Anti-Plagiarism Policy

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is a serious ethical violation that undermines the integrity of scholarly publishing. It involves the unacknowledged use of another person's ideas, data, language, or intellectual output and is considered both unethical and a breach of academic conduct. Plagiarism deprives the original author of rightful recognition and erodes the credibility of scientific literature.

Plagiarism may manifest in various forms, including but not limited to direct copying of text, paraphrasing without attribution, reproducing data or figures without permission, and self-plagiarism (reuse of one's own previously published content without proper citation). While verbatim copying is readily detected by anti-plagiarism software, subtler forms — such as rewording sentences while retaining the original structure and meaning — may be more difficult to detect but are equally unacceptable.

It must be clearly understood that properly citing and referencing another author's work — as is standard practice in the discussion and literature review sections of scholarly papers — does not constitute plagiarism.

Guidelines for Authors

The Journal of Medical Research and Clinical Evidence (JMRCE) requests all authors to take the following steps prior to submission to avoid rejection on grounds of plagiarism:

• Do not copy text, data, tables, or figures from another author's work without proper authorization and citation.
• When referencing another study, always express the findings in your own words and provide appropriate citations.
• When in doubt, it is better to over-cite than to risk an allegation of plagiarism.
• Even when discussing similar studies or comparable findings, articulate inferences in your own language and duly acknowledge the source.
• Authors are strongly encouraged to check their manuscripts using established plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin, iThenticate, or PlagiarismX prior to submission.
• Reuse of the authors' own previously published content must be cited exactly as any other source, following standard citation protocols.

Journal Policy

JMRCE adheres to the guidelines set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/) regarding plagiarism and publication integrity.

All authors bear full responsibility for ensuring that their submitted manuscript is free of plagiarized content. As part of the submission process, JMRCE requires all authors to sign a declaration confirming that the manuscript does not contain any plagiarized material.

Plagiarism Threshold

Manuscripts found to have a similarity index exceeding 15% (excluding references and quotations) will be flagged for further review. A similarity index exceeding 25% will generally result in immediate rejection.

Action on Detection of Plagiarism

If plagiarized content is detected in any manuscript submitted to JMRCE, the following steps will be taken:

• The corresponding author will be contacted and asked to provide a written explanation on behalf of all listed authors.
• If the explanation is found to be satisfactory and the plagiarism is determined to be inadvertent and minor in nature, the authors may be given an opportunity to revise and resubmit the manuscript.
• If the explanation is unsatisfactory or the plagiarism is substantial, the manuscript will be rejected.
• In cases of confirmed deliberate plagiarism, the Editor-in-Chief may impose a temporary or permanent ban on future submissions from the involved authors to JMRCE.
• In severe cases, the authors' affiliated institutions and relevant professional bodies may be notified.

JMRCE Anti-Plagiarism Committee

• Dr. Md Ashfaque Tinmaswala
• Dr. Ajeet Gopchade
• Dr. Nazima Yusuf Memon