Plagiarism Policy

The TMP Universal Journal of Dental Research and Health is committed to promoting and upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and research ethics. Plagiarism, in any form, is considered a serious violation of these principles, and the journal strictly prohibits any form of plagiarism in submitted manuscripts.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when an individual presents someone else’s work, ideas, data, or expressions as their own without proper attribution. This includes:

  • Direct Plagiarism: Copying text, figures, or data directly from another source without proper citation.
  • Self-Plagiarism: Reusing one’s own previously published work or substantial portions of it without appropriate citation.
  • Mosaic Plagiarism: Paraphrasing another author’s work without giving due credit or closely following the original text structure while changing some words.
  • Uncredited Use of Data or Ideas: Failing to acknowledge the original source of data, methods, ideas, or hypotheses that are not common knowledge.

Plagiarism Detection

To maintain the integrity of the peer-review process, the journal employs the following measures to detect plagiarism:

  • Plagiarism Detection Software: All submitted manuscripts are screened using industry-standard plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate) to identify any instances of text overlap or uncredited material.
  • Manual Review: In addition to software screening, the editorial team manually checks for instances of plagiarism, including improper paraphrasing, uncredited data, and other subtle forms of intellectual property misuse.

Levels of Plagiarism

The TMP Universal Journal of Dental Research and Health  recognizes that plagiarism may occur at different levels, and the journal addresses these accordingly:

  • Minor Plagiarism: Involves small amounts of text similarity, improper citation, or limited unintentional paraphrasing. In such cases, authors are typically asked to revise their manuscripts to provide proper attribution.
  • Major Plagiarism: Involves significant sections of copied text, data, or ideas without proper citation, or any form of intentional plagiarism. Major plagiarism results in the immediate rejection of the manuscript.
  • Severe Plagiarism: Cases of large-scale plagiarism, including reproducing entire articles or significant portions of work from another source without permission or attribution. Severe plagiarism may lead to a permanent ban from submitting to the journal and notification to the author’s institution or funding body.

Handling of Plagiarism Cases

If plagiarism is detected during the submission process or after publication, the journal follows a structured procedure:

  • Initial Notification: If potential plagiarism is identified during the peer-review process, the corresponding author will be contacted with evidence of the plagiarism and asked to provide an explanation.
  • Review and Response: The editorial team will review the author’s response. If the plagiarism is deemed minor or unintentional, the manuscript may be returned to the authors for revision and proper attribution. For major or severe cases, the manuscript will be rejected outright.
  • Post-Publication Plagiarism: If plagiarism is discovered after an article has been published, the journal will investigate the issue. Depending on the severity, the journal may retract the article, issue a correction, and notify the author’s institution.

Consequences of Plagiarism

The consequences of plagiarism depend on the severity of the violation:

  • For Minor Cases: The manuscript will be returned to the author for proper revision and resubmission, with a warning regarding future submissions.
  • For Major or Severe Cases: The manuscript will be rejected, and the authors will be prohibited from submitting future manuscripts to the journal. The journal may also contact the authors’ institutions or funding bodies to report the misconduct.
  • Retraction of Published Articles: If plagiarism is discovered in a published article, the journal reserves the right to retract the article and publish a retraction notice to inform readers of the ethical violation.

Author Responsibility

Authors are expected to:

  • Ensure that their submitted work is original and free from plagiarism.
  • Appropriately cite all sources, including data, methods, and text, whether directly quoted or paraphrased.
  • Avoid submitting manuscripts that have been published elsewhere or are under consideration at another journal, unless the journal has agreed to publish a secondary version with proper acknowledgment.
  • Seek permission for the reuse of copyrighted material if applicable.

Collaboration with COPE

The TMP Universal Journal of Dental Research and Health adheres to the guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for addressing plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct. The journal follows COPE’s established processes for investigating and resolving cases of plagiarism in a fair and transparent manner.

Educating Authors

The journal is committed to educating authors on best practices in academic writing and proper citation techniques. In addition to providing clear guidance on the prevention of plagiarism, the journal encourages authors to familiarize themselves with citation standards in their field and use plagiarism detection tools to check their work before submission.

Plagiarism detection is the process of locating instances of plagiarism within a work or document. We are using mainly two software to check plagiarism as follows:

  1. Plagiarism Checkers X
  2. VeriGuideTM