Screening Plagiarism

To maintain the integrity of the academic record and ensure the originality of all published works, SPORTICA: Journal of Sport Science and Physical Education implements a strict plagiarism screening policy for every manuscript submitted to the journal.

Plagiarism Detection Process

  • Every manuscript submitted to SPORTICA will be checked for plagiarism before entering the peer-review process.
  • The journal uses plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin to identify similarities with previously published works.
  • Editors will evaluate the similarity report to determine whether the manuscript meets the journal’s originality standards.

Similarity Threshold

  • The maximum acceptable similarity index is 30%, excluding references, quotations, and commonly used phrases.
  • Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the author for revision or rejected outright depending on the severity and nature of the overlap.
  • Authors are encouraged to revise and resubmit after reducing the similarity level to meet the required standard.

Types of Plagiarism

The journal considers the following actions as plagiarism or unethical publication behavior:

  • Copying text, data, or ideas from other sources without proper citation.
  • Self-plagiarism, or reusing one’s own previously published material without acknowledgment or citation.
  • Paraphrasing too closely from other works without attribution.
  • Using translated materials from another language without permission or citation.

Editorial Actions

  • Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized content will be immediately rejected.
  • If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the article will be retracted, and the author’s institution may be notified.
  • Repeated offenses may result in the author being barred from future submissions to the journal.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their manuscripts before submission. Proper citation and referencing of all sources used are mandatory. Authors are also encouraged to perform their own similarity checks prior to submission.