Plagiarism is the presentation or use of another person's words, ideas, data, methods, equations, algorithms, code, figures, tables, images, results, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgement of the original source. Plagiarism constitutes a serious breach of research and publication ethics and may also involve copyright infringement.
Spectrum of Mechanical Engineering and Operational Research (SMEOR) requires all submitted manuscripts to represent original scholarly work and does not tolerate plagiarism, inappropriate attribution, or other forms of unauthorized reuse of previously published or unpublished material.
Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to:
Authors must appropriately acknowledge their own previously published or publicly disseminated work where it is relevant to the submitted manuscript. Substantial reuse of previously published text, data, figures, tables, models, algorithms, analyses, or results without appropriate disclosure and citation may constitute inappropriate text recycling, redundant publication, or another form of publication misconduct.
Legitimate prior dissemination through preprints, working papers, theses or dissertations, conference papers or proceedings, institutional reports, or similar scholarly channels does not automatically constitute plagiarism or prevent consideration by SMEOR.
Authors must, however, transparently disclose relevant earlier versions of the work and appropriately cite or link to them where applicable. Where a manuscript substantially extends previously disseminated work, the relationship between the earlier and submitted versions must be clear and the new scholarly contribution must be identifiable.
Manuscripts submitted to SMEOR are screened using appropriate similarity-detection software as part of the journal's editorial assessment.
A similarity percentage or similarity report does not, by itself, establish that plagiarism has occurred. Legitimate textual similarity may arise from properly cited quotations, references, standard terminology, established methodological descriptions, earlier versions of the authors' own work, or other appropriately acknowledged material.
Similarity reports are therefore evaluated by the Editorial Office on a case-by-case basis. Editors consider the nature, extent, location, context, and sources of textual overlap, together with the adequacy of citation, quotation, disclosure, and attribution.
SMEOR does not determine plagiarism solely on the basis of a fixed overall similarity percentage.
Where similarity screening or editorial assessment raises concerns about possible plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, redundant publication, or other forms of unattributed reuse, the Editorial Office may request an explanation, revised manuscript, source material, or other relevant information from the authors.
Editorial action will depend on the nature and seriousness of the identified issue. Minor or inadvertent attribution problems may, where appropriate, be returned to the authors for correction.
Substantial, systematic, or deliberate plagiarism, serious misrepresentation of originality, unauthorized use of confidential material, or other major breaches of publication ethics may result in rejection of the manuscript and further action under the journal's Unethical Behaviour policy.
Allegations of plagiarism concerning published articles will be assessed regardless of the time elapsed since publication.
The journal may request explanations, underlying files, source material, or other relevant documentation from the authors and may seek additional information from institutions, rights holders, or other appropriate parties where necessary.
If plagiarism, inappropriate redundant publication, or another serious form of unattributed reuse is established after publication, SMEOR may take appropriate action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Depending on the nature and severity of the case, such action may include publication of a Correction, an Expression of Concern, Retraction, or another appropriate post-publication notice in accordance with the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies.
Plagiarism and unauthorized reuse may also raise copyright or intellectual property concerns. Appropriate citation does not automatically replace the need to obtain permission where permission is legally required.
Requirements concerning copyright, licensing, permissions, and reuse of third-party material are provided in the journal's Copyright and Licensing policy and Protecting Intellectual Property policy.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are accurately and appropriately acknowledged and that the manuscript complies with the journal's requirements concerning originality, copyright, authorship, duplicate and redundant publication, and research and publication ethics.
Authors remain fully responsible for the originality and integrity of all text, data, figures, tables, equations, algorithms, code, references, supplementary materials, and other content included in their submission.
In assessing suspected plagiarism and determining appropriate editorial action, SMEOR will consider relevant guidance and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
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