Plagiarism Policy

PLAGIARISM POLICY

Plagiarism is the stealing or misusing of scholarly property and the significant copying of someone else's work. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, exact copying without acknowledgment, paraphrasing without citation, self-plagiarism (including redundant or duplicate publication), salami slicing, data fabrication, data falsification (including deceptive manipulation of images), and the purposeful failure to disclose conflicts of interest.  

Authors are responsible for being aware of these forms of plagiarism; unfamiliarity with them will not be considered a valid reason for defense. These forms of misconduct also engage the accountability obligations set out in the journal's Authorship Criteria Policy, under which each author is responsible for the integrity of the work.

All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism and AI-generated* content using Turnitin software, with similarity index thresholds defined by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. The similarity index and AI index should be less than 19%, and a single-source similarity index should be less than 5% (for plagiarism only). If the similarity index is more than 50%, the manuscript is rejected. If the similarity index is greater than 19% but less than 50%, the manuscript is not processed further until the author revises it. If a plagiarized manuscript is submitted multiple times, it is rejected from further processing.

Plagiarism and scientific misconduct are addressed in accordance with ICMJE recommendations and COPE  guidance.

Post-Acceptance and Post-Publication Plagiarism: Where a manuscript is found to be plagiarized after acceptance or after publication, further processing will be halted, the published article will be flagged accordingly, and a written explanation will be requested from the corresponding author within one month of notification, consistent with COPE's expectation that authors be given a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Outcomes: Where a satisfactory explanation is provided, the Editorial Board may permit the manuscript to proceed through the peer review process, or take other appropriate corrective action. Where no response is received within the stipulated period, or the explanation provided is unsatisfactory, the Editorial Board will determine the appropriate course of action in line with COPE  guidance, which may include:

  • Rejection of the manuscript
  • Retraction of an already published article, in accordance with the journal's Correction, Retraction and Expression of Concern Policy
  • Temporary or permanent debarment of the author(s) from future submissions to JSHMDC, depending on the severity of the offense
  • Placing the author(s) under observation for future submissions

Notification: In confirmed cases of scientific misconduct, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), and the author's affiliated institution may be notified for information and possible action.

Burden of Proof: Any individual alleging plagiarism, data theft, or intellectual property theft against a submitted, accepted, or published article must provide documentary evidence supporting the claim. Authors citing a prior correction or retraction as part of their defense must similarly provide documentary proof.

*HEC Reference: Framework on Use of Generative AI (GenAI) Tools in Higher Education Institutes (Version 3.3, 13 February 2024), Section 7(S), Rule iv, page 12.