Plagiarism is the unethical act of copying someone else’s prior ideas, processes, results or words without explicit acknowledgement of the original author and source.
Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism occurs when an author utilizes a large part of his/her own previously published work without using appropriate references. This can range from getting the same manuscript published in multiple journals to modifying a previously published manuscript with some new data.
The Law Brigade Journals publishes several Bi-Monthly as well as Annual Law Journals being published every month in India since the year 2015. The journals are strictly against any unethical act of copying or plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism is said to have occurred when large portions of a manuscript have been copied from existing previously published resources. All manuscripts submitted for publication to The Law Brigade Journals are cross-checked for plagiarism using online plagiarism detection software. Manuscripts found to be plagiarized during initial stages of review are out-rightly rejected and not considered for publication in the journal. In case a manuscript is found to be plagiarized after publication, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct a preliminary investigation, maybe with the help of a suitable committee constituted for the purpose. If the manuscript is found to be plagiarized beyond the acceptable limits, the journal will contact the author’s Institute / College / University and Funding Agency, if any. A determination of misconduct will lead The Law Brigade Group to run a statement bi-directionally linked online to and from the original paper, to note the plagiarism and provide a reference to the plagiarized material. The paper containing the plagiarism will also be marked on each page of the PDF. Upon determination of the extent of plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.
Types of Plagiarism
The following types of plagiarism are considered by The Law Brigade Publishers:
- Full Plagiarism: Previously published content without any changes to the text, idea and grammar is considered as full plagiarism. It involves presenting exact text from a source as one’s own.
- Partial Plagiarism: If the content is a mixture of multiple different sources, where the author has extensively rephrased text, then it is known as partial plagiarism.
- Self-Plagiarism: When an author reuses complete or portions of their pre-published research, then it is known as self-plagiarism. Complete self-plagiarism is a case when an author republishes their own previously published work in a new journal.
Policy and Action for Plagiarism
The Law Brigade Publishers respects intellectual property and aims at protecting and promoting the original work of its authors. Manuscripts containing plagiarized material are against the standards of quality, research and innovation. Hence, all authors submitting articles to our Journals on this website are expected to abide by ethical standards and abstain from plagiarism, in any form. In case, an author is found to be suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript then, The Law Brigade Publisher’s Journal Manager shall contact the author(s) to submit his / her (their) explanation within two weeks, which may be forwarded to the Fact Finding Committee (FFC) constituted for the purpose, for further course of action. If the publisher does not receive any response from the author within the stipulated time period, then the Director / Dean / Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor of the University to which the author is affiliated shall be contacted to take strict action against the concerned author.
The Law Brigade Publisher shall take serious action against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism and shall completely remove them from The Law Brigade Group’s owned or operated websites and other third party websites where the paper is listed and indexed. The moment, an article published in any of the publisher’s journal database is reported to be plagiarized, the publisher will constitute a Fact Finding Committee (FFC) to investigate the same. Upon having established that the manuscript is plagiarized from some previously published work, the publisher shall support the original author and manuscript irrespective of the publisher and may take any or all of the following immediate actions or follow the additional course of actions as recommended by the committee:
- The Law Brigade Group’s editorial office shall immediately contact the Director / Dean / Head of the concerned College, Institution or Organization or the Vice Chancellor of the University to which the author(s) is (are) affiliated to take strict action against the concerned author.
- The Law Brigade Group shall remove all copies including the PDF copy of the published manuscript from the website and disable all links to the full-text article. The term Plagiarized Manuscript shall be appended to the published manuscript title.
- The Law Brigade Group shall disable the author account with the journal and reject all future submissions from the author for a period of 01/ 03 / 05 / 10 years or even ban the authors permanently.
- The Law Brigade Group may also display the list of such authors along with their full contact details on the publisher’s website.
- Any other course of action, as recommended by the Committee or as deemed fit for the instant case or as decided by the Editorial Board, from time to time.