The Community Services and Social Work Journal upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and strictly prohibits all forms of plagiarism. Authors are expected to submit original works that have not been published elsewhere and are not under consideration by another journal.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying text, ideas, images, or data from another source without proper attribution.

• Paraphrasing substantial portions of another work without acknowledgment.

• Reusing one’s own previously published content (self-plagiarism) without citation or permission.

• Using materials from theses, dissertations, conference papers, or reports without appropriate citation.

Plagiarism Detection

All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate) before being sent for peer review.

• Acceptable Similarity Index: Maximum 20% (excluding references, tables, and properly cited quotations).

• Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for revision or rejected outright.

Consequences of Plagiarism

If plagiarism is detected:

1. Before publication: The manuscript will be rejected immediately.

2. After publication: The article will be retracted, and a retraction notice will be posted on the journal’s website.

3. The corresponding author’s institution may be notified.

4. The author may be barred from submitting to CSSWJ for a specified period.

Author’s Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work and proper acknowledgment of all sources. CSSWJ strongly encourages authors to check their manuscripts for similarity before submission.