Plagiarism and Publication Integrity

The UNESA Journal of Chemical Education (UJCEd) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, ethical research, and original scholarship in chemical education. In compliance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and national journal accreditation standards (SINTA), all submitted manuscripts undergo mandatory automated screening prior to peer review.

  1. Screening Thresholds (Turnitin)

    Every submission is evaluated using Turnitin under two strict thresholds:

    • Similarity Index (Plagiarism): Maximum permissible limit is 25%. Manuscripts exceeding this limit will be returned for mandatory revision or rejected prior to review.
    • AI-Generated Text Score: Maximum permissible limit is 20%. Scores exceeding 20% indicate insufficient human authorship and will require mandatory rewriting or face immediate rejection.
  2. Scientific Misconduct

    UJCEd strictly prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty, including:

    • Direct Plagiarism: Uncredited verbatim copying of text, instruments, or empirical findings.
    • Self-Plagiarism / Text Recycling: Reusing substantial portions of the author’s own published work without transparent citation.
    • Redundant or Simultaneous Submission: Submitting the same content concurrently to multiple journals.
    • Uncredited AI Content Generation: Exceeding the 20% threshold or failing to disclose the use of AI drafting tools.
    • Data Fabrication & Falsification: Inventing or manipulating research data.
  3. Misconduct Protocols

    Handling of policy violations follows the COPE Flowcharts:

    • Pre-Publication Stage
      • Minor Breach (Similarity: 20%–25% | AI: 15%–20%): Returned to authors for mandatory paraphrasing and proper citation within a specified deadline.
      • Major Breach (Similarity: >25% | AI: >20%): Subject to immediate Desk Rejection. Severe cases may be formally reported to the authors' affiliated institutions.
    • Post-Publication Stage

      If misconduct is confirmed after publication, UJCEd will conduct a formal inquiry. Upon verification, an official Retraction Notice will be issued, and the published PDF will be watermarked with "RETRACTED".

  4. Author Compliance

    During OJS submission, authors must formally certify that the manuscript is original, complies with the 25% similarity and 20% AI writing thresholds, and contains complete reference attributions.