Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism Policy
The Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation (PJR) is committed to safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record and promoting original, ethical, and innovative research. This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to PJR and is published in accordance with COPE and ICMJE recommendations.
Scope of Misconduct
Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, image manipulation, and undisclosed use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools constitute misconduct. Specifically:
Plagiarism: Copying another person’s text, ideas, figures, tables, or data without proper citation.
Self-plagiarism / redundant publication: Reusing substantial portions of one’s own published work without citation or permission.
Translation plagiarism: Submitting a translated version of previously published work without disclosure or permission.
Unethical reuse of images/data: Manipulation or reuse without appropriate credit and permission.
AI misconduct: Undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI to generate substantive content, figures, or results.
Plagiarism Screen and Detection
All manuscripts are routinely screened before peer review using Turnitin similarity detection software.
Similarity reports are reviewed by the editorial team. Decisions are based not only on the percentage overlap but also on the location, context, and extent of the overlap.
Acceptable overlap: Brief, common phrases or properly cited methodology may be tolerated.
Serious overlap: Unattributed text, results, figures, or tables are treated as misconduct regardless of percentage.
As a guideline, >15% unattributed similarity is generally considered problematic.
Author Responsibilities
Authors must ensure that all submissions are original, properly cited, and not under consideration elsewhere.
All related, overlapping, or previously published work must be disclosed at submission.
Permissions for third-party content (figures, tables, or extensive quotations) must be obtained and provided on request.
Authors must verify that no section of the manuscript contains plagiarized or improperly generated content.
Editorial Action and Process
If plagiarism is suspected before publication:
Authors are contacted with the similarity report and asked to respond within 14 days.
The Editor-in-Chief and editorial board evaluate the explanation.
Outcomes may include: acceptance after revision, rejection, or blacklisting for future submissions.
If plagiarism is discovered after publication:
The article will be corrected, retracted, or subject to an expression of concern, depending on severity.
Retraction notices will follow COPE Retraction Guidelines and remain permanently linked to the article on the journal website.
In severe cases, the journal will notify the author’s institution, funders, or relevant authorities.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools
PJR acknowledges the growing role of AI but emphasizes integrity and transparency:
Authorship: AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, as they cannot take responsibility for scholarly work.
Permitted use: AI may be used for grammar correction, language polishing, or formatting. Disclosure is not required for this.
Declared use: If AI tools are used for generating text, analyzing data, translating content, or creating images/figures, this must be clearly declared in the manuscript (e.g., Methods, Acknowledgments, or Author Contributions). The name of the tool and its role must be specified.
Accountability: Authors remain fully responsible for validating all AI-assisted content. Any factual errors, plagiarism, or ethical violations remain the responsibility of the authors.
Editorial and reviewer guidance: Reviewers must not use AI to draft peer review reports. If the journal uses AI tools in editorial workflows (e.g., screening, copyediting), their use will be validated and overseen by human editors, with transparency to authors.
Misconduct: Failure to disclose substantive AI use will be considered misconduct and may result in rejection, retraction, or reporting to relevant authorities.
Appeals Process
Authors may appeal plagiarism or AI misconduct decisions by submitting a written explanation to the Editor-in-Chief within 30 days.
Appeals are reviewed by a senior editorial panel not involved in the original decision.
Decisions of the appeal panel are final.