Plagiarism Policy

Civil Engineering Collaboration is committed to maintaining academic integrity, originality, and ethical standards in scholarly publishing. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism or other forms of publication misconduct. All manuscripts submitted to Civil Engineering Collaboration must represent original scholarly work and appropriately acknowledge the contributions of other researchers.

1. Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person's words, ideas, concepts, data, research findings, figures, tables, or other intellectual contributions without proper acknowledgment of the original source. Plagiarism may occur intentionally or unintentionally and is considered a violation of academic integrity.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Direct Plagiarism: Copying text, sentences, or paragraphs from another source without proper quotation and citation.
Mosaic Plagiarism: Combining words, phrases, or passages from multiple sources without appropriate acknowledgment.
Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting another author's ideas or arguments without citing the original source.
Data and Figure Plagiarism: Using research data, technical drawings, figures, tables, photographs, equations, or other materials from another source without proper attribution or permission when required.
Self-Plagiarism: Reusing substantial portions of one's own previously published work without appropriate citation or disclosure.
Duplicate or Redundant Publication: Publishing substantially similar research in more than one journal or submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously without appropriate disclosure.

2. Originality Requirements

All manuscripts submitted to Civil Engineering Collaboration must be original and must not have been published previously in substantially the same form or be under consideration for publication by another journal.

Authors must ensure that all information, ideas, methods, data, equations, technical illustrations, and findings obtained from other sources are properly cited and acknowledged. Any reuse of previously published material, including the authors' own work, must be transparently disclosed and referenced appropriately.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts comply with accepted standards of academic writing, research integrity, and publication ethics.

3. Plagiarism Screening

Civil Engineering Collaboration reserves the right to screen all submitted manuscripts using plagiarism-detection or text-similarity software as part of the editorial evaluation process.

The editorial team may conduct similarity checks during the initial submission assessment, peer-review process, or before publication. Similarity reports will be evaluated carefully by the editors, taking into account the extent, context, and sources of matching text.

A similarity score alone does not automatically establish plagiarism. Properly cited quotations, references, standard technical terminology, mathematical expressions, and commonly used phrases may also contribute to similarity results.

Manuscripts containing substantial unattributed material or other evidence of plagiarism may be returned to the authors for clarification or revision, rejected, or subjected to further investigation, depending on the severity of the case.

4. Actions in Cases of Plagiarism

When plagiarism is suspected or identified, the editorial team will assess the available evidence and may request an explanation from the authors before making a final decision.

Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, Civil Engineering Collaboration may take one or more of the following actions:

Minor Plagiarism: The authors may receive a warning and be required to revise the manuscript, provide appropriate citations, and correct improperly attributed material.
Moderate Plagiarism: The manuscript may be returned for substantial revision or rejected if the overlap compromises its originality or academic integrity.
Major Plagiarism: The manuscript will normally be rejected when substantial portions of another work have been reproduced without appropriate acknowledgment.
Duplicate Publication or Simultaneous Submission: The manuscript may be rejected if it is found to have been submitted to multiple journals simultaneously or to duplicate previously published work without appropriate disclosure.
Plagiarism Discovered After Publication: The journal may issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, retract the article, or take other appropriate measures to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where warranted, the journal may also notify the authors' affiliated institutions or other relevant parties.

5. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to Civil Engineering Collaboration are responsible for:

Ensuring that their manuscripts are original and accurately represent their research and scholarly contributions.
Properly citing all sources of information, ideas, methods, data, equations, figures, tables, and other materials obtained from previous works.
Clearly identifying direct quotations and appropriately paraphrasing the work of others.
Obtaining permission for the reuse of copyrighted material when required.
Disclosing any substantial overlap with their own previously published work.
Ensuring that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
Cooperating with the editorial team in investigations concerning originality, plagiarism, or publication ethics.

All listed authors share responsibility for the integrity and originality of the manuscript they submit.

6. Handling Allegations of Plagiarism

All allegations of plagiarism will be handled fairly, objectively, and confidentially. The editorial team will review the available evidence, consider the authors' explanations, and determine appropriate action in accordance with the seriousness of the suspected misconduct.

The journal reserves the right to suspend the editorial process while an investigation is conducted. Decisions will be made with due consideration for academic integrity, publication ethics, and the reliability of the scholarly record.

7. Commitment to Publication Ethics

Civil Engineering Collaboration is committed to promoting originality, transparency, accountability, and responsible research practices in civil engineering scholarship.

The journal follows recognized principles of publication ethics, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), when addressing plagiarism and related forms of publication misconduct.

By submitting a manuscript to Civil Engineering Collaboration, authors acknowledge their responsibility to comply with this policy and uphold the ethical standards of scholarly publishing.