Publication Malpractice Statement
JIKA is committed to upholding scientific integrity and taking all necessary measures against any form of publication malpractice. All parties involved in the publication process—authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher—are required to adhere to strict ethical standards and avoid non-compliant practices.
1. Plagiarism Screening Policy
JIKA enforces a strict anti-plagiarism policy to ensure the originality of all published research:
· Screening Tool: All submitted manuscripts undergo automated similarity screening using Turnitin prior to being sent for peer review.
· Maximum Similarity Threshold: The maximum acceptable similarity index for any manuscript submitted to JIKA is 25%.
· Action on Violations:
o Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 25% will be returned to the authors for revision before further processing, or rejected immediately (desk rejection) if severe overlap or uncredited text matches are detected.
o Any form of verbatim copying without proper quotation, attribution, or paraphrase will be classified as plagiarism, regardless of the overall percentage score.
2. Identification of Publication Malpractice
Publication malpractice refers to any action that violates the integrity of the scholarly publishing process. This includes, but is not limited to:
· Plagiarism & Self-Plagiarism: Presenting another person’s work, ideas, or data as one's own without proper acknowledgement, or reusing significant parts of one’s own previously published work without proper citation (redundant publication).
· Data Fabrication and Falsification: Inventing data, results, or research findings (fabrication), or manipulating research materials, equipment, processes, or altering data to convey a false impression (falsification).
· Duplicate or Concurrent Submission: Submitting the same manuscript, or a manuscript describing substantially the same research, to more than one journal simultaneously.
· Improper Authorship Attribution: Including individuals who did not contribute significantly to the work (ghost, gift, or guest authorship), or excluding individuals who made substantial contributions.
· Citation Manipulation: Excessive or inappropriate self-citation, or coordinated efforts among authors/editors to artificially inflate citation metrics.
3. Procedures for Handling Allegations of Malpractice
JIKA follows standardized procedures to investigate and address alleged or suspected cases of publication misconduct:
· Initial Assessment: When an allegation or indication of malpractice arises (whether reported by reviewers, readers, or detected via Turnitin screening), the Editorial Board conducts a preliminary inquiry to gather evidence.
· Investigation: The corresponding author or involved party is formally contacted and provided with an opportunity to respond to the allegations with supporting documentation.
· Resolution and Sanctions: If misconduct is substantiated after a fair and thorough investigation, JIKA may implement measures proportional to the severity of the infraction, including:
o Rejection of the submitted manuscript.
o Prohibition of future submissions from the author(s) for a specified period.
o Formal notification sent to the author’s affiliated institution or funding agency.
4. Retractions, Corrections, and Expressions of Concern
To maintain the accuracy and trustworthiness of the academic record, JIKA enforces the following post-publication procedures:
· Corrigenda / Errata: Issued to correct significant errors of fact or inadvertent omissions that do not invalidate the overall conclusions of a published article.
· Expressions of Concern: Published by the Editor-in-Chief if an investigation into alleged misconduct is inconclusive or ongoing, but strong indicators of potential unreliability exist.
· Retractions: A published paper will be formally retracted if:
o There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable due to major scientific errors, data fabrication, or falsification.
o The work constitutes plagiarism or redundant publication.
o The research involves unethical practices or uncorrected conflicts of interest.
Retraction notices will be linked directly to the original article, clearly stating the reason for retraction and who initiated the action, to ensure full transparency for the academic community.