Vivat Academia maintains a policy for the prevention and detection of plagiarism and other forms of non-transparent content reuse as part of its commitment to originality, academic integrity, and good practices in scholarly communication.

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must constitute original contributions and appropriately respect intellectual authorship and the provenance of the content used. Authors are responsible for accurately identifying and citing ideas, texts, data, images, tables, results, and any other material derived from previous works, whether their own or those of third parties.

Similarity Detection

As part of the Internal Editorial Assessment, manuscripts that proceed through the editorial process are screened for similarity using Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate.

The Similarity Report serves as a tool to support editorial assessment. The presence of textual matches or the overall similarity percentage does not, in itself, establish the existence of plagiarism, nor does it automatically result in the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript.

Where necessary, the journal may conduct additional checks on revised versions of the manuscript or at other stages of the editorial process.

Editorial Assessment

Similarity Reports are reviewed qualitatively and in context by the editorial team. The assessment may take into account, among other factors, the extent and concentration of the matches, the sources with which they occur, their proper attribution and citation, their location within the manuscript, the nature of the overlapping content, and its relevance to the scholarly contribution presented.

For this reason, Vivat Academia does not establish a single similarity threshold that automatically determines the existence of plagiarism or the editorial decision on a manuscript. Properly attributed matches, bibliographic references, certain conventional expressions used in scholarly communication, and other duly justified instances of overlap may be assessed differently by the editorial team.

Plagiarism and Content Reuse

Presenting intellectual content originating from third parties as one’s own without appropriate attribution is considered incompatible with good editorial practice, whether it involves texts, ideas, data, results, images, tables, or other materials.

The reuse of content from authors’ own previous works must be transparent, with appropriate reference to or identification of the original source where applicable. When a manuscript derives from or bears a substantial relationship to the authors’ previous work, it must provide a sufficiently distinct and original contribution. The journal will assess the nature and extent of the reused content, its appropriate attribution, and its justification in relation to the new contribution.

Prior dissemination of results or preliminary versions of a work, for example, in institutional repositories, theses and other academic works, conferences, or preprint servers, will be assessed in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies and the specific circumstances of each case. In all cases, authors must inform the journal of any previous work or dissemination that may bear a substantial relationship to the submitted manuscript.

Redundant or duplicate publication of works that substantially reproduce previously published content without proper disclosure and justification will not be considered acceptable.

Actions in Cases of Potential Irregularities

Where the similarity analysis or any other editorial check identifies matches that require clarification, the journal will assess the case in light of their nature, extent, and relevance.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may request clarifications or additional documentation from the authors, require amendments or reformulation of the manuscript, conduct further checks, temporarily suspend its processing, refer the case for additional editorial assessment, or take any other editorial decision deemed appropriate.

Where the identified matches are incompatible with the journal’s principles of originality and research integrity, the manuscript may be rejected.

The assessment and resolution of such cases will be carried out in accordance with the Code of Ethics, the other editorial policies of Vivat Academia and, where applicable, the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Post-Publication Detection

Substantiated communications or allegations concerning possible cases of plagiarism, misappropriation of content, or redundant publication in published works will be examined by the journal regardless of the time elapsed since publication.

The journal will assess the available evidence and may request information or documentation from the authors and, where circumstances warrant, from other individuals, institutions, or organisations connected with the case.

Where an irregularity is confirmed, Vivat Academia will take action proportionate to its nature, extent, and severity. Depending on the circumstances, this may include a correction, an Expression of Concern, retraction of the article, or other measures intended to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Post-publication actions will be carried out in accordance with the editorial policies of Vivat Academia and with reference to COPE’s international recommendations.