Plagiarism Policy
Every manuscript submitted to BJEAS is screened for textual similarity using Turnitin before it is sent for peer review, and again before final acceptance.
The journal applies the following thresholds, calculated after excluding the reference list, quotations, and standard method descriptions:
- Overall similarity index of 20% or less — acceptable; the manuscript proceeds to review.
- Overall similarity index of 21–30% — the manuscript is returned to the authors for revision and re-screening before review.
- Overall similarity index above 30%, or more than 5% from any single source, — the manuscript is rejected.
Self-plagiarism (text recycling) is subject to the same limits. Authors who reuse their own previously published text must cite the earlier work and, where the reuse is substantial, obtain permission from the original publisher.
Where plagiarism is detected after publication, the journal follows the COPE flowchart for suspected plagiarism in a published manuscript. Depending on the severity of the case, the outcome may be a correction, an expression of concern, or a full retraction with a public retraction notice, together with formal notification of the authors' institutions and, where applicable, funding bodies. Authors found to have plagiarised may be barred from submitting to BJEAS for a period of up to five years.
