Plagiarism Policy

Times Journal of Health and Social Science (TJHSS)

The Times Journal of Health and Social Science (TJHSS) strictly follows the guidelines of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), COPE, and ICMJE regarding academic integrity and publication ethics. The journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of plagiarism.

1. Plagiarism Detection

All submitted manuscripts are screened through Turnitin/iThenticate before the peer-review process.

  • Acceptable Similarity Index:

    • Overall similarity must be ≤ 19%

    • Single-source similarity must be < 5%

Any manuscript exceeding these limits is returned to the authors for revision or rejected depending on severity.

2. Types of Plagiarism

The journal considers the following as plagiarism:

  • Direct plagiarism: Copying text verbatim without citation.

  • Self-plagiarism: Reusing one’s own previously published work without proper attribution.

  • Mosaic plagiarism: Mixing author’s own words with copied text.

  • Data plagiarism: Using another researcher’s data, images, tables, or results without permission.

  • Idea plagiarism: Presenting someone else’s intellectual concepts as original.

3. Author Responsibilities

  • Authors must ensure their work is original and properly cited.

  • All borrowed ideas, text, data, and images must be acknowledged.

  • Manuscripts with high similarity must be revised before submission.

Authors may be required to provide raw data, ethics approval, or previously published versions for verification.

4. Editorial Actions for Plagiarism

If plagiarism is detected before publication:

  • Minor overlap → Authors are asked to revise.

  • Major plagiarism → Manuscript is rejected immediately.

  • Repeated misconduct → Authors may be blacklisted from future submissions.

If plagiarism is detected after publication:

  • A correction, expression of concern, or retraction will be issued depending on severity.

  • The author’s institution may be informed.

5. Penalties for Plagiarism

Depending on the level of misconduct:

  • Immediate rejection of the manuscript

  • Retraction of the published article

  • Blacklisting of all authors for 1–3 years

  • Notification to relevant institutions or funding bodies

6. Plagiarism Appeal

Authors may submit a written explanation if they disagree with the plagiarism report.
The editorial board will review appeals on a case-by-case basis.