Our Plagiarism Policy — Nigerian Journal of Environment and Health (NJEH)
The Nigerian Journal of Environment and Health is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, originality, and ethical publishing. All manuscripts submitted to the journal must represent original work that has not been previously published, submitted elsewhere, or improperly derived from the work of others.
1. Definition of Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
- Copying text, ideas, data, images, tables, or results from another source without proper acknowledgment.
- Paraphrasing another author’s work without appropriate citation.
- Self-plagiarism or duplicate publication, including reuse of substantial parts of an author’s previously published work without disclosure or citation.
- Fabrication or manipulation of references and citations.
- Submission of manuscripts generated wholly or substantially through unethical or undisclosed means.
2. Similarity Screening
All submitted manuscripts shall undergo plagiarism screening using recognized similarity detection at any stage of the editorial process where necessary.
- Manuscripts with a similarity index above the acceptable threshold may be returned to authors for clarification, revision, or rejection.
- Similarity arising from properly cited references, standard methodological descriptions, or unavoidable technical phrases may be excluded at the discretion of the Editorial Board.
3. Acceptable Similarity Threshold
As a general guideline:
- A total similarity index exceeding 20% may warrant editorial review.
- Similarity from a single source exceeding 5% without proper quotation or citation may be considered unacceptable.
- The Editorial Board reserves the right to determine whether detected similarity constitutes plagiarism based on context and academic relevance.
4. Author Responsibilities
Authors submitting manuscripts to NJEH are required to:
- Ensure that all submitted work is original.
- Properly cite and acknowledge all sources used.
- Obtain permission where necessary for copyrighted materials.
- Disclose any overlap with previously published or concurrently submitted work.
- Accept responsibility for all contents of the manuscript.
5. Editorial Actions in Cases of Plagiarism
Where plagiarism or unethical duplication is suspected, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:
- Request clarification or revision from the author(s).
- Reject the manuscript outright.
- Retract a published article where plagiarism is discovered after publication.
6. Post-Publication Complaints
Allegations of plagiarism received after publication shall be investigated by the Editorial Board in accordance with accepted publishing ethics guidelines. Where misconduct is confirmed, appropriate corrective actions, including retraction or publication of corrections, shall be implemented.
7. Ethical Compliance
NJEH follows internationally accepted principles of publication ethics and expects authors, reviewers, and editors to uphold integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly conduct throughout the publication process.
For inquiries regarding this policy, authors may contact the Editorial Office through Nigerian Journal of Environment and Health.