The International Journal of Automotive & Transportation Engineering (IJATE) maintains a strict policy against plagiarism to ensure the integrity and originality of published research. Our plagiarism policy aligns with international ethical standards, including those set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and IEEE Publication Ethics.

1. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the unethical practice of using another person’s ideas, words, or work without proper acknowledgment. IJATE considers the following as forms of plagiarism:

• Direct Plagiarism: Copying text verbatim from another source without citation.
• Self-Plagiarism: Republishing one's previously published work without significant modification or proper citation.
• Mosaic Plagiarism: Paraphrasing content from different sources without proper acknowledgment.
• Fabrication & Falsification: Manipulating or inventing research data or references.

2. Plagiarism Detection

IJATE uses advanced plagiarism detection software (such as Turnitin or iThenticate) to screen all submitted manuscripts. A similarity index exceeding 20% (excluding references and commonly used phrases) may lead to rejection or a revision request.

3. Consequences of Plagiarism

If plagiarism is detected at any stage (before or after publication), IJATE will take the following actions:

• Minor Plagiarism (Similarity < 20%): Authors must revise the manuscript and properly cite sources.
• Major Plagiarism (Similarity > 20%): The manuscript will be rejected outright.
• Severe Plagiarism (Including Self-Plagiarism & Data Fabrication): The submission will be rejected, and the authors may be blacklisted from future submissions.
• Post-Publication Plagiarism: If plagiarism is identified after publication, IJATE reserves the right to retract the article and publish a retraction notice.

4. Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to IJATE must:

• Ensure that their work is entirely original and properly cite all sources.
• Avoid submitting the same work to multiple journals.
• Declare if any part of their work has been previously published.
• Obtain permission for the use of copyrighted materials.

5. Editorial Responsibilities

The editors of IJATE are responsible for:

• Conducting plagiarism checks using plagiarism detection tools.
• Ensuring that all cases of suspected plagiarism are handled fairly and transparently.
• Taking appropriate action, including rejection, revision requests, or retractions, in cases of confirmed plagiarism.

By submitting to IJATE, authors acknowledge and agree to abide by this plagiarism policy. Violations of this policy will be treated seriously to maintain the credibility and ethical standards of the journal.