Plagiarism Policy and AI Usage

Plagiarism Policy and AI Usage

Plagiarism screening is conducted by Responsive: Journal of Thought and Research in Public Administration, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Public Policy on every submitted manuscript. The Editorial Board does not tolerate any form of plagiarism. Authors are also required to screen their own manuscript with a plagiarism-detection application (e.g., Turnitin or an equivalent tool) prior to submission. In all cases, the journal's own screening is the basis for editorial decisions; the maximum acceptable similarity index is 20%, excluding quotations, common phrases, and the reference list. A manuscript found to be plagiarized will be rejected and will not proceed to review.

Manuscripts must be original, must not have been previously published, and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Material taken verbatim from another source must be clearly identified as a direct quotation and distinguished from the author's own text, with a full citation.

Levels of Plagiarism and Corresponding Actions

Where plagiarism is identified, the Editor-in-Chief is responsible for reviewing the manuscript and determining the appropriate action according to the severity of the violation, following the guidance below:

  1. Minor overlap. Isolated short phrases or sentences reproduced from another source without proper citation. Action: The author is issued a formal warning and required to revise the text and provide correct citation before the manuscript proceeds further.
  2. Moderate overlap. Substantial portions of a paragraph or section reproduced from another source without adequate citation or quotation marks. Action: The manuscript is rejected for the current submission. The author may resubmit a substantially rewritten and properly cited version as a new submission, subject to full re-screening.
  3. Severe or extensive plagiarism. A large proportion of the manuscript, or its central argument, data, or findings, reproduced from another source without appropriate citation. Action: The manuscript is rejected and the author is barred from submitting to Responsive for a period determined by the Editorial Board, or permanently in cases of repeated or egregious violation. Where warranted, the author's institution and/or funder may be notified.
  4. Self-plagiarism/text recycling. Substantial reuse of the author's own previously published text, data, or findings without disclosure and proper citation of the earlier work. Action: Treated under the same severity scale as above (points 1-3), assessed according to the extent of undisclosed reuse.

Duplicate or Simultaneous Submission

If an author is found to have submitted the same manuscript, or a manuscript with substantial overlapping content, to Responsive and another journal simultaneously, and this overlap is discovered during review or after publication, the manuscript (or the published article) is treated under the action described in point 2 above, in line with COPE guidance on redundant publication.

Responsibility of Authors

All co-authors of a submitted manuscript are jointly responsible for its content, as evidenced by their signature on the journal's Publication Ethics and Originality Statement. Where a manuscript is found to constitute plagiarism, the corresponding action applies to all listed authors equally.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

The use of generative AI is governed in full by the journal's dedicated AI Usage Policy, which authors must consult and comply with. In summary, and specifically as it relates to plagiarism:

  • AI tools may not be listed as an author or co-author.
  • AI may be used only for copy-editing (grammar, style, formatting) or to support data analysis and interpretation, with the stage and justification disclosed; it may not be used to draft or generate substantive manuscript text in place of the author's own intellectual contribution.
  • Using generative AI to paraphrase or reword plagiarized material in an attempt to circumvent similarity screening is treated as an aggravating factor and is assessed under the same severity scale set out above (points 1-3), regardless of whether the underlying source was disclosed.
  • The journal reserves the right to use AI-generated-text detection tools alongside plagiarism screening where undisclosed or irregular use of AI is suspected.

Post-Publication Discovery

If plagiarism, including self-plagiarism or undisclosed AI-generated content reproducing another source, is identified after an article has been published, the journal follows COPE's retraction guidelines: the article is retracted, a retraction notice stating the reason is published and linked to the original article, and the author's institution and/or funder may be notified.

Any instance of plagiarism falling outside the circumstances described above is addressed at the discretion of the Editorial Board, consistent with COPE guidelines and the general principles set out in this policy.