Plagiarism Policy

The Journal of Malay Constitutional Studies (JMCS) is committed to maintaining academic integrity, originality, and responsible scholarly publishing. Manuscripts submitted to JMCS must represent original scholarly work and must appropriately acknowledge all ideas, arguments, quotations, data, sources, and other intellectual contributions derived from the work of others.

Plagiarism and other forms of inappropriate textual or intellectual reuse are inconsistent with the journal's standards of publication ethics and may result in rejection, editorial investigation, correction, retraction, or other appropriate action.

1. Definition of Plagiarism

For the purposes of JMCS, plagiarism includes presenting another person's words, ideas, arguments, analysis, data, or other intellectual contribution as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement.

Forms of plagiarism may include, but are not limited to:

copying text from another source without appropriate quotation and citation;
substantial unattributed reproduction of another author's work;
paraphrasing another person's ideas or arguments without appropriate acknowledgement;
using another person's research findings, data, concepts, or analytical framework without proper attribution;
presenting translated material from another source as original work without acknowledgement;
inappropriate reuse of previously published material; and
other practices that misrepresent the origin or authorship of scholarly material.

2. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality and integrity of manuscripts submitted to JMCS.

Authors must:

appropriately cite all sources used in the manuscript;
use quotation marks or other appropriate scholarly conventions for direct quotations;
provide accurate references for ideas, arguments, data, and materials obtained from other sources;
ensure that paraphrased material is genuinely expressed in the author's own words and appropriately attributed;
avoid submitting substantially the same work to more than one journal simultaneously; and
disclose relevant prior publications where substantial overlap may exist.

3. Originality Screening

Manuscripts submitted to JMCS may be subject to originality or similarity screening as part of the editorial evaluation process.

Similarity-detection tools may be used to assist editors in identifying textual overlap, potentially unattributed material, duplicate publication, or other issues requiring further examination.

A similarity report is an editorial screening tool and does not, by itself, establish that plagiarism has occurred.

4. Evaluation of Similarity

JMCS does not determine plagiarism solely on the basis of a numerical similarity percentage. Similarity must be evaluated in its scholarly context.

The editorial team may consider:

the source and nature of the matched material;
whether the material has been appropriately quoted and cited;
the extent and concentration of textual overlap;
whether overlap occurs in standard terminology, legal provisions, references, or other material that may legitimately produce similarity;
whether another author's distinctive argument, analysis, or expression has been reproduced without appropriate attribution; and
whether the overlap raises concerns regarding duplicate or redundant publication.

5. Legal Materials and Commonly Used Text

JMCS recognizes that scholarship in constitutional law, public law, legal history, and related fields may necessarily reproduce or closely refer to legal provisions, constitutional texts, judicial decisions, official documents, historical materials, titles, technical terminology, and other commonly used expressions.

The presence of such material in a similarity report does not automatically constitute plagiarism. Authors remain responsible for providing appropriate citation, quotation, attribution, or source identification where required by scholarly practice.

6. Self-Plagiarism and Text Recycling

Authors should avoid inappropriate or excessive reuse of substantial portions of their own previously published work without appropriate disclosure or citation.

Limited textual overlap may be acceptable in appropriate circumstances, but authors must not present previously published material as entirely new or original scholarship where substantial duplication exists.

Where a submitted manuscript develops research previously published by the author, the earlier work should be appropriately identified and the new manuscript should provide a substantial and identifiable scholarly contribution.

7. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

JMCS does not accept manuscripts that have already been published in substantially the same form or that are simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Authors must inform the editorial team of any related manuscript, working paper, conference paper, book chapter, or other publication where substantial overlap could reasonably raise questions concerning originality or duplicate publication.

8. Plagiarism Identified Before Publication

Where potential plagiarism or inappropriate textual overlap is identified before publication, the editorial team may investigate the matter and request an explanation or revision from the author.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue, JMCS may:

request correction of citations or attribution;
require revision of the manuscript;
return the manuscript to the author before further review;
decline the submission; or
take other appropriate editorial action.

9. Plagiarism Identified After Publication

Allegations of plagiarism concerning a published article will be examined carefully and fairly.

Where plagiarism or other serious misconduct is established after publication, JMCS may take appropriate action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record, including:

publishing a correction or editorial notice;
retracting the article where warranted; or
taking other appropriate measures consistent with the journal's publication ethics policies.

10. Opportunity to Respond

Where a significant concern regarding plagiarism is raised, authors should be provided with a reasonable opportunity to explain or respond to the issue before a final determination is made, except where immediate action is necessary to protect the integrity of the journal or scholarly record.

11. Editorial Judgment

Decisions concerning plagiarism and inappropriate textual overlap are matters of editorial judgment based on the available evidence, the nature of the material, accepted scholarly practices, and the seriousness of the potential violation.

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team retain responsibility for determining the appropriate editorial response in accordance with JMCS policies.

12. Relationship with Publication Ethics

This Plagiarism Policy should be read together with the JMCS Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement and other applicable editorial policies.

JMCS is committed to addressing concerns regarding plagiarism fairly, consistently, and with due regard for academic integrity and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Plagiarism Policy