PLAGIARISM POLICY

Plagiarism Policy

VIDWAN Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences maintains a strict policy against plagiarism and is committed to preserving the highest standards of academic integrity and publication ethics. Every submitted manuscript is screened using reliable plagiarism detection software (such as Turnitin or equivalent tools) to identify textual similarity with previously published or publicly available sources before entering the peer-review process.

Authors are required to submit only original work and must properly acknowledge all sources of information, ideas, figures, tables, data, and previously published material through appropriate citations and references. Submission of a manuscript constitutes the authors' declaration that the work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal.

Authors must acknowledge their understanding of the journal's plagiarism, copyright, and publication ethics policies when submitting or signing the Copyright Transfer or License Agreement. Manuscripts containing unpublished data, copyrighted material, or content reproduced from other sources must include appropriate permissions and acknowledgments where required.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • Copying text, ideas, data, images, tables, or figures without proper acknowledgment.

  • Presenting another person's work or ideas as one's own.

  • Inadequate or misleading citation of original sources.

  • Self-plagiarism, including duplicate or redundant publication without proper disclosure.

  • Excessive paraphrasing that closely follows the structure or wording of the original source without appropriate attribution.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material whenever necessary, even when proper citation has been provided.

When submitting manuscripts for double-blind peer review, authors should anonymize self-citations where appropriate to preserve reviewer anonymity while ensuring that all relevant prior work is appropriately referenced.

The primary objective of this policy is to ensure transparency, originality, and ethical scholarly publishing. If authors have any uncertainty regarding the use of previously published material, they are encouraged to provide a clear explanation in the cover letter accompanying their submission.

Similarity Requirements

To maintain the quality and originality of published research, the journal generally expects:

  • Scientific and Medical Research Articles: A minimum of 85% originality (similarity index generally not exceeding 15%, excluding references, quotations, and standard methodological descriptions where applicable).

  • Review Articles, Humanities, and Other Scholarly Contributions: A minimum of 80% originality (similarity index generally not exceeding 20%, subject to editorial evaluation).

The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject manuscripts with unacceptable levels of similarity or evidence of plagiarism, irrespective of the overall similarity percentage.

AI-Generated Content Policy

VIDWAN Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences recognizes the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in academic writing. Authors may use AI-assisted technologies only to improve language, grammar, or readability. However, AI tools must not be listed as authors, and the authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, scientific validity, ethical integrity, and authenticity of all submitted content.

Where AI-generated or AI-assisted content has been used, authors should disclose its use appropriately within the manuscript or acknowledgments, where applicable.

Text similarity resulting from properly cited sources is acceptable within reasonable limits. A similarity index between 10% and 20% may be considered acceptable when the matched content consists of correctly cited references, standard scientific terminology, methodological descriptions, or other legitimate scholarly material. Final decisions regarding manuscript originality remain solely at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

Any manuscript found to contain undisclosed AI-generated content, fabricated data, manipulated images, or unethical use of AI may be rejected or retracted in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics Policy.