Plagiarism Policy

A. Purpose

The International Journal of Cyber Law  (IJCL) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of originality, academic integrity, and responsible scholarly publishing. The Journal has a zero-tolerance approach to plagiarism and requires every manuscript submitted for publication to be the author’s original work.

All manuscripts shall be evaluated in accordance with this Policy before publication and, where necessary, after publication if allegations of plagiarism arise.

This Policy is informed by, and shall be interpreted consistently with, the guidelines and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

This Policy (2.0) shall take effect from 1 September 2026 and shall be reviewed periodically by the Editorial Board, and in any event not less than once every three years.

B. Originality Requirement

Submission of a manuscript to IJCL constitutes a declaration by the corresponding author that:

  1. The manuscript is original;
  2. The manuscript has not been published previously, in whole or in substantial part, except where properly disclosed;
  3. The manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal or publisher;
  4. All sources have been accurately acknowledged;
  5. All quotations, paraphrased material, figures, tables, images, and other copyrighted material have been properly cited or reproduced with the necessary permission; and
  6. All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript before submission.

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in editorial action under this Policy.

C. Forms of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s published or unpublished ideas, words, data, images, or other original material, in whole or in part, without full and proper acknowledgement, such that the material is presented as though it were the author’s own. For the purposes of this Policy, plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Direct or verbatim copying without proper quotation or citation;
  2. Close or substantial paraphrasing without appropriate acknowledgement;
  3. Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism;
  4. Translation plagiarism;
  5. Misappropriation of another person’s ideas, legal arguments, data, research findings, tables, figures, graphics, illustrations, or images;
  6. Self-plagiarism or excessive text recycling without appropriate disclosure;
  7. Duplicate or redundant publication;
  8. Submission of substantially similar manuscripts to more than one journal without disclosure; and
  9. Citation practices intended to conceal copied material or misrepresent originality.

Any intentional or negligent act falling within these categories shall constitute plagiarism under this Policy.

D. Artificial Intelligence and AI-Related Plagiarism

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, including large language models, does not exempt authors from their responsibility to ensure the originality, accuracy, and integrity of submitted manuscripts.

Authors shall not use AI tools to:

  1. Generate or fabricate research findings, legal analysis, or conclusions;
  2. Create fictitious citations, references, authorities, or source materials;
  3. Reproduce copyrighted content without appropriate permission or attribution;
  4. Paraphrase or rewrite another person’s work in a manner that conceals plagiarism; or
  5. Manipulate similarity detection systems or otherwise misrepresent the originality of the manuscript.

AI-generated or AI-assisted content that reproduces or substantially imitates existing published material without proper attribution shall be treated as plagiarism under this Policy.

Where AI tools have been used solely to improve language, grammar, spelling, or readability, authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.

Artificial intelligence systems or software applications shall not be listed as authors of any manuscript submitted to the Journal.

E. Authorship Responsibility

Each listed author is individually responsible for the originality and integrity of the manuscript.

The corresponding author shall ensure that:

  1. Every listed author has made a genuine scholarly contribution to the manuscript;
  2. No person has been included as a guest, honorary, or gift author;
  3. No individual who satisfies the requirements for authorship has been omitted;
  4. An Author Contribution Statement accurately describing the contribution of each author is submitted with the manuscript; and
  5. All authors have approved the final manuscript before submission.

Where false authorship declarations or misleading author contribution statements are discovered, the matter shall be treated as publication misconduct and handled under this Policy.

F. Similarity Screening

Every manuscript submitted to IJCL shall undergo similarity screening before peer review using Turnitin, or any other similarity detection software adopted by the Journal.

The similarity report serves as an editorial screening tool only and shall not, by itself, determine whether plagiarism has occurred.

Editorial decisions shall be based upon a comprehensive qualitative assessment of the similarity report.

G. Similarity Thresholds

As a general editorial guideline, the Journal applies the following similarity thresholds:

Similarity Index

Editorial Action

0–10%

Normally acceptable, subject to editorial review.

11–20%

Manual assessment required. Authors may be requested to revise the manuscript before peer review.

Above 20%

Normally rejected or returned to the author unless the similarity is exclusively attributable to properly cited material or other legitimate sources.

The similarity percentage shall not be the sole basis for any editorial decision.

Editorial judgment shall prevail in every case.

All allegations of plagiarism shall be treated as confidential during the investigation. The identity of the complainant shall not be disclosed to the respondent author(s) without the complainant's consent, save where required by law or where necessary to ensure a fair and effective investigation.

H. Editorial Assessment Criteria

Following similarity screening, the Editorial Office shall evaluate each manuscript using both quantitative and qualitative criteria, including:

  1. The overall similarity index;
  2. Similarity arising from individual sources;
  3. The location and extent of overlapping text;
  4. The number of consecutive identical words or sentences;
  5. Similarity within the abstract, introduction, literature review, analysis, discussion, and conclusion;
  6. Overlap with the authors’ previous publications;
  7. Whether appropriate quotation marks and citations have been used;
  8. Whether the similarity affects the originality of the manuscript; and
  9. Whether the overlapping material consists solely of references, legislation, constitutions, judicial decisions, treaties, standard legal terminology, or other material that does not constitute plagiarism.

Where necessary, the Editorial Office may exclude bibliography, references, properly quoted material, and standard legal expressions from the assessment.

I. Editorial Procedure for Suspected Plagiarism

Where potential plagiarism is identified, the Journal shall follow the following procedure:

Step 1: The Editorial Office shall review the similarity report.

Step 2: The Handling Editor shall independently evaluate the suspected overlap.

Step 3: Where further clarification is required, the corresponding author shall be invited to submit a written explanation and, where appropriate, a revised manuscript within 14 calendar days.

Step 4: Following review of the available evidence, the Editor-in-Chief shall make the final editorial decision within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of the author’s response or the expiry of the response period, whichever is earlier.

Failure to respond within the prescribed period shall not prevent the Journal from making a final decision.

J. Editorial Actions Prior to Publication

Where plagiarism is identified before publication, the Editor-in-Chief may:

  1. Require revision and resubmission; any revised manuscript submitted under this procedure shall undergo a further similarity screening before a final editorial decision is made.
  2. Reject the manuscript;
  3. Reject all related submissions arising from the same misconduct;
  4. Suspend editorial consideration pending further investigation; or
  5. Impose any additional editorial measure considered appropriate under this policy.

K. Post-Publication Plagiarism

Allegations of plagiarism may be submitted by readers, reviewers, editors, publishers, academic institutions, or other third parties at any time after publication.

Upon receipt of a credible allegation, the Editorial Office shall conduct a preliminary assessment and, where appropriate, initiate a formal investigation.

The corresponding author shall normally be invited to submit a written explanation within 14 calendar days. Failure to respond within the prescribed period shall not prevent the Journal from reaching a decision based on the available evidence.

Where plagiarism or other publication misconduct is confirmed, the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board, may impose one or more of the following measures:

  1. Immediate removal of the article, which shall remain accessible on the Journal’s website marked clearly as “RETRACTED,” together with a retraction notice stating the reason for retraction, in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines. The bibliographic record and DOI shall be preserved.
  2. Removal of the full text (but not the bibliographic metadata or DOI) shall occur only where legal constraints, defamation risk, or serious health or safety concerns require it.
  3. Notification of the relevant authorities, including the authors’ affiliated institutions, employers, funding agencies, research sponsors, or other appropriate organizations where the seriousness of the misconduct warrants such notification.
  4. Immediate rejection of all manuscripts submitted by the responsible author(s) that are under editorial consideration.
  5. Suspension of new submissions by the responsible author(s) for a period of up to five (5) years, depending upon the seriousness, extent, and impact of the misconduct.
  6. Permanent prohibition on future submissions where the Editorial Board determines that the misconduct involves deliberate plagiarism, repeated ethical violations, fraudulent authorship, fabricated or falsified research, or any other serious breach of academic integrity.

The nature of the sanction shall be determined after considering the seriousness of the misconduct, the extent of the plagiarism, whether the misconduct was intentional or repeated, the author’s response, and the potential impact on the integrity and reputation of the Journal.

L. Appeals

An author who is subject to an editorial decision under this Policy may submit a written appeal, together with supporting evidence, within 30 calendar days of receiving the decision.

The Journal shall acknowledge receipt of the appeal within seven (7) working days.

The appeal shall be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and, where appropriate, members of the Editorial Board who were not directly involved in the original decision.

The Journal shall communicate its final decision within thirty (30) calendar days after receiving the complete appeal documentation, unless exceptional circumstances require additional time.

The decision of the Journal following the appeal shall be final.