Plagiarism and similarity

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Every submission is screened for similarity at desk stage. Screening produces a number; the managing editor reads the report and the handling editor decides. A high score caused by standard method descriptions or a shared reference list is not plagiarism, and a low score does not clear a paper that has lifted somebody's argument.

Text recycling from the authors' own earlier work must be disclosed and must not extend to results or discussion. Verbatim reuse of another author's text without quotation and citation, reuse of figures without permission, and paraphrase of another's argument without attribution are all grounds for rejection, and for retraction if discovered after publication.