The Praman maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism in any form. This page explains what we consider plagiarism, how submissions are checked, and what happens when it is found.
What Counts as Plagiarism
- Direct plagiarism — copying another's words verbatim without quotation marks or citation.
- Inadequate paraphrase — rewording a source closely, keeping its structure and phrasing, without proper credit.
- Uncredited ideas — presenting someone else's argument, framework, or data as your own original contribution.
- Self-plagiarism — reusing substantial portions of your own previously published work without disclosure and citation.
- Missing citations — statistics, data, or specific claims presented without attribution to their source.
How Submissions Are Checked
Every submission is screened for textual overlap with previously published material before it goes to editorial review. Editors also apply judgment beyond automated checks — a low similarity score does not automatically clear a submission, and a high score is not automatically disqualifying if it consists of properly quoted and cited material.
Similarity Thresholds
As a general guideline, we expect overall textual similarity to any single source to remain low, and properly quoted material to be clearly marked and minimal relative to the author's own analysis. Submissions with substantial unattributed overlap are returned to the author or declined, depending on severity.
Consequences
- Pre-publication: the submission is returned for revision or declined outright, depending on the extent of the issue.
- Post-publication: a confirmed case results in removal or formal retraction of the article, with a public Retraction Notice explaining why.
- Repeat or severe cases may result in the author being barred from future submissions, and their institution being notified.
A Note for Authors
If you are unsure whether a passage needs a citation, cite it — over-attribution is never penalized, under-attribution is. When in doubt, quote directly with clear quotation marks and a source, or rewrite the idea substantially in your own words and still credit where it came from.