Plagiarism & Retraction Policy

Canonia Religia Editorial Board recognizes the importance of maintaining academic integrity and, therefore, has established the following policy regarding plagiarism. This policy outlines specific actions (penalties) that will be taken upon detection of plagiarism or similarities in articles submitted for publication in Canonia Religia. Turnitin's originality checking software will be used to detect similarities in article manuscripts and their final versions. A maximum of 25% similarity is allowed. If similarity exceeds 25%, the article will be returned to the author for revision and resubmission. 

Definition:

Plagiarism refers to "the use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author, presenting them as one's own original work."

Policy:

  • Submitted papers must be original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere. Any material copied verbatim from another source must be clearly marked as such using:
    1. Indentation
    2. Quotation marks
    3. Proper citation of the source.
  • Text or graphic material exceeding fair use standards (more than two or three sentences or their equivalent) requires permission from the copyright holder and should be appropriately cited (e.g., previous publication).

When plagiarism is detected, the Editor-in-Chief, in collaboration with the Editorial Board, will determine the necessary measures based on the level of plagiarism identified, according to the following guidelines:

Levels of Plagiarism and Actions:

  1. Minor: A short section from another article is plagiarized without significant data or ideas taken from the other paper.
    • Action: A warning is issued to the author, requesting changes to the text and proper citation of the original article.
  2. Intermediate: A significant portion of the paper is plagiarized without proper citation.
    • Action: The article is rejected, and the authors are prohibited from submitting further articles for one year.
  3. Severe: A substantial portion of the paper is plagiarized, including reproducing original results or ideas from another publication.
    • Action: The paper is rejected, and the authors are banned from submitting further articles for five years.

All authors are responsible for the content of their submissions, as they acknowledge and agree to the Copyright and Licensing Terms of Canonia Religia. If a penalty is imposed for plagiarism, all authors will be subject to the same consequences.

In the event of a second instance of plagiarism by the same author(s), the Editorial Board (including the Editor-in-Chief and other Editorial members) will determine the necessary actions. The author(s) may be permanently prohibited from submitting future articles.

This policy also applies to material reproduced from the author's previous publications. Authors must identify previously published text or figures and obtain permission for their reuse, citing the original publication. If an author submits a manuscript to Canonia Religia with significant overlap with another manuscript under review elsewhere, this will be treated as severe plagiarism if the overlap exceeds 50% of the paper.

If a manuscript was initially published in conference proceedings, the authors must identify the conference and obtain permission to republish. The editor may decide not to accept such submissions for publication.

However, authors are permitted to use material from unpublished presentations in subsequent journal articles. If a publication is submitted in a different language, the title, date, and journal of the original must be disclosed, and permission must be obtained for translation.

Canonia Religia's layout editor is responsible for maintaining a list of authors subject to penalties and ensuring no banned author is included in any submission. This policy will be posted on the website, and a copy will be sent to authors upon submission of their manuscript.

Retraction and/or Corrections:

Authors are discouraged from withdrawing manuscripts once they are in the publication process. If an author insists on withdrawing their manuscript, they must send an email to Canonia Religia's editor.

Canonia Religia editors may consider retracting a publication if:

  • The findings are found to be unreliable due to significant errors or falsification.
  • It constitutes plagiarism.
  • The findings were published elsewhere without proper attribution.
  • The material used in the paper was unauthorized.
  • There are legal issues, such as copyright infringement or privacy violations.
  • Unethical research is reported.
  • The publication was based on a compromised peer review process.
  • Authors fail to disclose significant conflicts of interest.

Retraction notices will be:

  • Linked to the retracted article.
  • Clearly identified as a retraction.
  • Published promptly and freely available to all readers.
  • Objective, factual, and non-inflammatory.

Retractions are not issued for disputed authorship unless the validity of the findings is in question. Corrections will be issued for minor errors that do not undermine the reliability of the publication.

Canonia Religia follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for managing retractions, corrections, and concerns.