Plagiarism is the unethical act of copying someone else’s initial ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit acknowledgment of the original author and source. Self-plagiarism occurs when an author utilizes large parts of their previously published work without using appropriate references. This can range from getting the same manuscript published in multiple journals to modifying a previously published manuscript with some new data.

The IJCERT Journal is a peer-reviewed journal. The journal seeks to publish original research articles that are hypothetical and theoretical and that provide exploratory insights into educational theory, teaching methods, instructional design, student management, case studies, etc., at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The editorial board welcomes high-quality research or review papers focusing on teaching, researching, training, and applying for work in the field of higher education.

The journal is strictly against any unethical act of copying or plagiarism. Plagiarism is said to have occurred when large portions of a manuscript have been copied from existing, previously published resources. All manuscripts submitted for publication to IJCERT Journal are cross-checked for plagiarism using iThenticate/Turnitin software. Manuscripts found to be plagiarized during the initial stages of review are outrightly rejected and not considered for publication in the journal. If a manuscript is plagiarized after publication, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct a preliminary investigation, perhaps with the help of an appropriate committee. Suppose the manuscript is plagiarized beyond the acceptable limits. In that case, the journal will contact the author’s institute/college/university and funding agency, if any. A determination of misconduct will lead IJCERT to run a statement bi-directionally linked online to and from the original paper to note the plagiarism and provide a reference to the plagiarized material. The paper containing the plagiarism will also be marked on each PDF page. Upon determination of the extent of plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.

Types of Pladiarism
The following types of plagiarism are considered by IJCERT:

1. Full Plagiarism: Previously published content without any changes to the text, idea and grammar is considered as full plagiarism. It involves presenting exact text from a source as one’s own.
2. Partial Plagiarism: If content is a mixture from multiple different sources, where the author has extensively rephrased text, then it is known as partial plagiarism.
3. Self-Plagiarism: When an author reuses complete or portions of their pre-published research, then it is known as self-plagiarism. Complete self-plagiarism is a case when an author republishes their own previously published work in a new journal.

Policy and Action for Plagiarism
IJCERT respects intellectual property and aims at protecting and promoting original work of its authors. Manuscripts containing plagiarized material are against the standards of quality, research and innovation. Hence, all authors submitting articles to IJCERT are expected to abide ethical standards and abstain from plagiarism, in any form. In case, an author is found to be suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript then, IJCERT shall contact the author (s) to submit his / her (their) explanation within two weeks, which may be forwarded to the Fact Finding Committee (FFC) constituted for the purpose, for further course of action. If IJCERT does not receive any response from the author within the stipulated time period, then the Director / Dean / Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor of the University to which the author is affiliated shall be contacted to take strict action against the concerned author.

IJCERT shall take serious action against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism and shall completely remove them from IJCERT website and other third party websites where the paper is listed and indexed. The moment, any article published in IJCERT database is reported to be plagiarized, IJCERT will constitute a Fact Finding Committee (FFC) to investigate the same. Upon having established that the manuscript is plagiarized from some previously published work, IJCERT shall support the original author and manuscript irrespective of the publisher and may take any or all of the following immediate actions or follow the additional course of actions as recommended by the committee:

1. IJCERT editorial office shall immediately contact the Director / Dean / Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor of the University to which the author(s) is (are) affiliated to take strict action against the concerned author.
2. IJCERT shall remove the PDF copy of the published manuscript from the website and disable all links to full text article. The term Plagiarized Manuscript shall be appended to the published manuscript title.
3. IJCERT shall disable the author account with the journal and reject all future submissions from the author for a period of 02 / 04 / 05 years or even ban the authors permanently.
4. IJCERT may also display the list of such authors along with their full contact details on the IJCERT website.
5. Any other course of action, as recommended by the Committee or as deemed fit for the instant case or as decided by the Editorial Board, from time to time.