Plagiarism Screening and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Journal: Science Mundi
Publisher: AJER Publishing
Website: https://sciencemundi.net

1. Introduction

Science Mundi is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity, originality, authenticity, transparency, and ethical scholarly publishing.

The journal requires all submitted manuscripts to represent the authors' original intellectual contributions and to comply with established standards of scientific research ethics, academic writing, methodological integrity, and proper scholarly attribution.

Science Mundi recognises that credible scientific research depends on authentic experimental evidence, accurate observations, reliable data, appropriate analytical procedures, transparent reporting, and responsible interpretation of scientific findings.

To safeguard the integrity of published research, Science Mundi subjects submitted manuscripts to originality and plagiarism screening using Turnitin and other appropriate editorial assessment procedures.

The journal maintains strict requirements concerning plagiarism, fabricated references, inappropriate paraphrasing, manipulation of scientific evidence, and the use of artificial intelligence in scholarly writing.

2. Plagiarism Screening

All manuscripts submitted to Science Mundi undergo plagiarism screening using Turnitin, which compares submitted content against databases of academic publications, internet sources, previously submitted documents, and other available materials.

The journal applies the following screening requirements:

Similarity Index: The acceptable overall similarity score is below 25%.
AI-Generated Content: The journal requires 0% prohibited AI-generated scholarly content and does not permit generative AI tools to produce substantive manuscript sections.
Originality: All manuscripts must demonstrate originality in their scientific contributions, experimental procedures, theoretical arguments, analysis, interpretation, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations.
Proper Attribution: All borrowed ideas, quotations, research findings, datasets, scientific methods, and other scholarly materials must be appropriately acknowledged and referenced.
Authenticity of Scientific Evidence: Experimental observations, laboratory measurements, computational outputs, statistical analyses, and reported findings must accurately represent the research conducted.

A similarity score below 25% does not automatically guarantee manuscript acceptance. The editorial team examines the nature and sources of similarity to determine whether plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, redundant publication, or other forms of academic misconduct have occurred.

Similarly, a similarity score of 25% or above does not automatically establish plagiarism. Manuscripts exceeding the prescribed threshold are subjected to further editorial assessment and may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected, depending on the nature and seriousness of the identified concerns.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Generated Content

Science Mundi maintains a strict policy against the submission of manuscripts containing substantive scholarly content generated by artificial intelligence platforms, including ChatGPT and other generative AI writing applications.

Authors must independently develop and present their research using their own intellectual contributions, scientific reasoning, methodological understanding, analysis, interpretation, and academic writing.

The journal prohibits the use of generative AI tools to:

Generate complete research manuscripts or substantial sections of scientific articles.
Produce introductions, literature reviews, theoretical frameworks, empirical reviews, methodologies, findings, discussions, conclusions, or recommendations on behalf of authors.
Fabricate experimental observations, laboratory measurements, research datasets, computational outputs, statistical results, or other scientific evidence.
Generate fictitious references, citations, publication details, or DOIs.
Produce scientific interpretations, theoretical arguments, or research conclusions presented as the authors' original intellectual contributions.
Invent experimental procedures, laboratory results, simulations, or validation outcomes that were not genuinely obtained.
Rewrite AI-generated scholarly content merely to conceal its artificial origin.

Science Mundi's acceptable threshold for prohibited AI-generated scholarly content is 0%.

Manuscripts identified as containing prohibited AI-generated scholarly content may be returned for revision or declined following editorial assessment.

AI-detection results are treated as screening indicators rather than conclusive proof of misconduct. Automated detection tools may produce inaccurate results, and no numerical AI-detection score is regarded as definitive evidence of authorship or misconduct.

Editorial decisions are based on the available evidence, including manuscript assessment, authors' explanations, research documentation, and other relevant information.

4. Permitted Use of Language-Editing Tools

Science Mundi recognises that digital writing assistance tools may support authors in improving the clarity, readability, and presentation of their manuscripts.

The journal permits limited use of language-editing applications, such as Grammarly and QuillBot, strictly for:

Grammar and spelling corrections.
Punctuation and sentence structure improvements.
Language clarity and readability.
Minor editorial refinements that preserve the authors' original meaning and intellectual contributions.
Correction of typographical errors and inconsistencies in scientific expression.

Such tools must not be used to generate substantive research content, fabricate information, produce references, or replace the authors' independent scientific analysis.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, authenticity, and integrity of their manuscripts, regardless of the editing tools used.

5. Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to Science Mundi must:

Ensure that their manuscripts are original and free from plagiarism.
Properly acknowledge all sources using the journal's prescribed referencing style.
Verify the authenticity and accuracy of all citations, references, and DOIs.
Ensure that all scientific data, experimental procedures, analytical methods, and reported findings are genuine and accurately presented.
Avoid submitting AI-generated scholarly content as their original work.
Disclose any use of artificial intelligence or automated writing assistance tools where required.
Respond appropriately to editorial concerns regarding plagiarism, originality, or AI-generated content.
Provide clarifications, research records, or supporting documentation when reasonably requested by the editorial office.
Correct identified originality or attribution concerns before final manuscript acceptance.
Promptly notify the editorial office of any significant errors or integrity concerns discovered after submission or publication.

6. Editorial Decisions and Sanctions

Where plagiarism, prohibited AI-generated content, fabricated references, or other originality concerns are identified, Science Mundi may take appropriate editorial action, including:

Returning the manuscript to the authors for clarification or revision.
Requesting substantial rewriting of affected sections using the authors' own scholarly contributions.
Requiring correction or replacement of inaccurate, incomplete, or fabricated references.
Requesting supporting evidence to verify research data, methods, or reported findings.
Rejecting manuscripts containing serious or repeated violations.
Suspending editorial consideration where credible evidence of research misconduct requires further investigation.
Referring serious concerns to the relevant institutional authorities where appropriate.
Initiating post-publication correction, expression of concern, or retraction procedures where serious violations are discovered after publication.

The severity of editorial action depends on the nature, extent, and credibility of the identified concerns.

Authors are provided with an appropriate opportunity to respond to substantive allegations before final misconduct-related decisions are reached.

7. Policy Enforcement

The Chief Editor, Managing Editors, and Editorial Board are responsible for implementing this policy consistently, fairly, and independently throughout manuscript assessment, peer review, and publication.

Science Mundi reserves the right to request additional originality checks, explanations, research documentation, or supporting evidence at any stage of editorial assessment.

Plagiarism screening and AI-related assessments are conducted in accordance with the journal's broader Publication Ethics, Research Misconduct and Malpractice Policy.

All authors are expected to submit authentic, original, independently developed scholarly manuscripts that comply with Science Mundi's plagiarism screening and artificial intelligence requirements.

Science Mundi
Publisher: AJER Publishing

Plagiarism Screening and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy