Plagiarism Policy

The editorial board of SEMAI (Journal of Scientific Exploration of Modern Agricultural Innovations) acknowledges that plagiarism is unacceptable. Therefore, SEMAI establishes the following policy to outline specific actions (penalties) to be taken if plagiarism is identified in a submitted manuscript.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the deliberate or accidental act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit or value for scholarly work by quoting part or all of another's work and/or scholarly output recognized as their own, without properly and adequately citing the source. Consequently, manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication in another journal. Material taken verbatim from other sources must be clearly identified to differentiate it from the original text.

Plagiarism Detection and Actions

If plagiarism is identified, the editorial board is responsible for reviewing the manuscript and will approve actions in accordance with the level of detected plagiarism, following these guidelines:

1. Copying Short Sentences
   Action: The author will receive a warning and a request to revise the text and provide proper citations.

2. Copying a Substantial Portion
   Action: The submitted manuscript will be rejected for publication in SEMAI, and the author may face a prohibition on future submissions to SEMAI.

3. Collective Responsibility
   If a manuscript is categorized as plagiarized, all authors will be subject to the same actions.

Simultaneous Submissions

If an author is found to have submitted a manuscript to SEMAI while simultaneously submitting it to another journal, and this overlap is discovered during the review process or after publication, the author will face actions in accordance with point number 2 above.

Plagiarism Check

The editor will conduct a plagiarism check using TURNITIN software for incoming manuscripts before sending them to reviewers. If a manuscript has a plagiarism level exceeding 25%, it will be rejected or returned for revision. Authors may resubmit or revise the manuscript after the similarity index is below 25% for total similarity and below 2% for any individual source/reference.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work and must take full responsibility for any claims regarding plagiarism or ethical misconduct.

COPE Guidelines and Ethical Considerations

1. Transparency
   The editorial board commits to maintaining transparency throughout the plagiarism review process, providing clear communication regarding the findings and actions taken.

2. Confidentiality
   All discussions regarding plagiarism findings will be kept confidential to protect the rights and privacy of the authors involved.

3. Handling of Allegations
   Any allegations of misconduct, including plagiarism, will be thoroughly investigated in line with COPE guidelines. The editorial board will ensure that all parties involved are treated fairly during the investigation.

4. Appeal Process
   Authors have the right to appeal any decisions made regarding plagiarism findings. Appeals will be reviewed by an independent panel from the editorial board.

5. Educational Purpose
   SEMAI is committed to educating authors about plagiarism and proper citation practices to foster a culture of integrity in research and publication.