Plagiarism Policy
Relations: Journal of Media Studies and Public Relations upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and only considers original and unpublished scholarly work. Submission of a manuscript to the journal confirms that the work has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal, publisher, or other publication outlet.
1. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as the use of another person’s words, ideas, data, or findings without proper acknowledgment. Self-plagiarism refers to the substantial reuse of an author’s own previously published material without appropriate citation, disclosure, or editorial permission. Both practices are regarded as serious violations of publication ethics.
To maintain the originality and integrity of published work, the journal may use plagiarism detection software to screen all submitted manuscripts. This process is intended to identify text recycling, unattributed borrowing, improper citation, and substantial similarity with previously published materials before publication.
Similarity Requirement
The similarity index of a submitted manuscript should normally be below 20%. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold may be rejected or returned to the authors for revision, clarification, or correction, depending on the nature and extent of the overlap.
Authors are strongly encouraged to follow recognized academic integrity standards and to ensure that all sources are properly cited and referenced.
2. Duplicate or 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, citation, or cross-referencing. This includes substantial overlap in hypotheses, data, analysis, discussion, or conclusions.
If any part of the manuscript has been published previously, including in another language, full disclosure of the original source must be provided at the time of submission. Likewise, if an abstract or preliminary version has appeared in conference proceedings or similar outlets, the prior publication must be clearly acknowledged and properly cited.
If the editorial team identifies previously published content in a submission without appropriate disclosure, attribution, or permission, the authors will be contacted for clarification. The journal follows relevant COPE guidance in handling suspected cases of plagiarism, redundancy, and unethical publication practices.
3. Preprint Policy
Authors submitting to Relations: Journal of Media Studies and Public Relations may upload their Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM) to a non-commercial preprint server before acceptance, provided that the platform allows authors to retain copyright and reuse rights.
Authors must disclose the existence of the preprint at the time of submission and provide the relevant citation or link. A citation to the preprint version should also be included in the manuscript where appropriate.
Once an article is officially published in the journal, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record by adding a link to the final published version so that readers can access, cite, and refer to the peer-reviewed article.
The journal does not consider manuscripts that have already been formally published or are under active review in another journal, book, or comparable publication outlet.
