Similarity Rate in Brieflands Journals:
The similarity score shows the percentage of plagiarized content in a research paper. In all Brieflands journals, we examine our submitted manuscripts using "iThenticate" which matches sources in the Turnitin Turnitin.
Responsibility of Authors for checking any similarity before submission:
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
Role of Reviewers in detecting the similarities in a manuscript:
We recommend reviewers in the peer review process thoroughly check and control the similarities and guide authors to avoid similarities with other published materials. It is the most important for reviewers and associate editors to check the files based on the screening done by the publisher.
What is the acceptance level of similarity in Brieflands journals?
- We do not treat the similarity percentage as a pass mark. What matters is whether text has been reused without attribution, not the size of the score: a paper can score highly on correctly quoted and cited material, and can plagiarise while scoring low.
- A report above 10% similarity, excluding the reference list and correctly quoted material, is referred to the Editor-in-Chief for assessment. That figure is a trigger for review, not an automatic rejection.
- We accept all terms and conditions of the COPE regarding similarity rates and plagiarism, and in case any attempt for plagiarism accompanied with convincing evidence is considered. Accordingly, we act based on the flowcharts and workflows by the COPE.
- The EIC of the journal holds the highest responsibility to control and avoid plagiarism.
- "Fast reject," "Reject," "Withdraw," and "Retraction" are our approaches for those articles with high similarity rates. Withdrawal applies only before final publication; retraction applies only after it.
We are checking all manuscripts using iThenticate at least in 2 essential steps:
Early submission:
Our online system detects automatic submissions with high similarity rates and prevents submitting them.
Before the primary stage of publishing:
Just before starting the publishing process (during collection), we will check all accepted manuscripts another time.