Plagiarism Policy
The Editorial Team of Asghar: Journal of Children Studies upholds rigorous publication standards and applies a strict, zero-tolerance approach toward uncredited text duplication, data fabrication, and any form of academic dishonesty. By submitting a manuscript, authors formally declare that their work is entirely original, has never been published previously in any form or language, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
Plagiarism involves copying, paraphrasing too closely, or using another author's exact words, ideas, research findings, or conceptual models without proper attribution, thereby presenting someone else's intellectual property as one's own. All direct quotes must be clearly identified using quotation marks for brief sentences or indented block formats for longer passages, accompanied by precise bibliographic citations and page numbers. Reusing extensive portions beyond standard fair-use limits, as well as incorporating survey instruments, datasets, tables, figures, or diagrams from prior works, necessitates explicit written permission from the copyright owners along with complete source acknowledgment.
Similarity Screening and Thresholds
Every incoming manuscript undergoes an initial screening for textual overlap using automated plagiarism detection tools (such as Turnitin) before entering the formal peer-review process. The editorial team evaluates submissions based on the following similarity guidelines:
- Similarity Index Below 20% (Passed Initial Screening): The manuscript meets basic originality expectations and proceeds directly to the double-blind peer-review stage. Minor citation updates or stylistic revisions may still be requested if minor reference oversights are found.
- Similarity Index Between 20% and 40% (Substantive Revision Required): The manuscript is sent back to the authors for comprehensive paraphrasing, rewriting, and reference correction. Authors must submit their revised draft along with a fresh similarity report proving that the overall text overlap has been successfully reduced below the 20% limit.
- Similarity Index Above 40% (Immediate Rejection): Manuscripts displaying extensive uncredited copying or widespread duplication are instantly rejected by the Editorial Board. Resubmission of these rejected papers is strictly not allowed.
Classification of Plagiarism and Editorial Actions
In addition to reviewing automated similarity percentages, the editorial staff evaluates the qualitative context of any detected duplication and enforces appropriate disciplinary measures according to severity:
- Minor Plagiarism: Occasional instances of overlapping sentences or short phrases without unauthorized use of core data or main arguments.
- Editorial Action: Authors are issued a formal notification requiring them to properly rephrase the affected parts and provide accurate citations.
- Intermediate Plagiarism: Significant uncredited borrowing of entire paragraphs, theoretical frameworks, or empirical results from other sources.
- Editorial Action: The manuscript is immediately rejected from consideration for publication in Asghar: Journal of Children Studies.
- Severe Plagiarism: Massive duplication of existing literature, including the unauthorized use of research methodologies, fabricated or wholesale copying of datasets, or complete manuscript replication.
Editorial Action: The submission is instantly and permanently dismissed. Furthermore, all contributing authors will be placed on an institutional blacklist, permanently disqualifying them from submitting future manuscripts to the journal.
