Plagiarism & Similarity Policy

Education, Innovation and Social Futures (EISF) is committed to publishing original scholarly work and maintaining high standards of academic and research integrity. Plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, and other forms of unattributed use of intellectual work are not acceptable.

Originality of Submissions

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts represent original work. Ideas, words, data, figures, tables, methods, or other materials derived from previously published or unpublished sources must be appropriately acknowledged and cited.

Manuscripts should not contain substantial material that has already been published elsewhere unless reuse is academically justified, transparently disclosed, appropriately cited, and consistent with applicable copyright and licensing requirements.

Similarity Screening

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using recognised similarity-detection software or other appropriate editorial tools before or during the review process.

A similarity report is used as an editorial assessment tool and is not, by itself, evidence of plagiarism. Editors evaluate the nature, extent, location, and context of identified similarities before making a decision.

No Fixed Similarity Percentage

EISF does not determine plagiarism solely on the basis of a fixed numerical similarity percentage. Legitimate similarities may arise from references, standard methodological terminology, appropriately quoted material, institutional names, commonly used expressions, or previously described methods.

Conversely, a manuscript with a relatively low overall similarity score may still contain unacceptable unattributed copying. Editorial assessment therefore focuses on the character and significance of the overlap.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes presenting another person's words, ideas, arguments, data, images, or other intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement.

This includes direct copying without citation, close paraphrasing that inadequately acknowledges the original source, and unattributed reproduction or adaptation of material from other works.

Self-Plagiarism and Text Recycling

Authors should appropriately cite their own previously published work when it is reused or discussed. Substantial recycling of previously published text without appropriate disclosure or citation may be considered unacceptable.

Limited reuse of standard methodological descriptions may be considered in context where necessary for accurate reporting, provided that the original source is appropriately acknowledged where applicable.

Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Manuscripts must not substantially duplicate work already published or simultaneously under consideration elsewhere.

Where a submission is related to another publication, dataset, conference paper, preprint, thesis, report, or other scholarly output, authors should disclose the relationship when necessary to allow appropriate editorial assessment.

Action on Identified Concerns

Where potentially inappropriate overlap is identified before publication, the editorial team may request clarification or revision, return the manuscript to the authors, reject the submission, or undertake further investigation depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern.

If plagiarism or substantial inappropriate duplication is identified after publication, EISF may take appropriate corrective action, including publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other notice necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring appropriate citation, attribution, permissions, and originality throughout their manuscript. Submission to EISF indicates that the authors accept responsibility for the integrity and originality of the work submitted.

Editorial Assessment

All concerns regarding plagiarism and similarity are assessed fairly and in context. EISF seeks to distinguish deliberate or substantial academic misconduct from minor citation errors, legitimate textual similarity, and other issues that may be appropriately addressed through revision or correction.