Prime Peer Plagiarism Policy

1. What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the wrongful appropriation of another person’s language, ideas, data, or creative expression and the presentation of that material as one’s own original work. It includes—but is not limited to—verbatim copying, close paraphrasing without attribution, and the unacknowledged reuse of figures, tables, images, or equations.

Plagiarism can be categorized as:

Form	Description	Typical Examples
Blatant	Transparent, direct copying from another source.	Copy-and-paste of text or graphics without citation.
Self or “duplicate” plagiarism	Reusing significant portions of the author’s own previously published work without acknowledgement.	Republishing the same article (or a slightly modified version) in more than one journal.

Note: Duplicate publication—submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously, with or without changes—also falls under plagiarism.

2. Why Zero Tolerance?

Plagiarism distorts the scholarly record, undermines trust between authors, readers, and the scientific community, and violates copyright law. Prime Peer is committed to safeguarding academic integrity by ensuring that every article we publish is demonstrably original and properly sourced.

3. Prime Peer’s “Plagiarism Shield” Workflow

1. Initial Screening (PreQC)

• Every new submission is scanned automatically using iThenticate and our proprietary “Plagiarism Shield” engine.
• Reports flag all overlaps, including those in references, acknowledgements, and appendices, so our staff can focus on substantive text matches.

2. Editorial Assessment

• An in-house Research Integrity Specialist interprets the similarity report.
• Overlaps attributable to standard phrases, legally required wording (e.g., ethics approvals), or properly quoted material are discounted.
• The manuscript then proceeds to peer review only if it passes this assessment.

3. Peer Review Stage

• Reviewers receive the similarity report and are asked to comment on any uncredited reuse that editorial staff may have missed.
• If concerns arise, the editorial office contacts the author for clarification, revision, or withdrawal.

4. Thresholds and Actions

Similarity Index	Editorial Action	Author Guidance
< 5%	Assign manuscript ID; move directly to peer review.	Minor text revisions may still be requested.
5–30%	Returned to author for mandatory rewriting and proper citation before an ID is assigned.	Provide detailed change-tracking and updated similarity report with resubmission.
> 30%	Desk rejection without review.	Recommended: substantially revise, re-run plagiarism check, then submit as a new manuscript.

5. Post-Publication Detection

If plagiarism is discovered after publication, Prime Peer will:

1. Launch a formal investigation in consultation with the author’s institution and, where applicable, funding body.
2. Publish a Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction, depending on the extent of overlap.
3. Watermark the PDF and HTML versions of the article with a clear notice so readers are immediately aware of the issue.

6. Author Responsibilities & Best Practices

• Always cite original sources—even for your own previously published material.
• Use quotation marks for verbatim quotes and supply page numbers where possible.
• Paraphrase responsibly by rewriting concepts in your own words and citing the source.
• Check your manuscript with reliable plagiarism-detection software before submission.
• Maintain records (e.g., laboratory notebooks, data sets) to demonstrate the provenance of your work.

7. Originality Statement

By submitting to Prime Peer, authors affirm that their manuscript:

• Is original and has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
• Properly acknowledges all sources.
• Complies with all institutional and funder policies.

Plagiarism, in any form, compromises scientific integrity. Prime Peer’s robust “Plagiarism Shield” ensures that the scholarly record we curate remains trustworthy, transparent, and of the highest quality.