Plagiarism Policy
The Pakistan Journal of Occupational Therapy and Health is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and originality in scholarly publishing. All submitted manuscripts must represent original work that has not been previously published or simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
Similarity Check Process
All submitted manuscripts undergo mandatory plagiarism screening using Turnitin software to detect potential instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and inappropriate text overlap.
Similarity Thresholds
- Acceptable Range: Manuscripts with similarity scores below 18% are considered within acceptable limits
- Review Required: Manuscripts with similarity scores of 19% or higher will be returned to authors for clarification, revision, and/or correction.
Author Responsibilities
Authors must ensure that their submissions:
- Contain original research and analysis
- Properly cite and reference all sources
- Avoid duplicate publication of their own previously published work without proper citation
- Obtain necessary permissions for reproduction of copyrighted material
- Clearly acknowledge all contributors and funding sources
Types of Plagiarism
The journal considers the following as forms of plagiarism:
- Direct copying of text without proper attribution
- Paraphrasing without citation
- Self-plagiarism (republishing one's own work without acknowledgment)
- Mosaic plagiarism (combining uncredited sources)
- Fabrication or falsification of data
Review Process
When similarity scores exceed the 18% threshold:
- Manuscripts are returned to authors with detailed similarity reports
- Authors must provide written explanations for flagged content
- Revised manuscripts undergo re-screening
- Editorial board reserves the right to reject manuscripts with unresolved plagiarism concerns
