Plagiarism Policy and Preprints

The International Journal of Contemporary Security Studies (IJCSS) is dedicated to safeguarding academic integrity and ensuring adherence to the highest standards of publication ethics. To support this commitment, every manuscript submitted to IJCSS is systematically checked for plagiarism using trusted similarity-detection software before it enters the peer-review stage.

What Counts as Plagiarism

Plagiarism may take many forms, including (but not limited to):

  • reproducing text, datasets, figures, tables, images, or concepts from another source without appropriate citation

  • presenting substantial parts of an author’s own previously published work as new, without proper referencing (self-plagiarism)

  • paraphrasing or summarizing another work without acknowledging the original source

Editorial Handling of Plagiarism

If plagiarism is identified prior to publication:

  • the manuscript may be sent back to the author(s) for correction, or

  • it may be rejected, depending on the extent and seriousness of the issue.

If plagiarism is verified after publication:

  • the journal may issue a retraction (or other corrective action), and

  • additional measures may be taken in line with COPE guidance, which may include sanctions related to future submissions.

Similarity-Checking Tool

All submissions are screened using iThenticate, a widely used plagiarism-detection platform that compares manuscripts against extensive academic and online databases.

Authors are strongly encouraged to ensure the originality of their manuscripts and to provide accurate citations for all sources used.

Preprints and Prior Dissemination (IJCSS)

IJCSS permits submission of manuscripts that have previously appeared as preprints. A preprint is an early version of a scholarly work shared publicly before formal peer review and journal publication.

Authors should clearly disclose any previous sharing of the manuscript, including publication on:

  • preprint platforms (e.g., arXiv, SSRN, Research Square)

  • institutional or departmental repositories

  • personal websites or academic networking profiles (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu)

Sharing a manuscript as a preprint is not treated as prior publication and does not disadvantage the submission, provided that:

  • the preprint is explicitly referenced in the submitted manuscript (with a link, where applicable)

  • authorship and content remain consistent, or any substantial changes are properly explained and justified

After publication in IJCSS, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record by adding a link to the final published article and its DOI, while keeping the preprint version publicly accessible.