Mandalika Health Care Journal (MHCJ) is committed to publishing original work and upholding the integrity of the academic record. To ensure this, all submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism prior to the peer review process.

1. Plagiarism Detection

All manuscripts submitted to MHCJ will be checked using plagiarism detection software (such as Turnitin or other equivalent tools) to identify similarities with previously published works.

2. Acceptable Similarity Index

• The maximum acceptable similarity index is 20% (excluding references, quotes, and bibliography).

• Manuscripts with a similarity index above 20% will be returned to the author for revision or rejected outright, depending on the severity of the overlap.

3. Types of Plagiarism

The following are considered plagiarism and are strictly prohibited:

• Direct plagiarism: Copying text word-for-word from another source without attribution.

• Self-plagiarism: Reusing significant portions of the author's own previously published work without proper citation.

• Mosaic plagiarism: Piecing together ideas, phrases, or data from various sources without proper credit.

• Accidental plagiarism: Failing to cite sources correctly or paraphrasing improperly.

4. Consequences

If plagiarism is detected at any stage (before or after publication), the manuscript may be:

• Rejected immediately during submission, or

• Retracted after publication, if plagiarism is discovered post-publication.

Authors may also be blacklisted from submitting to MHCJ in the future for serious ethical violations.

5. Author Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that the submitted work is entirely original, properly cited, and free from any form of plagiarism.