Desultanah: Journal of Education and Social Sciences maintains a strict policy against plagiarism and unethical publication practices. All manuscripts submitted to the journal must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. The journal adheres to the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and employs reliable tools to detect and prevent plagiarism at every stage of the editorial process.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use of another author's words, ideas, data, or findings without proper acknowledgment or permission. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Verbatim copying of text without quotation marks or proper citation.

• Paraphrasing substantial portions of another work without acknowledgment.

• Reusing previously published content (including one’s own work) without citation (self-plagiarism).

• Improper or undisclosed use of data, images, or charts from other sources.

Plagiarism Screening Process

All manuscripts submitted to Desultanah are subject to plagiarism screening using reputable detection software (e.g., Turnitin or iThenticate) as part of the initial editorial check.

• Manuscripts with a similarity index above 20%, excluding references and common phrases, will be returned to the author for revision or rejected outright depending on the severity.

• Authors will be informed of detected similarities and given an opportunity to revise the manuscript accordingly.

• Any attempt to manipulate the similarity report (e.g., image masking, text spinning) will result in automatic rejection and potential blacklisting.

Handling Allegations of Plagiarism

In cases where plagiarism is suspected after publication, the editorial board will conduct a thorough investigation following COPE guidelines. Based on the findings:

• Minor plagiarism (e.g., improper citation) may lead to publication of a correction or corrigendum.

• Major plagiarism (e.g., large-scale copying or duplicate publication) may result in retraction of the article and notification to the authors’ institutions or funding bodies.

• Authors involved in unethical practices may be banned from future submission for a specified period or permanently.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their manuscripts and must:

• Submit only work that is their own and fully referenced.

• Avoid all forms of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism.

• Obtain permission for any copyrighted material used.

• Provide accurate authorship and proper credit to all contributors.

By submitting to Desultanah, authors acknowledge and agree to this plagiarism policy and the journal’s right to take corrective action when violations are found.