The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice.
Submitted articles are checked with duplication-checking software such as TurnItIn.
Promoting Ethical Research
It is part of HORIZON’s mission to promote the highest standards of research through
its publishing activities. Ensuring that the research we publish is conducted in a fair
and ethical manner, is integral to this. We publish across multiple research areas,
many of which have their own standards and methods of governing research
practice.
Wherever appropriate and if applicable, we expect published research based on
human subjects to provide the name of the local ethics committee that approved the
study (or confirmation that such approval is not needed) and/or to state how the
study conforms to recognised standards. HORIZON encourages journals and handling
editors to return any manuscripts describing studies not meeting acceptable criteria.
The headings below details HORIZON’s approach to the most common areas of
research integrity.
Patient confidentiality
Journals publishing studies using human subjects should ensure that a patient's right
to privacy has not been infringed without prior consent. We encourage journals to
follow the ICMJE guidelines for reporting on human subjects. For publication of
material that contains detailed patient information about a living individual, it is
compulsory for a signed patient consent to be obtained.
Falsification and fabrication
Submitted papers found to include false or fabricated data prior to publication will
be returned to the author immediately with a request for an explanation. If no
explanation is received or if the explanation provided is considered unsatisfactory,
the journal will notify the authors’ institution, local ethical committee, or superior.
The journal may also refuse to accept further submissions from the author for a
defined period.
Examples of data falsification or fabrication include: image manipulation; cropping of
gels/images to change context; omission of selected data; or making-up data sets.
HORIZON recognises that falsification is not always deliberate and will encourage its
journals and publishing partners to consider each case on its terms.
Originality and Plagiarism
HORIZON journals evaluate submissions on the understanding that they are the
original work of the author(s). We expect that references made in a manuscript or
article to another person’s work or idea will be credited appropriately. Equally we
expect authors to gain all appropriate permissions prior to publication.
Re-use of text, data, figures, or images without appropriate acknowledgment or
permission is considered plagiarism, as is the paraphrasing of text, concepts, and
ideas. All allegations of plagiarism are investigated thoroughly and in accordance
with COPE guidelines detailed here. Horizon journals systematically run submitted
papers through plagiarism-detection software (TurnItIn) to identify possible cases. This journal will immediately reject papers leading to plagiarism or self-plagiarism
Similarity Index
The author must ensure that when a manuscript is submitted to Horizon, the
manuscript is an original work. The author should check the manuscript for any
possible plagiarism using any software such as TurnItIn, iThenticate or any other
similar program before submitting the manuscripts to the Horizon journal.
All submitted manuscripts must be in the Journal’s acceptable similarity index range:
< 25%– PASS; 26-40%– RESUBMIT; > 40%– REJECT.
Prior Publication
Any material that has been previously published will not be acceptable for publication.
