Engineering Nexus maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism. The journal has established the following procedures and penalties that apply when plagiarism or unethical reuse of material is detected in a submitted manuscript.
Plagiarism refers to the use or close imitation of another author’s language, ideas, data, images, or structure and presenting them as one’s own original work. This includes verbatim copying, inadequate paraphrasing, reuse without attribution, and presenting previously published content without proper permission or citation.
All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.
Any verbatim or closely paraphrased material from another source must be clearly distinguished from the authors’ original text by:
Proper indentation (if applicable),
Quotation marks (for direct quotations),
Complete citation of the original source.
Any reproduced text exceeding fair use (more than two or three continuous sentences) or any reused graphic material requires:
Written permission from the copyright holder,
Acknowledgment of the original source.
All submitted manuscripts are screened using iThenticate to assess similarity and detect potential plagiarism.
The similarity report is evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated Subject Editor. Based on the extent and nature of the overlap, the following decisions may be applied:
Similarity Index above 35%
Manuscript is rejected outright for excessive similarity, poor citation practice, or inadequate paraphrasing.
Resubmission is not permitted.
Similarity Index between 20% and 35%
Manuscript is returned to the authors for mandatory improvements.
Authors must correct citations and paraphrase all overlapping text appropriately.
Similarity Index below 20%
Manuscript may be accepted, or minor citation improvements may be required.
Proper references must be added to all externally sourced text.
For cases 2 and 3, authors must submit:
A thoroughly revised manuscript,
A point-by-point response,
A new iThenticate report demonstrating similarity below 20%.
Images must not be altered in ways that distort scientific meaning. The following manipulations are not acceptable:
Adding, removing, or altering elements in the original image,
Combining images that should be shown separately,
Adjustments to contrast, brightness, or color that obscure or misrepresent information.
If improper image manipulation is confirmed:
During peer review: The manuscript may be rejected.
After publication: A correction or full retraction may be issued.
By submitting to Engineering Nexus, authors confirm:
The manuscript is original,
They have read and accepted the journal’s plagiarism policy,
They are fully responsible for the content they submit.
Repeated violations:
If a second serious plagiarism case by the same author(s) is confirmed, the Editorial Board may impose a permanent ban on all future submissions.
This policy also applies to material reproduced from the authors’ own previously published work.
Authors must:
Properly cite reused text or figures,
Identify all previously published material,
Provide proof of permission from the copyright holder.
Cases of self-plagiarism are treated as follows:
Severe self-plagiarism:
More than half of the manuscript is identical or nearly identical to previous work → treated as a major violation.
Intermediate self-plagiarism:
Between one-fifth and half of the paper overlaps with previously published content → treated as an intermediate-level violation.
Minor self-plagiarism:
Limited to the methods section → considered minor but still requires correction.
Submitting a manuscript simultaneously to Engineering Nexus and another journal, or publishing highly overlapping papers, constitutes severe plagiarism. Editors of the overlapping journal(s) may be notified.
If a manuscript submitted to Engineering Nexus includes content previously presented at a conference or published in another language:
Authors must identify the prior publication or presentation,
State the differences between the prior and current work,
Provide copyright permission when required.
The Editor-in-Chief may still decide to reject the submission if the overlap is deemed excessive or insufficiently novel.