Anti-Plagiarism Policy

General Provisions

This policy establishes standards to ensure academic integrity and defines procedures to detect and respond to cases of plagiarism. It also sets forth the responsibilities of authors submitting materials to the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy's journal, Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy.

This policy is based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and international practices in scholarly publishing.

 

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s ideas, data, texts, images, or research findings as one’s own without properly citing the source.

Plagiarism includes the following:

Direct plagiarism: copying text verbatim without citation or proper formatting.

Mosaic plagiarism: paraphrasing parts of a text while retaining its structure or key elements without citing the source.

Plagiarism of ideas involves using another author’s concepts, hypotheses, models, or methods without properly acknowledging authorship.

Data plagiarism is the use of others’ results, tables, graphs, or statistical materials without permission or citation.

Self-plagiarism is the reuse of one’s own previously published materials (text, data, or graphs) without clearly indicating prior publication.

Insufficient citation is citing a source that does not reflect the actual amount of material used.

Plagiarism is a serious violation of ethical standards and can result in the rejection or retraction of an article.

 

Integrity Standards to Which Authors Must Adhere

By submitting a manuscript for publication, authors confirm that:

  • The text is original and does not infringe on copyright.
  • All sources used are properly cited.
  • All data, figures, tables, and images are either the authors' own work or are used with permission.
  • No part of the text has been previously published, except for materials with appropriate disclosure (preprints, conference abstracts, etc.).

When reusing their own previous work, authors must clearly indicate the reuse and ensure the new text contains substantial scientific novelty.

 

Plagiarism Checking of Manuscripts

1. Initial Editorial Review

All submitted manuscripts undergo mandatory plagiarism checking using text similarity and duplication detection systems. The journal uses the Strike Plagiarism anti-plagiarism system.

The check includes:

  • analysis of text matches;
  • a search for duplication with the author’s previous works.
  • analysis of tables, figures, and graphs, if necessary;
  • verification of the correctness of citations.

2. Acceptance criteria 

The editorial board does not apply a fixed similarity threshold because even minor matches may be significant, and a high level of similarity may be acceptable in methodological sections. Similarity is not considered plagiarism in the "Methods and Data" section if the description of these methods is standard for this type of research.

The decision is based on qualitative analysis rather than numerical indicators.

 

Editorial Policy on Plagiarism

1. If plagiarism is detected prior to peer review:

The manuscript will be rejected without the possibility of resubmission. The authors are informed of the reasons for rejection.

2. If plagiarism is detected during the review process:

The manuscript is rejected. In cases involving significant violations, the editorial board may notify the authors' official institutions.

3. If plagiarism is detected after publication:

Depending on the severity of the violation, the following actions may be taken:

  • Publication of a correction if the violation does not affect the main conclusions.
  • Publication of a statement of concern if the investigation is ongoing.
  • Full retraction of the article in accordance with the Retraction Policy.
  • Notification of the relevant academic or administrative bodies.

The journal adheres to the principles of transparency and does not conceal facts regarding retractions or corrections.

 

Self-plagiarism

The journal distinguishes between:

  • Permeable reuse of individual text fragments (e.g., descriptions of methods or well-known theories), provided that previous works are properly cited.
  • Critical self-plagiarism consists of duplicating significant portions of one’s own previously published material without proper disclosure and is considered a violation.

Authors must explicitly indicate any previous publications on the topic and provide copies of these works for editorial review, if necessary.

 

Compliance with copyright

Authors are fully responsible for obtaining permission to use copyrighted materials.

The journal assumes no legal liability for authors' unauthorized use of materials.

 

Guidelines for Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers must notify the editorial board of any possible instances of plagiarism or excessive duplication they notice.

Editors must act in accordance with COPE guidelines and ensure impartial and confidential investigations.

Reviewers are not permitted to breach manuscript confidentiality (e.g., checking in public AI tools).

 

Explanations for Authors in Case of Rejection

The editorial board will provide authors with a reasoned explanation of the decision, including information about the nature of the plagiarism. However, the editorial board is not obligated to conduct a detailed analysis or discuss the decision to reject in cases of serious misconduct.

 

Notification of Academic Institutions

In the event that serious plagiarism is identified, the editorial board may notify the relevant academic institution's administration, as well as other pertinent bodies, such as ethics and integrity committees.

 

Principles of Transparency

All processes involved in evaluating, investigating, and responding to cases of plagiarism are conducted confidentially and independently in accordance with COPE guidelines. All decisions made by the editorial board are documented.