The International Journal of Economics Sustainable and Management (IJESM) maintains a strict policy on plagiarism to uphold academic integrity and ensure the originality of published research. All submitted manuscripts undergo a plagiarism check before being considered for peer review. Below are the specific guidelines regarding plagiarism levels and acceptable limits.

1. Acceptable Plagiarism Threshold

• The maximum permissible similarity index is 20% as per plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate).
• Similarity from a single source must not exceed 5% to prevent excessive dependence on one reference.

2. Plagiarism Categories

• Acceptable (≤ 20%): The manuscript is considered for review, provided that all borrowed content is properly cited.
• Moderate (20-30%): The manuscript is returned to the author for revision and paraphrasing of overlapping content.
• High (> 30%): The manuscript is automatically rejected due to excessive similarity.

3. Types of Plagiarism Considered Unacceptable

• ❌ Complete Plagiarism: Submitting someone else’s work as one’s own.
• ❌ Direct Copy-Paste: Large sections of text copied without citation.
• ❌ Self-Plagiarism: Republishing one's own previously published work without proper citation.
• ❌ Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting another author’s content without proper attribution.
• ❌ Fabricated References: Citing non-existent sources or manipulating references.

4. Consequences of High Plagiarism

• If plagiarism exceeds 20%, the manuscript will be returned for revision or rejected.
• If plagiarism is detected after publication, the article may be retracted, and the author may be blacklisted.
• Repeated plagiarism offenses will result in a ban from future submissions to IJESM.

5. How to Avoid Plagiarism?

• ✅ Properly cite all references using APA/Harvard style as per journal guidelines.
• ✅ Use plagiarism-checking tools before submission to ensure originality.
• ✅ Paraphrase content effectively while preserving the original meaning.
• ✅ Limit direct quotations and always enclose them in quotation marks with proper citations.