Similarity screening

What we check

Every submission is run through similarity-detection software before peer review. The software compares your manuscript against published literature, web sources and other submissions, and returns a similarity score with the matching passages marked.

Our threshold

We accept a similarity index of no more than [state your threshold, e.g. 15%], excluding references and correctly quoted material, with no single source contributing more than [e.g. 5%].

A score on its own does not decide anything. The editor reads the report: a high score made up of standard method wording and correctly cited quotations is not plagiarism, while a low score covering a stolen central idea is.

What counts as plagiarism

• Using someone else's words, figures, data or ideas without citation
• Paraphrasing a source closely without crediting it
• Self-plagiarism — reusing your own published text without citing it
• Splitting one study into several papers to increase publication count
• Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time

If the threshold is exceeded

1. The manuscript is returned to the corresponding author with the report.
2. You may revise and resubmit with the overlapping text properly cited or rewritten.
3. Where the overlap is substantial or deliberate, the manuscript is rejected and not reconsidered.
4. If plagiarism is found after publication, the article is retracted under our publication policies.

How to avoid problems

• Cite every source you draw on, including your own earlier work.
• Put direct quotations in quotation marks and give a page reference.
• Write method sections in your own words, even for standard procedures.
• Get written permission before reusing a figure or table from elsewhere.
• Run your own similarity check before submitting if your institution provides one.