Plagiarism Policy

What originality requires

A submission must represent original work and acknowledge the ideas, words, data, figures, and methods of others. Plagiarism includes presenting another person’s material as one’s own without appropriate attribution. Reusing substantial parts of one’s own published work without disclosure can also raise concerns about redundant publication.

Translation, paraphrasing, or redrawing a figure does not remove the need to identify the source. Permissions may be required in addition to citation.

JRA similarity screening

Similarity reports locate matching material; they do not decide whether plagiarism has occurred. An editor must consider the source, context, attribution, and extent of overlap. A low score does not excuse uncited copying.

Before submitting

• Write from your own understanding and cite the original research that supports a claim.
• Use quotation marks for necessary verbatim text and provide a clear reference.
• Disclose related manuscripts and previously published material to the editor.
• Check the attribution and reuse permission for figures, tables, datasets, and images.
• Keep references accurate and avoid adding citations that do not support the text.

When a concern is identified

The assessment should examine the evidence and seek an explanation from the authors. Minor attribution problems and extensive uncredited copying require different responses. Revision, rejection, institutional referral, or action on the published record may be appropriate depending on the findings; a software score alone is not the basis for a misconduct conclusion.

To report suspected overlap, send the article or manuscript identifier, the original source, and clearly identified matching passages to the editorial office. For concerns affecting published work, see Corrections & Retractions.