Plagarism

The Advances in Business Research International Journal (ABRIJ) enforces a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as the use of another person’s work—ideas, text, data, figures, or processes—without proper acknowledgement, whether committed intentionally or unintentionally.

Forms of Plagiarism

  • Full plagiarism: Directly copying previously published content without changes or proper attribution.
  • Partial plagiarism: Using material from one or more sources with minor modifications or paraphrasing but without appropriate citation.
  • Self-plagiarism: Republishing one’s own previously published work, in whole or in part, without appropriate citation or justification.

Detection and Prevention

All manuscripts submitted to ABRIJ are screened using plagiarism detection tools such as iThenticate, Turnitin, or equivalent software. Authors must provide a similarity report with their submission. The acceptable similarity threshold, excluding references and common phrases, is 20% or below.

 Consequences of Plagiarism

 If plagiarism is detected at any stage of the publication process before or after acceptance, ABRIJ will take immediate action, which may include:

  • Rejection of the manuscript
  • Retraction of the published article
  • Notification to the author’s institution
  • Implementation of author sanctions

ABRIJ is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

Handling of Plagiarism and Overlap

Before Publication

Manuscripts that exceed the acceptable plagiarism threshold during initial screening will be rejected without peer review. Authors will be informed of the decision and advised to revise and resubmit or withdraw their work.

After Publication

If plagiarism is detected in a published article, the Editor-in-Chief will initiate an internal investigation, which may include forming a Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) to assess the severity of the breach. If confirmed, the following actions may be taken:

  • Retraction of the article with a formal retraction notice, clearly linked to the original online version.
  • Labelling the article as “Plagiarized Manuscript” on all platforms where it is hosted or indexed.
  • Institutional and funding body notification, informing the authors’ affiliated institutions, funding agencies, and/or relevant academic authorities.
  • The ABRIJ may impose sanctions on the author, such as a submission ban for 3, 5, or 10 years, or a permanent blacklisting in extreme situations.
  • The Editorial Board and the FFC may decide to publicly disclose the authors’ names and affiliations if they find it appropriate.

Author’s Right to Respond

 Authors will be granted the opportunity to respond in writing within two weeks of receiving notification. Failure to respond within this timeframe may result in escalated measures, including direct communication with the institution’s dean, director, or vice-chancellor.

Fabricated Data and Results

Fabrication, falsification, or selective omission of data is a serious academic offence. Suspected cases will require authors to submit raw datasets or supporting evidence. Failure to comply or confirmation of misconduct will result in rejection or retraction and formal reporting to the author’s institution or funding body.

Image Manipulation

Images must be presented truthfully, with only minimal, uniform adjustments (e.g., brightness, contrast, cropping) that do not misrepresent data. Deliberate alteration to obscure or distort findings is unethical and may lead to rejection, retraction, and institutional notification. Original image files may be requested for verification.

Institutional Reporting and Author Sanctions

Confirmed violations may result in:

  • Notification of the author’s institution or funding agency.
  • Submission account suspension.
  • Public listing of sanctioned authors on the ABRIJ website.
  • Notification of indexing databases and repositories.

 Commitment to Research Integrity

ABRIJ upholds COPE’s ethical standards, requiring all manuscripts to reflect honest, original, and ethical research. Suspected violations will be investigated transparently and addressed promptly to protect the scholarly record.