Effective 19 January 2018
Please Read Carefully
Plagiarism is the act of copying someone else’s prior ideas, processes, results or words without explicit acknowledgement of the original author and source. Self-plagiarism occurs when an author utilizes large parts of his/her own previously published work without using appropriate references. This can range from getting the same manuscript published in multiple journals to modifying a previously published manuscript with some new data.
Whether intentional or unintentional, The Republic is strictly against plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when large portions of a manuscript have been copied from existing previously published resources. Hence, all submissions to The Republic will be cross-checked for plagiarism using Viper software. Submissions found to be plagiarized during initial stages of review will be out-rightly rejected and not considered for publication in the journal. If a submission is found to be plagiarized after publication, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct preliminary investigation, with the help of a suitable committee constituted for the purpose. If the submission is found to be plagiarized beyond limits deemed acceptable, the journal will contact the author’s Institute / College / University and Funding Agency, if any. The Republic may then run a statement online to note the plagiarism and provide a reference to the plagiarized material. Upon determination of the extent of plagiarism, the published piece may also be formally retracted.
Types of Plagiarism
The following types of plagiarism are considered by The Republic:
Full Plagiarism: Previously published content without any changes to the text, idea and grammar is considered as full plagiarism. It involves presenting exact text from a source as one’s own.
Partial Plagiarism: If content is a mixture from multiple different sources, where the author has extensively rephrased text, then it is known as partial plagiarism.
Self-Plagiarism: When an author reuses complete or portions of their pre-published research, then it is known as self-plagiarism. Complete self-plagiarism is a case when an author republishes their own previously published work in a new platform.
Policy and Action for Plagiarism
The Republic respects intellectual property and aims at protecting and promoting original work of its authors. Manuscripts containing plagiarized material are against our standards of quality, research and innovation. Hence, all authors submitting articles to The Republic are expected to abide by ethical standards and abstain from plagiarism, in any form. If an author is found to be suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript then, The Republic shall contact the author (s) to submit his / her (their) explanation within two (2) weeks. The author’s explanation may be forwarded to the Intervention Committee (IC) constituted for the purpose, for further course of action. If The Republic does not receive any response from the author, we are compelled to contact the Director / Dean / Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor of the University to which the author is affiliated to take strict action against the concerned author.
The Republic shall take serious action against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism and shall completely remove them from our website and publishing platforms. The moment any article published in The Republic is reported to be plagiarized, The Republic will suspend the article and launch an Intervention Committee (IC) to investigate the claim. Upon having established that the manuscript is plagiarized from some previously published work, The Republic shall support the original author and manuscript irrespective of the publisher and may take any or all of the following immediate actions or follow the additional course of actions as recommended by the committee:
The Republic shall, where necessary, contact the Institution or Organization to which the author(s) is (are) affiliated to take strict action against the concerned author.
The Republic shall remove the published work from the website and disable all links to full text article. The Republic shall disable the author’s account with the journal and may reject future submissions from the author for a period of at least 1 year, or even ban the author(s) permanently.
Any other course of action, as recommended by the Committee or as deemed fit for the instant case or as decided by the Executive Team, from time to time.
We drafted this policy with insight from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other journals including the International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering. For more guidance, download the COPE guidelines here.