Plagiarism Policy

Journal Software, Hardware and Information Technology (SHIFT) is committed to publishing only original work and follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling suspected plagiarism.

Definition
Plagiarism includes:
(a) using all or part of another person’s work, ideas, data, or words without appropriate citation;
(b) rewriting another person’s work without using one’s own words, even when the source is cited;
(c) reusing all or part of one’s own previously published work without proper citation (self-plagiarism or duplicate publication); and
(d) translating another person’s work from another language without acknowledgement.

Similarity check
All submitted manuscripts are checked for originality using Turnitin:

  1. at the initial evaluation stage, before peer review; and
  2. on the final version, before publication.

The maximum acceptable overall similarity index is 30%, excluding the bibliography and properly quoted material. A similarity percentage alone does not determine plagiarism. The editors examine the similarity report in detail, with particular attention to large matching blocks of text from a single source that are not direct quotations.

Actions

  • Similarity exceeding the limit or minor unattributed overlap: the manuscript is returned to the authors for revision before it proceeds.
  • Substantial plagiarism identified before publication: the manuscript is rejected, and the authors are informed of the reasons.
  • Plagiarism identified after publication: the case is handled according to our Retraction and Correction policy. This may result in a correction or retraction of the article.
  • Serious or repeated cases may be reported to the authors’ institutions.

Readers who suspect plagiarism in a published article may contact the editorial office at [email protected].