The Journal of Smart Agriculture and Environmental Technology (JOSAET) is committed to maintaining the originality, integrity, and reliability of the scholarly record. JOSAET does not tolerate plagiarism, inappropriate copying, substantial unattributed overlap, duplicate or redundant publication, or other forms of unethical reuse of published or unpublished material.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts represent original scholarly work and that all ideas, data, text, figures, tables, methods, or other materials derived from the work of others are appropriately acknowledged, cited, and, where necessary, used with permission.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation or use of another person's words, ideas, data, images, results, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgment or attribution, in a manner that may give the impression that such material is the author's own work.

Forms of Plagiarism and Inappropriate Text Reuse

Forms of plagiarism or inappropriate reuse may include, but are not limited to:

• Direct Plagiarism: copying text, data, figures, tables, or other material from another source without appropriate quotation, citation, acknowledgment, or permission where required.
• Paraphrasing Plagiarism: rephrasing or restructuring another person's work while retaining its essential ideas, arguments, or content without appropriate attribution.
• Plagiarism of Ideas or Data: presenting another person's original ideas, hypotheses, methods, data, results, or interpretations without appropriate acknowledgment.
• Inappropriate Text Reuse or Self-Plagiarism: substantial reuse of an author's own previously published text, data, figures, tables, or other material without appropriate citation, disclosure, or justification.
• Duplicate or Redundant Publication: submitting or publishing substantially the same work, dataset, results, or conclusions in more than one publication without appropriate disclosure, justification, and cross-reference.
• Improper Use of Figures, Tables, or Images: reproducing or adapting figures, tables, photographs, illustrations, or other copyrighted material without appropriate attribution or permission where permission is required.

Similarity Screening

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using appropriate plagiarism-detection or similarity-checking software as part of JOSAET's editorial evaluation process.

A similarity report is an editorial screening tool and is not, by itself, definitive evidence of plagiarism. Similarity percentages must be interpreted carefully because legitimate quotations, references, commonly used terminology, methodological descriptions, properly cited material, and other acceptable similarities may contribute to an overall similarity score.

The Editorial Team evaluates the nature, extent, source, distribution, attribution, and context of identified similarities before determining whether inappropriate overlap or plagiarism has occurred.

Editorial Assessment

When potentially problematic similarity is identified, the Editorial Team may examine the relevant sources and compare them with the submitted manuscript. Authors may be asked to provide clarification, revise overlapping material, provide appropriate citations or permissions, or submit additional information when necessary.

Editorial decisions are based on the nature and severity of the identified issue rather than solely on a numerical similarity percentage.

Action Before Publication

If plagiarism, inappropriate copying, substantial unattributed overlap, duplicate publication, or another serious originality concern is identified before publication, JOSAET may take appropriate action depending on the nature and severity of the case.

Such action may include requesting clarification or revision, requiring appropriate attribution or citation, rejecting the manuscript, or taking other editorial measures necessary to protect the integrity of the publication process.

Serious or repeated concerns may be evaluated as potential publication misconduct in accordance with JOSAET's Publication Ethics policy.

Action After Publication

If suspected plagiarism or inappropriate overlap is identified after publication, JOSAET will evaluate the concern and, where appropriate, conduct or facilitate an investigation consistent with the journal's Publication Ethics policy.

Authors should normally be given an opportunity to respond to credible allegations. When necessary, JOSAET may request supporting information and may communicate with relevant institutions, publishers, journals, or other appropriate parties as part of the evaluation of the case.

Depending on the nature, extent, and severity of the confirmed problem, JOSAET may issue a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other appropriate post-publication notice to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Post-publication action will not be determined solely by a similarity percentage but by an assessment of the evidence, context, and seriousness of the identified issue.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must ensure appropriate citation and attribution throughout their manuscripts. Authors are also responsible for obtaining any permissions required for copyrighted text, figures, tables, images, or other material included in their submissions.

Authors should transparently disclose relevant previous publications, related manuscripts, or substantial reuse of their own previously published material where such information is necessary for the Editorial Team to assess originality and potential overlap.

Submission of a manuscript to JOSAET indicates that the authors accept responsibility for the originality and integrity of the submitted work and agree to cooperate with reasonable editorial inquiries concerning originality, attribution, or publication ethics.

Relationship to Publication Ethics

This Plagiarism Policy should be read together with JOSAET's Publication Ethics policy. Cases involving suspected plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship, data fabrication or falsification, manipulation of the peer-review process, or other research and publication misconduct will be handled in accordance with the journal's applicable ethical and editorial policies.