Plagiarism and Similarity Policy

The Journal of Legal and Political Sciences is committed to the policy of the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research regarding the prevention of plagiarism, as well as to the principles of academic integrity and publication ethics. Scholarly originality is an essential requirement for accepting manuscripts submitted to the journal.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are subject to plagiarism and text-similarity screening using Turnitin or any other software approved by the relevant official authorities. The journal does not rely solely on the numerical similarity percentage in evaluating a manuscript. Instead, the Editorial Board examines the similarity report in terms of the nature of similarity, its source, extent, documentation method, and its effect on the originality of the manuscript.

Plagiarism in all its forms is considered unethical and unacceptable. This includes copying texts, ideas, data, or results from published or unpublished works without proper citation; paraphrasing the works of others without clear acknowledgment; reusing the author’s own previously published work without appropriate citation; or submitting a manuscript that has been previously published, either fully or partially, as a new work.

The journal takes into consideration the nature of legal and political research, which may include legislative texts, judicial decisions, official documents, or necessary direct quotations. Such materials are not considered unacceptable plagiarism if they are properly cited, used only to the extent necessary for the purpose of the research, and clearly distinguished from the author’s original scholarly analysis.

If the similarity report shows excessive or unjustified similarity before publication, the Editorial Board may take one of the following actions depending on the nature of the case: return the manuscript to the author for correction and proper documentation, request additional clarification, reject the manuscript, or suspend the author from submitting to the journal for a period determined by the Editorial Board in cases of serious or repeated plagiarism.

If plagiarism, manipulation, or duplicate publication is discovered after publication, the journal reserves the right to take appropriate corrective actions, including publishing a correction, issuing an expression of concern, retracting the published article, or notifying the author’s institution or relevant authorities when necessary, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and publication ethics.

Authors are fully responsible for the originality of their manuscripts, the accuracy of citation and documentation, and ensuring that their work is free from plagiarism or unauthorized self-plagiarism. Submission of a manuscript to the journal constitutes a declaration by the authors that the work is original, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration by any other journal or publisher at the same time.