Plagiarism Policy

The Global Journal of Biosciences and Environment (GJBE) has a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism in any form. This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted for publication and is enforced at every stage of the editorial process, from initial screening through post-publication.

Definition

Plagiarism is defined as the use of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit, including:

• Direct/verbatim plagiarism — copying text word-for-word from another source without quotation or citation.
• Paraphrasing/mosaic plagiarism — rephrasing another's work closely while presenting it as original without adequate citation.
• Self-plagiarism (text recycling) — reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without disclosure or citation.
• Data plagiarism — using another researcher's data, figures, or results without permission or attribution.
• Idea plagiarism — using another's concepts, theoretical framework, or research design without acknowledgement.

Screening Procedure

All manuscripts submitted to GJBE are screened for textual similarity using industry-standard plagiarism-detection software as part of the initial editorial screening stage, prior to being sent for peer review. Editors review the similarity report in context, since a raw similarity score alone does not determine misconduct — properly quoted material, references, and common technical phrases are excluded from consideration.

Similarity Thresholds

• Below 15% overall similarity (excluding references and quoted text): generally acceptable for further processing.
• 15–25% overall similarity: manuscript is returned to the corresponding author for revision and clarification before proceeding to review.
• Above 25% overall similarity, or any single-source match exceeding 5%: manuscript is desk-rejected, and the finding is documented in the editorial record.

These thresholds are indicative guidelines used to trigger editorial judgement, not an automatic pass/fail mechanism. The editor-in-chief retains final discretion based on the nature and context of any matched content.

Consequences of Confirmed Plagiarism

Where plagiarism is confirmed at any stage:

• Pre-publication: the manuscript is rejected and the corresponding author is notified in writing with the evidence.
• Post-publication: the article is subject to correction (for minor, properly attributable overlap) or retraction (for substantial or deliberate plagiarism), following the journal's Corrections and Retractions procedure and COPE retraction guidelines.
• In cases of serious or repeated misconduct, the author's institution may be notified, and the author may be barred from future submissions to the journal.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring their manuscript is their own original work, that all sources are properly cited, and that any reuse of their own previously published material is clearly disclosed and justified. When in doubt about how much of a prior work may be reused, authors should consult the journal's editorial office before submission.