Anti-Plagiarism Policy

1. Statement

MATHEdunesa is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. We follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Plagiarism in any form is unethical and unacceptable. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism will be rejected, or retracted if already published.

2. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s ideas, data, words, figures, or other material without proper attribution. It includes:

• Direct plagiarism: copying text word for word without quotation marks and citation.
• Paraphrasing plagiarism: rewording someone else’s work without citing the source.
• Self-plagiarism (text recycling): reusing substantial parts of one’s own previously published work without disclosure and citation.
• Duplicate or redundant publication: submitting the same or substantially overlapping work to more than one journal.
• Mosaic plagiarism: combining phrases or passages from various sources without attribution.
• Data or image plagiarism and fabrication: using or manipulating data, figures, tables, or images that belong to others without permission and citation.
• Translation plagiarism: translating another author’s work and submitting it as original.
• Citation manipulation: misleading or inappropriate citation practices.

3. Plagiarism Screening

All submitted manuscripts are screened for similarity using [Turnitin / iThenticate (Crossref Similarity Check) / other software] before the peer-review process begins.

• Acceptable overall similarity index: below 25%, excluding references, quotations, and common phrases or methods.
• Similarity from any single source should not exceed [5]%.
• The similarity score is only an indicator. The Editor-in-Chief and editorial board make the final judgment through manual evaluation of the context and nature of the overlap.

4. Author Responsibilities

Authors must:

1. Submit only original work that has not been published elsewhere and is not under review by another journal.
2. Cite all sources, and use quotation marks for directly quoted text.
3. Disclose and cite any previous publication, including their own, that is related to the manuscript (e.g., theses, dissertations, conference papers).
4. Sign the Statement of Originality / Author Declaration when submitting.
5. Obtain permission for any copyrighted material reproduced in the manuscript.

5. Reviewer and Editor Responsibilities

• Reviewers who suspect plagiarism or substantial similarity with other works must report it confidentially to the editor.
• Editors must handle every allegation of plagiarism fairly, confidentially, and in line with COPE flowcharts.
• Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for their own research.

6. Handling Plagiarism

A. Plagiarism detected before publication

B. Plagiarism detected after publication

1. The editorial board investigates the allegation and gives the authors an opportunity to respond.
2. If plagiarism is confirmed, the article will be retracted following COPE Retraction Guidelines. A retraction notice will be published and linked to the original article.
3. The authors’ institution and funder may be informed.
4. Authors found to have plagiarized may be banned from submitting to MATHEdunesa for [2–5] years.

7. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision on plagiarism by contacting the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected] within [14] days of the decision, with supporting evidence. Appeals are reviewed by the editorial board, and the decision is final.

8. Policy on AI-Generated Content

The use of generative AI tools to write text without disclosure is considered a breach of publication ethics. Authors must declare any use of AI tools in the manuscript, and remain fully responsible for the originality and accuracy of the content. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

9. Contact

For questions regarding this policy, contact:
Editorial Office, MATHEdunesa
Email: [email protected]