Plagiarism Policy

MATICS Editorial Board recognizes that plagiarism is unacceptable and therefore establishes the following policy for manuscripts submitted to the journal.

All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin before proceeding to the peer review process. The similarity index should not exceed 20%. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for revision. The editors may reject a manuscript if plagiarism or substantial similarity with previously published work is detected.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are original and properly acknowledge the sources of any material taken from other works. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of another author's words, ideas, data, or figures without appropriate acknowledgment.

Plagiarism Levels and Actions

1. Minor Plagiarism
A small amount of text is found to be insufficiently cited or improperly paraphrased.
Action: The manuscript may be returned to the authors for correction and proper citation.

2. Intermediate Plagiarism
A substantial portion of the manuscript is found to contain plagiarized material or significant similarity without appropriate citation.
Action: The manuscript will be rejected.

3. Severe Plagiarism
Substantial plagiarism involves the reproduction of original ideas, data, results, figures, or other significant material from another publication.
Action: The manuscript will be rejected, and further sanctions may be imposed by the Editorial Board.

Self-plagiarism and duplicate or simultaneous submission are also considered unethical publication practices. Authors must properly identify and cite any previously published material and disclose substantial overlap with their previous works.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to determine the appropriate action based on the extent and nature of the plagiarism detected.