Plagiarism Policy

Commitment to Academic Integrity
The Vindhya Journal of Medical Research upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical publishing. All authors submitting manuscripts to the journal are expected to ensure that their work is entirely original and appropriately references the ideas, words, or data of others. Any form of plagiarism is considered a serious violation of ethical publishing practices.

Definition of Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the following actions: copying or closely paraphrasing text, figures, tables, or data from previously published work without proper citation; reproducing substantial portions of another author’s work; self-plagiarism or redundant publication where significant parts of the author’s own published work are reused without acknowledgment or proper justification; and using content generated by third-party writing services or AI tools without disclosure or review.

Plagiarism Screening Process
All submitted manuscripts are subjected to plagiarism screening using standard plagiarism detection software prior to peer review. The editorial office checks the similarity index of each submission to identify overlapping or unoriginal content. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding acceptable limits (typically more than 10–15% for original research, excluding references and commonly used phrases) may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected outright depending on the extent of the overlap.

Handling of Plagiarism Cases
If plagiarism is detected at any stage—before or after publication—the editorial board will take appropriate action based on the severity of the misconduct. In cases of minor or unintentional similarity, authors may be asked to revise and resubmit the manuscript with proper citations. However, in cases of extensive plagiarism, duplicate publication, or deliberate misrepresentation, the manuscript will be rejected immediately, and the corresponding author may be blacklisted from submitting to the journal in the future. The incident may also be reported to the authors’ affiliated institutions or funding agencies.

Post-Publication Discovery of Plagiarism
If plagiarism is discovered after an article has been published, the journal reserves the right to retract the article and issue a formal retraction notice. The retraction will clearly state the reason for the withdrawal and will remain permanently accessible on the journal’s website.

Authors’ Responsibility
It is the responsibility of all contributing authors to ensure the accuracy, originality, and ethical integrity of their work. Authors are encouraged to review their manuscripts thoroughly, cite all sources appropriately, and seek permission for any reused material. By submitting a manuscript to VJMRSSMC, authors confirm that the content is free from plagiarism and that they accept full responsibility for any breaches of academic ethics.