Plagiarism checking policy and use of AI

The editorial staff  uses a paid plagiarism checker system Strikeplagiarism on the basis of a valid contract. Apart from that we check with Copyscape for plagiarism. Journal "Transport Systems and Technologies" will immediately reject papers leading to plagiarism or self-plagiarism.

Plagiarism

Adapted from Bella H. Plagiarism. Saudi J Med Med Sci 2014;2:127

Available from: http://www.sjmms.net/text.asp?2014/2/2/127/137015

"Plagiarism is the use of others' published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source. The intent and effect of plagiarism is to mislead the reader as to the contributions of the plagiarizer. This applies whether the ideas or words are taken from abstracts, research grant applications, Institutional Review Board applications, or unpublished or published manuscripts in any publication format. Plagiarism is scientific misconduct and should be addressed as such.

Self-plagiarism refers to the practice of an author using portions of their previous writings on the same topic in another of their publications, without specifically citing it formally in quotes. This practice is widespread and sometimes unintentional, as there are only so many ways to say the same thing on many occasions, particularly when writing the methods section of an article. Although this usually violates the copyright that has been assigned to the publisher, there is no consensus as to whether this is a form of scientific misconduct, or how many of one's own words one can sue before it is truly "plagiarism." Probably for this reason self-plagiarism is not regarded in the same light as plagiarism of ideas and words of other individuals. If journals have developed a policy on this matter, it should be clearly stated for authors."

Direct plagiarism is the plagiarism of the text. Mosaic plagiarism is the borrowing of ideas and opinions from an original source and a few verbatim words or phrases without crediting the author.

Authors can adhere to the following steps to report plagiarism:
1.Inform the editor of the journal where a plagiarized article is published.
2.Send original and plagiarized articles with plagiarized part highlighted.
3.If evidence of plagiarism is convincing, editor should arrange for a disciplinary meeting.
4.Editor of the journal where the plagiarized article should communicate with the editor of the journal containing the original article to rectify the matter.
5.The plagiarist should be asked to provide an explanation.
6.In case of nonresponse in the stipulated time or an unsatisfactory explanation, the article should be permanently retracted.
7.Author should be blacklisted and debarred for submitted an article to a particular journal for at least 5 years.
8.The concerned head of the institution has to be notified.
Plagiarism could be detected using Google search engine or Turnitin.

 

AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Use Policy

The Editorial Board does not oppose the use of rapidly evolving AI technologies that are increasingly applied in research activities. However, the Editorial Board adheres to the principles of responsible and ethical use of AI technologies in academic work.

The Editorial Board establishes the following principles for the use of artificial intelligence systems:

  • If an author uses any AI technologies during the research process or in the preparation of a manuscript, this must be disclosed in the “Methodology” section, specifying the particular AI tool applied and describing how it was used.
  • Presenting AI-generated content as one’s own work is strictly prohibited. At the same time, the responsible use of AI tools to structure and develop one’s own ideas (rather than to replace the author’s intellectual contribution) may enhance the overall quality of the work.
  • The Editorial Board verifies all submitted manuscripts for the use of generative AI with the assistance of the StrikePlagiarism software.
  • The submission of AI-generated text or AI-assisted paraphrased content from other sources as original work is not permitted. The use of AI for automatic text generation or paraphrasing of existing content without proper attribution violates authorship principles and constitutes plagiarism.
  • The use of AI tools to rework an author’s own previously published article in order to create the appearance of a new publication is not permitted. Such actions are recognized by the Editorial Board as self-plagiarism.
  • The creation of false data using AI and presenting it as evidence supporting one’s own research (data fabrication) is not permitted. The generation of false data by AI and its use as a basis for scientific conclusions constitutes a serious breach of academic integrity and may result in adverse consequences for research quality and the researcher’s reputation.

The Editorial Board urges authors to take into account that AI-generated content may be associated with a number of risks, including:

  • AI-generated text, responses to queries, formulas, or calculations may appear plausible but contain critical errors, lack factual accuracy, or include fabricated citations and references.
  • The data used to train AI models may be outdated; therefore, subsequent outputs may perpetuate inaccuracies.
  • AI-generated text is highly likely to infringe copyright, as AI systems rely on previously published ideas and opinions of human authors without proper attribution, which may be considered plagiarism.
  • Persistent concerns regarding ethics and information security also remain relevant: upon request, AI models may process large volumes of confidential data, including personal information.