Plagiarism and Similarity Screening Policy
The Journal of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (JMID) considers plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse, and other forms of research and publication misconduct to be serious violations of scholarly integrity.
JMID is committed to ensuring that published articles are original, appropriately attributed, and compliant with accepted standards of responsible research and publication.
1. Forms of Plagiarism and Inappropriate Reuse
Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to:
direct copying of text, data, ideas, or other material without appropriate attribution;
presenting another person's ideas or work as one's own;
substantial paraphrasing or rephrasing of another person's work without appropriate citation;
verbatim or near-verbatim translation of material from another language without appropriate attribution;
inappropriate reuse of previously published material without proper citation or disclosure;
unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted images, figures, tables, or other intellectual property; and
other forms of inappropriate appropriation or representation of another person's work.
2. Self-Plagiarism and Redundant Publication
JMID recognizes that authors may appropriately refer to or reuse limited portions of their previously published work, particularly where standard methodological descriptions or other unavoidable overlap occurs.
However, substantial reuse of previously published text, data, figures, tables, or other material without appropriate citation, disclosure, or justification may constitute inappropriate text reuse, self-plagiarism, or redundant publication.
Authors must clearly identify and cite relevant previous publications and disclose any substantial overlap with previously published or submitted work.
Duplicate or redundant publication may be investigated as a publication-ethics concern.
3. Similarity Screening
JMID uses iThenticate to screen submitted manuscripts for textual similarity and potential plagiarism.
Similarity screening is normally conducted at two stages:
Initial screening: before or during the initial editorial assessment and, where appropriate, before external peer review.
Pre-acceptance screening: before final acceptance, including consideration of changes introduced during peer review and manuscript revision.
Additional similarity screening may be conducted at any stage of the editorial process, including after publication, when concerns arise.
4. Interpretation of Similarity Results
Similarity-detection software identifies textual overlap; it does not independently determine whether plagiarism has occurred.
JMID therefore does not consider a similarity percentage, by itself, to be conclusive evidence of plagiarism or research misconduct.
As an internal editorial screening indicator, JMID generally considers a similarity level of 20% or higher to warrant closer editorial examination. This threshold is not an automatic acceptance or rejection criterion, and the similarity report is assessed in context.
Editors consider factors including:
the source and nature of the identified overlap;
whether the overlapping material is appropriately cited;
the location and extent of the overlap;
whether the overlap consists of standard or technical terminology;
similarity in the Methods or other sections where conventional wording may be expected;
references, bibliographic information, and other legitimate matches;
overlap with the authors' own previous publications; and
whether the identified overlap indicates possible plagiarism, duplicate publication, or another form of inappropriate reuse.
A manuscript with a similarity percentage below 20% may still raise serious plagiarism concerns, while a manuscript exceeding 20% may not necessarily constitute plagiarism.
5. Editorial Action Following Similarity Screening
Where potentially inappropriate similarity is identified, the editor may:
request an explanation or clarification from the authors;
require appropriate citation or rewriting;
request modification or removal of improperly reused material;
conduct additional editorial or ethical assessment;
refer the matter to the appropriate institutional or organizational authority where necessary;
reject the manuscript where the concerns are serious; or
take other appropriate action in accordance with JMID's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
The action taken will depend on the nature, extent, and seriousness of the identified overlap.
6. Plagiarism Discovered After Publication
If credible evidence of plagiarism or significant inappropriate text reuse is identified after publication, JMID will investigate the matter in accordance with its publication-ethics procedures.
Depending on the findings and their effect on the integrity of the published work, the journal may publish a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate post-publication notice.
Where serious misconduct is substantiated, JMID may also notify the authors' institution, employer, funding body, or other appropriate authority, where justified and consistent with applicable requirements.
7. Repository and Thesis Deposition
JMID recognizes that manuscripts, theses, dissertations, preprints, and other scholarly works may have been deposited in institutional or subject repositories before journal submission.
Repository deposition does not, by itself, constitute plagiarism.
Authors submitting manuscripts that have previously been deposited in a repository or derived substantially from a thesis or dissertation must:
disclose the prior deposition where requested during submission;
appropriately cite the deposited work;
identify substantial overlap where applicable;
ensure that the submission complies with the relevant copyright and licensing terms; and
clearly distinguish the submitted manuscript from previously available versions where appropriate.
Similarity arising solely from legitimate repository or thesis deposition will be assessed in context and will not automatically be treated as plagiarism.
8. Authors' Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources, ideas, text, data, images, figures, tables, and other material obtained from other sources are appropriately acknowledged and cited.
Authors are encouraged to conduct their own similarity checks before submission and to ensure that the submitted manuscript complies with JMID's standards of originality and responsible publication.
Authors must respond honestly and promptly to editorial queries concerning potential plagiarism or inappropriate text reuse.
9. Confidentiality and Fair Assessment
Similarity reports and related editorial investigations are treated as confidential.
JMID is committed to assessing suspected plagiarism fairly and objectively. Similarity-detection results are used as an editorial screening and assessment tool, not as a substitute for informed editorial judgment or, where appropriate, a formal investigation.
10. Commitment to Research Integrity
JMID is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and follows recognized publication-ethics principles when addressing suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate text reuse, and related forms of research or publication misconduct.
