Plagiarism And Retractions

Research Integrity

Plagiarism and Data Fabrication Policy

Journal of Accounting and Management (JAM) | e-ISSN 3048-345X

Journal of Accounting and Management (JAM) requires original, honestly reported, and verifiable scholarship. Similarity software supports editorial assessment but does not replace expert judgment or due process. Allegations are assessed on evidence, context, materiality, author roles, and effect on the reliability of the record.

DetectUse screening and expert assessment, not a mechanical percentage.

Investigate FairlyPreserve evidence, manage conflicts, and allow a response.

Protect the RecordUse proportionate pre- or post-publication action.

1. Scope and Policy Boundary

This policy governs plagiarism, text recycling, duplicate or redundant publication, citation manipulation, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, and related integrity concerns. It does not set automatic similarity percentages, fixed bans, withdrawal fees, or post-publication remedies; those decisions follow evidence review and the dedicated post-publication policies.

2. Definitions

Concern	Meaning
Plagiarism	Presenting another person’s words, ideas, data, images, code, structure, or other intellectual contribution without appropriate attribution and permission where required.
Text recycling / self-plagiarism	Reusing substantial previously disseminated text or material without transparent citation, disclosure, and justification.
Duplicate or redundant publication	Submitting or publishing substantially overlapping work without transparent cross-reference, legitimate reason, and required permission.
Fabrication	Inventing data, participants, observations, interviews, results, documents, approvals, citations, or other research records.
Falsification	Manipulating, omitting, changing, or selectively reporting materials, processes, data, images, analyses, or results so the record is misleading.
Citation manipulation	Adding, omitting, or coercing citations primarily to inflate metrics or create a misleading scholarly record.

3. Similarity Screening

JAM may screen submissions and published content with Turnitin or another authorized similarity service.
A similarity score is a screening indicator, not proof of plagiarism and not an automatic acceptance or rejection threshold.
Editors examine matched sources, quotations, references, methods language, preprints, theses, author reuse, discipline conventions, and the originality of ideas and data.
AI-detection scores alone are not proof of AI misuse, fabrication, or plagiarism.
Authors may be asked for source files, data, permissions, earlier versions, related manuscripts, or an explanation.

4. Author Requirements

Use quotation marks or block quotation and precise citation for verbatim text.
Paraphrase genuinely and cite the source; replacing a few words is insufficient.
Cite and disclose reuse from the authors’ own theses, preprints, reports, conference proceedings, translations, or earlier publications.
Obtain permissions for copyrighted figures, instruments, photographs, tables, or substantial extracts when required.
Retain raw data, code, analysis files, consent and ethics records, and provenance for images and documents.
Disclose closely related submissions and do not submit the same or substantially similar manuscript to multiple journals concurrently.

5. Fabrication and Falsification Indicators

Inconsistent raw data, impossible values, unverifiable participants or organizations, duplicate records, or unexplained statistical patterns.
Undisclosed deletion, substitution, selective reporting, p-hacking, outcome switching, or misleading image adjustment.
Fabricated citations, approvals, permissions, reviewer identities, author identities, affiliations, funding, or correspondence.
Inability or refusal to provide records needed to verify central claims without a credible legal, privacy, safety, or contractual reason.

6. Assessment Procedure

TriageThe editor assesses specificity, evidence, manuscript status, conflicts, and immediate risk without contacting authors’ institutions prematurely.

Evidence PreservationJAM preserves manuscript versions, similarity reports, files, metadata, reviews, correspondence, data supplied, and audit records.

Author NoticeThe corresponding author receives the material concern and a reasonable opportunity to respond and provide evidence; co-authors may be contacted individually.

Independent ReviewAn unconflicted editor may obtain methodological, statistical, image, legal, or ethics advice and compare related works.

ReferralSerious research misconduct may be referred to the relevant institution, employer, ethics committee, funder, or authority.

Reasoned OutcomeJAM decides based on reliability, materiality, intent where relevant, author roles, evidence strength, and effect on the record.

7. Outcomes Before Publication

No action when the concern is not supported.
Request clarification, attribution, permission, data, or limited correction.
Require substantial revision and rescreening.
Reject the manuscript for material plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, manipulated review, or another serious breach.
Notify another journal or institution when evidence and due process justify coordination.
Restrict future submissions only when proportionate, time-limited, reasoned, and approved by the Editor-in-Chief/publisher—not through an automatic collective ban.

8. Outcomes After Publication

A repairable error may receive a correction; credible unresolved concern may receive an Expression of Concern; an unreliable article may be retracted. Legal removal is exceptional. The plagiarism page does not itself issue or define these notices.

9. Fairness and Author Responsibility

Each author’s role and response are assessed individually. Shared authorship creates collective responsibility for article integrity but does not justify an automatic identical penalty without considering contribution, knowledge, control, and evidence. Good-faith errors are distinguished from deliberate deception while the reliability of the record remains the primary concern.