Journal of Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism Policy

Journal of Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences (JHAS)

Plagiarism refers to copying someone else’s ideas, text, data, or other creative work—including figures, tables, or graphs and presenting it as original research without proper citation. This is considered an unethical act. Self-plagiarism occurs when an author uses a substantial portion of their own previously published work without proper citation. In such cases, an author may submit a manuscript that has already been published elsewhere, modifying it by adding new data or making slight changes.

The Journal of Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences (JHAS) is a peer-reviewed international journal, publishing biannually with two issues per year, in (January-June and July-December, starting from 2023). (JHAS) has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism or duplication of figures. All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism using Turnitin software. Manuscripts found to have significant plagiarism more than 18% during the initial review will be immediately rejected and will not proceed further for publication in (JHAS).

If plagiarism is detected after publication, the Editor-in-Chief of (JHAS) will initiate a preliminary investigation, potentially with an appropriate team. If plagiarism is confirmed after acceptance, (JHAS) will notify the author’s affiliated institution, university, or funding agency. Upon confirming the misconduct, (JHAS) will issue a statement of retraction or correction, linking the original publication and noting the plagiarism with a reference to the plagiarized manuscript. In severe cases, a watermark indicating plagiarism will be added to every page of the PDF file. If necessary, the paper will be formally retracted from the journal.

Types of Plagiarism

(JHAS) recognizes the following types of plagiarism:

  1. Full Plagiarism: The manuscript is identical to an already published work, with no changes in grammar or ideas. This includes copying text from the author's own previously published work.
  2. Partial Plagiarism: The manuscript combines content from various sources without proper attribution, with rephrased or slightly altered text.
  3. Self-Plagiarism: The author reuses portions or the entirety of their own previously published research without citation. Total self-plagiarism refers to republishing an entire paper that has already been published in another journal.

Policy and Actions Against Plagiarism

JHAS values intellectual property and is committed to upholding originality in research. Manuscripts containing plagiarized content fail to meet the journal's quality standards for research and innovation. Authors submitting manuscripts to (JHAS) are expected to adhere to ethical standards and avoid all forms of plagiarism.

If an author is accused of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript, (JHAS) will contact the author(s) for a response within two weeks. The case may then be forwarded to the Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) of (JHAS) for further investigation and action. If the author(s) fail to respond within the given time, (JHAS) will escalate the matter to the head of the author’s affiliated institution for appropriate action.

For already published papers found to contain significant plagiarism, (JHAS) will take the following steps:

  1. Contact the director, dean, head of the institution, or the vice-chancellor of the university to which the author(s) are affiliated, requesting strict action against the author(s).
  2. Immediately delete the PDF file of the plagiarized manuscript from the (JHAS) website and suspend all links to the full-text article. The term "Plagiarized Manuscript" will be displayed next to the title of the article.
  3. Block the author’s account with (JHAS), restricting future submissions for a period of 3 to 10 years or potentially indefinitely.
  4. Pursue any other action recommended by the FFC or deemed appropriate by the Editorial Board on a case-by-case basis.