Anti-plagiarism Policy

Colombia Médica Anti-Plagiarism Policy

The Colombia Médica journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and ethics in publishing. Plagiarism, defined as presenting another's work or ideas as one's own without proper attribution, is a serious violation that will not be tolerated.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes:

  • Using phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from another source without proper citation.
  • Copying text verbatim without quotation marks or referencing the source.
  • Paraphrasing content from a source too closely to the original without proper acknowledgment.
  • Using material downloaded from the internet without attribution.
  • Incorporating data, statistics, figures, photographs, or diagrams from another person without citing the source.
  • Presenting the work of another student or colleague as one's own.

Colombia Médica Anti-Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts submitted to Colombia Médica are subjected to an originality check using Turnitin, an advanced artificial intelligence program for detecting similarities and potential plagiarism.

Process:

  1. Initial Detection: Upon receiving a manuscript, it is analyzed using Turnitin to identify matches with existing sources.
  2. Editorial Committee Evaluation: If significant similarities are detected, the Editorial Committee evaluates the nature and context of these matches.
  3. Communication with Authors: In cases of suspected plagiarism, authors will be asked to provide explanations to understand and clarify the detected matches.
  4. Final Decision: After reviewing the authors' responses, the Editorial Committee determines the appropriate actions, which may include manuscript acceptance, requesting modifications, or rejection due to ethical violations. The final decision may rely on the plagiarism detection reports but will not be based solely on similarity percentages.

Author Responsibilities

By submitting a manuscript to Colombia Médica, authors must:

  • Ensure that their work is original and has not been previously published or is under consideration in another journal.
  • Properly cite all sources and contributions from other authors.
  • Obtain necessary permissions to reproduce copyrighted material.
  • Avoid practices such as self-plagiarism, where previously published content is reused without proper reference.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. Actions that Colombia Médica may take include:

  • Immediate rejection of the manuscript.
  • Notification to the authors' affiliated institutions.
  • Prohibition from future submissions to the journal.
  • Retraction of published articles if plagiarism is discovered later.

Plagiarism in Submitted Manuscripts

Suspected plagiarism in submitted manuscripts will be evaluated following the processes outlined above.

Plagiarism in Published Manuscripts

If plagiarism is detected in a published manuscript, appropriate actions will be taken, which may include retraction and public notice of the ethical breach.

Commitment to COPE Guidelines

Colombia Médica adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and follows their recommendations in cases of suspected misconduct.

Suspected plagiarism in a submitted manuscript           

Suspected plagiarism in a published manuscript

 

We encourage authors to familiarize themselves with best practices in publication ethics and to use similarity detection tools to ensure the originality of their work before submission.