Plagiarism Policy

Publication Ethics & Originality Screening

Plagiarism Policy

Conditions for submission: plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, and preprint disclosure.

Summa: Journal of Accounting and Tax upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and only considers original and unpublished scholarly work. All submitted manuscripts are screened using Turnitin to assess textual similarity. However, the similarity score is only a screening tool; the final determination of plagiarism, improper quotation, duplicate publication, or self-plagiarism remains a matter of editorial judgment.

Similarity Rule Manuscripts should normally show a similarity score below 20%. Duplicate Submission Manuscripts under active review elsewhere or previously published will not be considered. Preprint Allowed Preprints may be accepted if fully disclosed and properly linked at submission.
1 PLAGIARISM & SELF-PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism includes the use of another person's words, ideas, data, tables, images, or findings without proper acknowledgment. Self-plagiarism or text recycling refers to the substantial reuse of one's own previously published material without proper citation, disclosure, or justification. Both are considered serious violations of publication ethics.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all quotations, paraphrases, borrowed ideas, datasets, and reproduced material are clearly cited and properly referenced. Where necessary, authors must also obtain permission for reused copyrighted material.

Similarity Screening Policy:
  • Above 40%: the manuscript may be rejected or returned without review due to excessive overlap, poor paraphrasing, or inappropriate quotation.
  • 20%–40%: the manuscript will normally be returned to the author for major revision, citation correction, and resubmission for re-checking.
  • Below 20%: the manuscript may proceed, but editors may still require correction if problematic overlap, improper citation, or unattributed reuse is identified.

A low similarity score does not automatically mean the manuscript is free from plagiarism, and a high similarity score does not automatically prove misconduct. Editors assess the nature, location, and significance of the matching text before making a decision.

2 DUPLICATE & REDUNDANT PUBLICATION

Duplicate or redundant publication occurs when an author submits or publishes substantially the same work in more than one venue without proper disclosure, cross-referencing, or justification. This includes substantial overlap in title, objectives, data, analysis, discussion, or conclusions.

Manuscripts that are under review in another journal, already formally published, or submitted simultaneously to more than one outlet will not be considered. If any part of the manuscript has appeared previously in another form, including conference proceedings, working papers, or another language version, authors must disclose this clearly at the time of submission.

Editorial Action: If undisclosed duplicate publication or significant redundant overlap is detected, the manuscript may be rejected. If discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction in line with publication-ethics procedures.
3 PREPRINT POLICY

The journal may consider manuscripts previously posted as preprints, provided that the preprint has not undergone formal journal publication and that the preprint status is fully disclosed during submission.

Authors must provide the preprint server name and URL or DOI, and must ensure that the preprint version does not conflict with copyright, ethical obligations, or third-party restrictions. Once the article is published in the journal, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record with a link to the final published version.

Restriction: Preprint posting is permitted, but manuscripts that have already been formally published or are under active review elsewhere are not eligible for consideration.

Editorial Follow-Up and Author Responsibilities

  • All manuscripts may be checked through Turnitin before peer review and, where necessary, after revision.
  • The Editorial Board may provide or request a similarity report during the editorial process.
  • Authors must revise problematic sections carefully, especially where quotation, paraphrasing, citation, or source acknowledgment is insufficient.
  • Failure to address similarity concerns adequately may result in rejection or discontinuation of the review process.
  • If plagiarism is identified after publication, the journal will take appropriate action according to its ethics and correction policies.
Integrity Principle By submitting to Summa: Journal of Accounting and Tax, authors confirm that the manuscript is original, properly cited, not under review elsewhere, and free from plagiarism, duplicate publication, and unethical text recycling.