PEN Journal: Primary Education Nexus is committed to maintaining academic integrity and preventing plagiarism in all published articles. Every manuscript submitted to the journal is screened for plagiarism and similarity prior to entering the peer-review process.

This screening is conducted to ensure that all submissions are original, properly cited, and free from unethical practices such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, text recycling, improper paraphrasing, and the unattributed use of others’ ideas, data, figures, tables, or text.

Similarity Check

All manuscripts are evaluated using plagiarism or similarity detection tools. The editorial team reviews similarity reports to determine compliance with ethical publishing standards.

The similarity percentage is not the sole criterion for editorial decisions. Editors also assess:

• the nature of the similarity,
• the source of overlap,
• citation accuracy,
• quotation usage,
• and whether the similarity reflects plagiarism or acceptable scholarly writing.

As a general guideline, manuscripts should have a similarity index of no more than 25%, excluding references, quotations, and standard academic terms. Manuscripts exceeding acceptable similarity levels may be returned for revision or rejected before peer review.

Plagiarism Criteria

A manuscript may be considered to contain plagiarism if it includes:

• Copying text without proper citation
• Paraphrasing without acknowledgment
• Using ideas, data, or visuals without attribution
• Previously published work submitted as new
• Simultaneous submission to multiple journals
• Excessive reuse of the author’s own prior work without citation
• Citation manipulation
• Misrepresentation of others’ work as original

Editorial Actions

If plagiarism is detected before peer review, the manuscript may be returned or rejected depending on severity.

If detected during peer review, the process may be paused and authors may be asked for clarification or revision.

If detected after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction depending on the case.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring originality and proper citation before submission. They are encouraged to conduct similarity checks prior to submission.

All sources must be properly acknowledged, quotations clearly indicated, and duplicate or redundant publication must be avoided.

Final Decision

Final decisions on plagiarism cases are made by the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team based on similarity reports, editorial assessment, and journal ethics policies.

PEN Journal: Primary Education Nexus upholds academic integrity, ethical publishing, and responsible dissemination of scholarly work in basic and primary education.