Plagiarism Policy

Wilma Global Journals is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity. To maintain the trust of the scholarly community, we take plagiarism and related forms of academic misconduct very seriously.

This policy outlines our stance on plagiarism, methods of detection, and the consequences of violations.

1. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s work, ideas, or words as one’s own without proper acknowledgement.

Direct plagiarism: Copying text, figures, or data without quotation or citation.
Mosaic plagiarism: Mixing one’s own words with unattributed copied text.
Paraphrasing plagiarism: Rewording another’s work without credit.
Self-plagiarism: Republishing previously published work without disclosure or permission.
Unattributed use of ideas: Presenting concepts, methods, or research designs of others without acknowledgement.

2. Screening Process

All submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism screening using advanced plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate, XChecker, or equivalent).

Editors review similarity reports to determine whether overlaps are legitimate (references, technical phrases, standard terminology) or constitute plagiarism.

3. Acceptable Similarity Threshold

A similarity index of up to 15–20% (excluding references, tables, and common phrases) is generally acceptable.
Higher similarity percentages will be reviewed carefully to determine whether misconduct has occurred.

4. Consequences of Plagiarism

Actions may vary depending on severity:

Minor overlaps (unintentional): Authors may be asked to revise and resubmit with proper citation.
Moderate plagiarism: Manuscript rejection and notification to the authors.
Severe plagiarism:
- Immediate rejection of the manuscript.
- Blacklisting from future submissions.
- Notification to the author’s institution or funding body.

5. Post-Publication Detection

The article may be retracted, with an official retraction notice.
The notice will remain permanently available in the journal archive.
Where appropriate, authors’ names and institutions may be associated with the misconduct in accordance with publishing ethics.

6. Responsibilities

Authors: Ensure originality and proper attribution of sources.
Editors: Review similarity reports and apply policy fairly.
Reviewers: Report suspected plagiarism during peer review.

7. Ethical Compliance

Wilma Global Journals follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines in handling plagiarism and related misconduct.

Our goal is not only to penalise unethical behaviour but also to educate authors on maintaining research integrity.