Plagiarism and AI Content Policy

Plagiarism and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

The Worldwide Journal of Creative Research and Thoughts (WJCRT) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, originality, transparency, ethical publishing, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal considers plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship misconduct, paper-mill activity, and misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools as serious violations of publication ethics.

All authors submitting manuscripts to WJCRT are expected to ensure that their work is original, properly cited, ethically prepared, accurately reported, and free from any form of academic or research misconduct.

1. Academic Integrity Statement

WJCRT believes that academic publishing depends on honesty, transparency, accountability, and respect for intellectual property. Every manuscript submitted to the journal must represent the genuine scholarly contribution of the listed author(s). Authors must clearly acknowledge all sources, data, ideas, text, figures, images, methods, and concepts taken from other works.

Any attempt to misrepresent copied, fabricated, AI-generated, or improperly attributed content as original scholarship may result in rejection, withdrawal, correction, retraction, or further editorial action.

2. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism refers to the use of another person's words, ideas, concepts, data, images, tables, figures, research design, arguments, methods, results, or conclusions without appropriate acknowledgment, citation, permission, or attribution.

Plagiarism may occur intentionally or unintentionally. However, lack of intent does not remove the author's responsibility to ensure proper citation and originality.

3. Types of Plagiarism

  • Direct Plagiarism: Copying text, paragraphs, tables, figures, images, data, or ideas from another source without proper citation.
  • Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting another author's work with minor wording changes while retaining the original idea or structure without acknowledgment.
  • Mosaic or Patchwork Plagiarism: Combining copied material from multiple sources and presenting it as original work.
  • Self-Plagiarism: Reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without disclosure, citation, or editorial permission.
  • Duplicate Publication: Submitting or publishing the same or substantially similar manuscript in more than one journal.
  • Redundant Publication: Publishing overlapping findings, data, or analysis across multiple papers without proper disclosure.
  • Data Plagiarism: Using another researcher’s data, survey results, experimental findings, datasets, or statistical outputs without permission or attribution.
  • Image or Figure Plagiarism: Reusing diagrams, photographs, charts, illustrations, graphs, or visual materials without permission or citation.
  • Source-Based Plagiarism: Citing incorrect, misleading, fabricated, or secondary sources as though they were original sources.
  • Improper Authorship Attribution: Adding individuals who did not contribute substantially or excluding genuine contributors from the author list.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy for Authors

WJCRT recognizes that AI-assisted tools may support limited aspects of academic writing and research preparation. However, AI tools cannot replace human authorship, scholarly judgment, ethical responsibility, originality, or accountability.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to the journal, including any text, analysis, references, images, code, data interpretation, or conclusions prepared with the assistance of AI tools.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot take responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, or validity of scholarly work.

5. Acceptable Use of AI Tools

Authors may use AI-assisted tools responsibly for limited support purposes, such as:

  • Grammar correction.
  • Spelling improvement.
  • Language polishing.
  • Formatting assistance.
  • Translation support.
  • Reference organization.
  • Data organization.
  • Statistical programming assistance.
  • Code debugging assistance.
  • Improving clarity of non-substantive language.

Any AI-assisted output must be carefully reviewed, verified, corrected, and approved by the human author(s) before submission.

6. Prohibited Use of AI Tools

Authors must not use AI tools to create, manipulate, or misrepresent scholarly content.

The following practices are strictly prohibited:

  • Generating fabricated research data.
  • Creating false experimental results.
  • Inventing references, citations, DOI numbers, or sources.
  • Producing fake literature reviews with non-existent publications.
  • Manipulating images, figures, charts, or graphs deceptively.
  • Creating false participant, patient, institutional, or survey information.
  • Generating entire manuscripts without meaningful human scholarly contribution.
  • Using AI to conceal plagiarism.
  • Using AI to rewrite copied content to avoid detection.
  • Using AI-generated claims without verification.
  • Submitting AI-generated content as original human scholarship.

7. AI Use Disclosure Requirements

Authors must disclose any significant use of AI-assisted tools in manuscript preparation. Disclosure should be included in the manuscript, cover letter, or declaration section, depending on journal requirements.

Suggested declaration:

Declaration of AI Use: The author(s) declare that AI-assisted tools were used only for language improvement, grammar correction, formatting assistance, translation support, or technical support. The intellectual content, research design, analysis, interpretation, conclusions, references, and final manuscript were reviewed and approved by the author(s), who accept full responsibility for the work.

If no AI tool was used, authors may state:

No AI Tool Declaration: The author(s) declare that no Artificial Intelligence tool or AI-assisted technology was used in the preparation of this manuscript.

8. Similarity Thresholds

All manuscripts submitted to WJCRT may be screened using plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin, iThenticate, Crossref Similarity Check, or equivalent software.

The editorial team evaluates both the similarity percentage and the nature of overlap.

  • Up to 10–15% similarity: Generally acceptable, excluding references, standard terminology, and common phrases.
  • 15–25% similarity: Manuscript may be returned for revision, clarification, or citation correction.
  • Above 25% similarity: Manuscript may be rejected or subjected to detailed editorial investigation.

The final decision depends on the seriousness, location, and context of the overlap. Even a low similarity percentage may be unacceptable if copied material appears in important sections such as the abstract, results, discussion, or conclusions.

9. Duplicate Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Simultaneous submission is considered unethical because it wastes editorial and reviewer resources and may lead to duplicate publication.

If duplicate submission is identified, the manuscript may be rejected immediately.

10. Redundant Publication

Redundant publication occurs when authors publish substantially similar content, data, findings, or analysis in more than one paper without proper disclosure or justification.

Authors must clearly disclose any related manuscripts, conference papers, preprints, reports, or prior publications that overlap with the submitted work.

11. Self-Plagiarism and Text Recycling

Authors must not reuse large sections of their previously published text without appropriate citation and disclosure. Limited reuse of standard methodology descriptions may be acceptable when necessary, but authors should avoid substantial duplication across publications.

Where prior work is used, it must be properly cited and clearly distinguished from new contributions.

12. Salami Publication

Salami publication refers to dividing one research study into multiple smaller papers without sufficient independent contribution. WJCRT discourages fragmented publication practices that misrepresent the scope, novelty, or significance of the research.

Each manuscript must present a meaningful and original scholarly contribution.

13. Image Manipulation

Images, figures, graphs, photographs, screenshots, diagrams, or visual materials must not be altered in a misleading manner. Adjustments such as brightness, contrast, or cropping are acceptable only when they do not distort, hide, or misrepresent information.

Deceptive manipulation of images or figures is treated as research misconduct.

14. Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data fabrication means creating data, results, observations, surveys, interviews, experiments, or findings that never existed. Data falsification means manipulating research materials, methods, data, results, or analysis in a way that misrepresents the truth.

Both fabrication and falsification are serious violations of research ethics and may result in immediate rejection, retraction, author sanctions, and institutional notification where appropriate.

15. Citation Manipulation Policy

Citation manipulation refers to the deliberate addition, omission, or alteration of references for purposes other than scholarly relevance. WJCRT expects citations to be selected solely on academic merit and relevance to the research.

The following practices are considered unethical:

  • Adding irrelevant citations solely to increase citation counts.
  • Excessive self-citation without scholarly justification.
  • Citation cartels or reciprocal citation agreements.
  • Coercive citation requests unrelated to manuscript quality.
  • Citing references that have not been consulted.
  • Using fabricated or non-existent references.

Editors reserve the right to remove unnecessary citations or request justification where excessive citation patterns are identified.

16. Paper Mill Policy

WJCRT strictly prohibits submissions originating from paper mills or commercial organizations that produce fraudulent manuscripts for publication purposes.

Indicators of possible paper-mill activity may include:

  • Fabricated datasets.
  • False author identities.
  • Purchased authorship.
  • Template-generated manuscripts.
  • Image duplication across unrelated studies.
  • Inconsistent methodology or impossible research timelines.
  • Fabricated institutional affiliations.

Where credible evidence exists, manuscripts may be rejected without peer review and further editorial investigation may be undertaken.

17. Authorship Integrity Policy

All listed authors must have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work. Authorship should accurately reflect individual contributions.

The following practices are unacceptable:

  • Gift authorship.
  • Guest authorship.
  • Ghost authorship.
  • Purchased authorship.
  • Unauthorized addition or removal of authors after submission.

Any changes to authorship after submission require written approval from all listed authors together with editorial approval.

18. Plagiarism Detection Procedure

Every submitted manuscript may undergo plagiarism screening before peer review using recognized similarity detection software, including but not limited to:

  • Turnitin
  • iThenticate
  • Crossref Similarity Check
  • Equivalent professional plagiarism detection systems

The editorial office evaluates not only the overall similarity percentage but also:

  • Location of matched text.
  • Nature of overlapping material.
  • Quality of citations.
  • Extent of copied ideas.
  • Possible copyright concerns.
  • Reuse of figures or tables.

Editorial decisions are based on academic judgment rather than similarity percentages alone.

19. Editorial Investigation Procedure

Where plagiarism, AI misuse, or publication misconduct is suspected, the Editorial Office may initiate an investigation before making a final decision.

The investigation may include:

  • Independent editorial assessment.
  • Additional plagiarism screening.
  • Verification of references.
  • Verification of figures and datasets.
  • Communication with corresponding author.
  • Request for raw data or supporting documents.
  • Consultation with editorial board members.
  • Independent expert review where necessary.

Authors will normally be given an opportunity to respond before a final editorial decision is made.

20. Editorial Actions Before Publication

If publication misconduct is identified before publication, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

  • Request clarification.
  • Request revision.
  • Request additional documentation.
  • Return the manuscript for correction.
  • Suspend editorial processing.
  • Reject the manuscript.
  • Restrict future submissions where appropriate.

21. Editorial Actions After Publication

If ethical concerns arise after publication, WJCRT may undertake appropriate editorial action to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Possible actions include:

  • Publishing a correction.
  • Publishing an erratum.
  • Publishing a corrigendum.
  • Issuing an expression of concern.
  • Retracting the article.
  • Publishing an editorial notice.
  • Updating article metadata where appropriate.

22. Corrections and Retractions

Corrections or retractions may be issued where significant errors, plagiarism, fabricated data, duplicate publication, unethical research, copyright violations, or other serious publication ethics concerns are confirmed.

Retraction notices will remain permanently linked to the original article to preserve transparency and the scholarly record.

23. Appeals Process

Authors who disagree with an editorial decision related to plagiarism or publication ethics may submit a written appeal providing supporting evidence.

Appeals may undergo:

  • Independent editorial review.
  • Additional expert consultation.
  • Further similarity assessment.
  • Review by the Editor-in-Chief or designated editorial committee.

The decision following appeal review shall normally be considered final.

24. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for:

  • Submitting original work.
  • Ensuring proper citation of all sources.
  • Obtaining permissions for copyrighted material.
  • Accurately reporting research findings.
  • Maintaining complete research records.
  • Disclosing AI use where applicable.
  • Disclosing funding sources.
  • Declaring conflicts of interest.
  • Obtaining ethical approval where required.
  • Ensuring authorship accurately reflects contributions.

25. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are expected to:

  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Provide objective and constructive evaluations.
  • Identify suspected plagiarism or duplicate publication.
  • Report possible AI misuse where identified.
  • Disclose conflicts of interest.
  • Avoid using unpublished material for personal benefit.

26. Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for maintaining an impartial, transparent, and ethical publication process.

  • Evaluate manuscripts solely on academic merit.
  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Prevent conflicts of interest.
  • Take appropriate action where misconduct is suspected.
  • Promote fairness and integrity throughout peer review.
  • Ensure publication decisions are free from discrimination.

27. Institutional Notification

Where serious research misconduct is confirmed, WJCRT reserves the right, where appropriate and consistent with applicable law and journal procedures, to notify relevant institutions, funding organizations, employers, or other appropriate authorities.

Such notification may occur in cases involving:

  • Fabricated research.
  • Falsified data.
  • Serious plagiarism.
  • Image manipulation.
  • Repeated ethical violations.
  • Fraudulent authorship.

28. Policy Review and Updates

This policy may be revised periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, publication ethics, research integrity, copyright law, Artificial Intelligence technologies, digital publishing, and international best practices.

The most current version of this policy will be available on the official WJCRT website.

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

WJCRT is dedicated to fostering a culture of academic honesty, originality, responsible research, transparency, and ethical scholarship. Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers share responsibility for protecting the integrity of the scholarly record. Through rigorous editorial oversight, responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, plagiarism screening, ethical peer review, and adherence to internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, WJCRT seeks to ensure that every published article contributes reliably and responsibly to the advancement of global knowledge.