Plagiarism and Originality Policy
Forbes Journal of Medicine, under the governance of Buca Seyfi Demirsoy Training and Research Hospital, upholds scientific originality, respect for intellectual property, and adherence to ethical publishing principles as core values. The journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism.
Definition and Scope
Plagiarism is defined as the use, reproduction, or presentation of another person’s ideas, data, visual materials, or text without appropriate attribution. The following forms are considered plagiarism:
• Direct Plagiarism: Copying text verbatim from another source without citation.
• Self-Plagiarism: Reusing one’s own previously published material without proper acknowledgment.
• Mosaic Plagiarism: Combining phrases or ideas from multiple sources and presenting them as original content.
• Failure to Cite Sources: Using ideas, data, or findings from other works without indicating their origin.
Author Responsibilities
• Submitted manus must be original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere.
• All sources must be cited accurately and comprehensively.
• Written permissions must be obtained when using third-party materials such as images, tables, or datasets.
• Authors are required to submit an originality and plagiarism-free declaration form at the time of submission.
Similarity Screening and Evaluation
• All submitted manuscripts undergo similarity screening using iThenticate, Turnitin, or an equivalent professional tool during editorial pre-review.
• The maximum acceptable similarity index for Forbes Journal of Medicine is 20%.
• Even when the similarity score is technically low, unattributed quotations, structural copying, paraphrasing without citation, or replication of argumentation may still constitute plagiarism and will be treated as ethical violations.
Detection and Intervention Process
Plagiarism may be identified at:
• Editorial pre-assessment,
• Peer review,
• Post-publication via reader reports or third-party notifications.
Ethical evaluation follows COPE guidelines:
• Authors may be asked to provide clarification or a formal explanation.
• Depending on the outcome of the investigation:
– The manuscript may be rejected,
– Post-publication cases may result in correction, retraction, or an expression of concern,
– In cases of severe misconduct, the author’s institution may be formally notified.
Editorial and Reviewer Responsibilities
• Editors and reviewers must promptly report any suspected plagiarism to the journal’s editorial office.
• All procedures are conducted with editorial independence, impartiality, and strict confidentiality.
Institutional Commitment
Through this policy, Buca Seyfi Demirsoy Training and Research Hospital aims to ensure that contributions to the scientific literature are trustworthy, ethically sound, and academically rigorous, while safeguarding the integrity of authors, editors, and readers within the publication ecosystem.