Plagiarism Screening Policy

Ethical standards and academic originality screening guidelines for the Journal of Government and Civil Society (JGCS)

The Journal of Government and Civil Society (JGCS) strictly upholds academic integrity and ethical publishing principles adhering to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) standards. All submitted manuscripts are systematically checked for originality prior to peer review.

1. Screening Platform & Similarity Threshold

Every submission is automatically screened using Turnitin or iThenticate. JGCS enforces strict benchmark thresholds:

Overall Similarity Index: Must be less than 20% across the entire manuscript text.
Single Source Overlap: Similarity with any single individual publication or online source must not exceed 3%.
Standard Filters Applied: Bibliography/references, standard phrases, and direct quotes (properly formatted with quotation marks and citations) are excluded during final editorial evaluation.

2. Definitions & Prohibited Practices

Direct / Verbatim Plagiarism: Copying portions of text, data, figures, or frameworks from existing sources without direct quotation marks and full bibliographic attribution.
Self-Plagiarism & Text Recycling: Reusing extensive verbatim sections of the authors' own previously published articles, book chapters, or conference proceedings without disclosure and formal citation.
Paraphrasing Without Attribution: Rewording arguments or concepts originated by others without providing the primary reference.
Data Manipulation / Fabrication: Falsifying empirical data, spatial coordinates, statistical charts, or fieldwork evidence.

3. Editorial Workflow & Response Stages

Desk Stage (Similarity > 20%): Manuscripts showing excessive similarity (21%–30%) without severe verbatim copying will be returned to the corresponding author for compulsory revision and paraphrasing before peer review.
Immediate Desk Rejection: Manuscripts exceeding 30% similarity, containing extensive uncredited blocks, or showing intentional data fabrication will be rejected immediately without review.
Post-Publication Discovery: If plagiarism or intellectual property infringement is discovered after publication, JGCS will follow the COPE Flowcharts to issue a formal Correction or an Article Retraction.

Author Responsibility Notice

Authors are advised to perform independent similarity checks prior to manuscript submission. The submission of a manuscript to JGCS is considered a formal representation that the work is entirely original and free from unauthorized duplication.