Plagiarism Policy

The Journal of Ancient Chinese Arts and Crafts (JACAC) is committed to upholding the highest standards of scholarly integrity. Plagiarism in any form is a serious violation of academic ethics and is strictly prohibited. This policy applies to all manuscript types submitted to JACAC, including research articles, literature reviews, and book reviews.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. The following forms of plagiarism are recognized:

• Verbatim Copying: Reproducing text from another source without quotation marks and proper citation.
• Paraphrasing Without Attribution: Rewriting another author’s ideas in different words without citing the original source.
• Idea Appropriation: Using another person’s original concepts, theories, or interpretations without acknowledgment.
• Self-Plagiarism: Reusing one’s own previously published work without proper attribution or disclosure, thereby misleading readers about the originality of the contribution.
• Image and Data Plagiarism: Using figures, tables, or datasets from another source without permission and proper attribution.

Detection

All manuscripts submitted to JACAC are screened for plagiarism using industry-standard plagiarism detection software before peer review. Manuscripts found to contain significant textual overlap with previously published work will be flagged for further investigation.

Thresholds and Evaluation

While no fixed similarity percentage automatically constitutes plagiarism, the editorial team evaluates all flagged content on a case-by-case basis, considering the nature, extent, and context of the overlap. Properly cited direct quotations and standard disciplinary terminology are excluded from evaluation. However, substantial unattributed overlap with any published source—regardless of authorship—is considered a violation.

Consequences

If plagiarism is identified at any stage of the editorial process or after publication, the following actions may be taken:

• Pre-review stage: The manuscript will be immediately rejected without peer review.
• During peer review: The review process will be halted, and the manuscript rejected.
• After acceptance/publication: The article will be retracted in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Retraction Guidelines, and a retraction notice will be published.
• Author sanctions: Authors found to have committed plagiarism may be barred from submitting to JACAC for a specified period. The authors’ institutions and funding agencies may be notified.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are expected to:

• Properly cite all sources of information, including books, articles, websites, personal communications, and informal sources.
• Use quotation marks for all direct quotes and provide accurate citations.
• Paraphrase thoroughly in their own words, with credit given to the original author.
• Disclose any reuse of their own previously published material.
• Obtain copyright permission for any reproduced figures, tables, or extended quotations, and acknowledge such permission in the manuscript.

Appeals

Authors who believe that a plagiarism finding has been made in error may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief at jacac@michelangelo-scholar.com. The editorial board will review the appeal, and the decision will be communicated to the author in writing.

JACAC follows the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in all matters related to plagiarism and research misconduct. For further information, please visit: https://publicationethics.org