Screening for Plagiarism

All manuscripts submitted to INSPIRE: Journal of Innovation in Social Learning undergo plagiarism and text-similarity screening as part of the journal’s editorial procedure. The screening process may employ Turnitin, iThenticate, or other reliable plagiarism and similarity-detection tools.

INSPIRE is committed to upholding the principles of academic integrity and ethical scholarly publishing. Authors are expected to submit manuscripts that represent original academic work and to acknowledge all sources appropriately. Manuscripts containing plagiarism, self-plagiarism, unattributed material, improper paraphrasing, manipulated citations, fabricated references, or substantial textual similarity may be rejected at any stage of the publication process.

As a general editorial guideline, INSPIRE may reject manuscripts with a similarity index above 20%, particularly when the detected overlap indicates plagiarism, substantial self-reuse, or the inappropriate reproduction of previously published material. Nevertheless, the similarity percentage is not treated as the sole criterion for making an editorial decision. The editorial team will assess the nature, source, extent, location, and context of the similarity. Overlap resulting from reference lists, standard terminology, commonly used methodological expressions, or properly quoted and cited passages may be considered acceptable.

Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to, the following practices:

  • using another author’s words, ideas, data, images, or research findings without appropriate acknowledgment;
  • presenting another researcher’s arguments, interpretations, or intellectual contributions as one’s own;
  • reproducing source material without the required quotation marks and citation;
  • substantially reusing material from one’s own previously published work without appropriate disclosure or citation; and
  • submitting a manuscript containing substantial textual or conceptual similarity to previously published or concurrently submitted works.

Authors must provide appropriate citations whenever they use specific information, evidence, data, arguments, interpretations, or ideas derived from other sources. When exact wording from another work is reproduced, it must be clearly identified with quotation marks and an appropriate citation. Simply providing a citation is not sufficient when the original wording has been reproduced verbatim.

Unintentional textual overlap does not eliminate the author’s responsibility for maintaining originality and proper attribution. Such overlap may still raise ethical concerns. Authors are therefore strongly encouraged to conduct a thorough review of their manuscripts, including their citations and references, before submission to ensure compliance with academic and publication ethics.

When plagiarism or significant similarity is detected, INSPIRE may take appropriate action according to the stage of the editorial process:

  • Before peer review: the manuscript may be rejected without being sent for review;
  • During peer review: the review process may be suspended while clarification is sought from the authors;
  • After acceptance: the acceptance decision may be withdrawn or reconsidered; and
  • After publication: the article may be corrected, retracted, or subject to other appropriate editorial action in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics and correction or retraction policies.

INSPIRE: Journal of Innovation in Social Learning reserves the right to investigate suspected plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct and to implement appropriate editorial measures whenever violations of publication ethics are identified.