.
• Direct quotations are clearly identified, enclosed appropriately, and cited.
• Paraphrased material is expressed in the authors' own scholarly language and supported by appropriate citation.
• Previously published material is disclosed and supported by permission when required.
• Previous publications arising from the same study, dataset, population, intervention, or project are identified transparently.
• Substantial overlap with a thesis, preprint, report, conference paper, protocol, or prior publication is disclosed.
• The submitted similarity report is authentic, complete, and corresponds to the submitted manuscript.
• All authors have reviewed the manuscript for inappropriate copying, unattributed reuse, and misleading duplication.

3. Forms of Plagiarism and Improper Reuse

4. Editorial Assessment

The editorial team evaluates suspected plagiarism or improper reuse according to:

• The amount and location of overlapping material
• The number and nature of matched sources
• Whether quotation, citation, acknowledgment, and permission are adequate
• Whether the overlap involves background information, standard language, original ideas, data, analysis, interpretation, or conclusions
• Whether the reused material affects the originality, validity, or reliability of the manuscript
• Whether the overlap is isolated, recurring, systematic, or concealed
• Whether the conduct appears accidental, negligent, misleading, deliberate, or manipulative
• Whether the same concern has occurred in related submissions or previous publications

A manuscript with a similarity index below 20% may still be rejected when serious unattributed copying, inappropriate reuse, or misappropriation is identified.

A report above 20% may be returned for clarification or correction when the matches are primarily attributable to references, properly quoted material, standard terminology, institutional information, conventional methodological wording, or other legitimate content. Acceptance is not determined solely by the numerical similarity score.

5. Editorial Actions Before Publication

6. Concerns Identified After Publication

Plagiarism, inappropriate duplication, or improper reuse identified after publication will be assessed according to the seriousness of the issue and its effect on the originality, reliability, validity, and integrity of the published article.

Possible outcomes include a correction, expression of concern, retraction, institutional notification, communication with another journal or publisher, or another proportionate action under the JPHP Publication Ethics and post-publication policies.

7. Similarity Report Manipulation

Authors must not manipulate manuscripts, files, or similarity reports to conceal matching content or obtain an artificially reduced similarity score.

Prohibited practices include:

• Replacing searchable text with images or screenshots
• Inserting hidden, invisible, altered, or meaningless characters
• Changing file structure to prevent accurate screening
• Using character substitutions or spacing manipulation
• Improperly excluding relevant sources or repositories
• Submitting only selected pages for similarity screening
• Submitting a similarity report that does not correspond to the uploaded manuscript
• Altering, cropping, fabricating, or misrepresenting the similarity report

Suspected manipulation may result in immediate rejection, suspension of editorial processing, a request for clarification, and further review under the JPHP Publication Ethics policy.

8. Appeals

Authors may submit a written appeal when they believe that a plagiarism or similarity decision resulted from a factual error, incorrect source attribution, technical screening problem, or material misunderstanding of the report. The appeal must provide a clear explanation and relevant supporting evidence. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the editorial decision.