Lexfolio/LJLPS/LJLPS Publication Ethics, Plagiarism and AI Policy

LJLPS Publication Ethics, Plagiarism and AI Policy

The Lexfolio Journal of Law, Policy and Social Sciences (LJLPS) follows internationally recognised good practice in publication ethics, guided by the principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). LJLPS is not a member of COPE. This policy applies to authors, reviewers and editors.

1. Authors

• Originality: submissions must be the authors’ own original work, not previously published in any form (including blogs and online magazines) and not under consideration elsewhere.
• Authorship: everyone listed must have made a substantial contribution and approved the final version. Gift, ghost and purchased authorship are not allowed.
• Sources: all sources, quotations and ideas of others must be properly cited. Citations must be real and must support the statement they are attached to.
• Data: fabrication, falsification or selective reporting of data is serious misconduct. Authors of empirical work should keep their data and explain their methods, including consent and anonymisation for interviews and surveys.
• Conflicts of interest and funding: authors must disclose any funding and any financial or personal interest relevant to the paper.

2. Plagiarism and similarity

Every manuscript is checked for similarity and prior publication at submission, and again before publication. Authors are encouraged to attach a similarity report (for example from Turnitin or DrillBit) for the exact version they submit. A similarity percentage is only a starting point: the editors read the matching passages.

• Overall similarity, excluding quotations, footnote references and bibliography, should normally be below 15%, with no single source above 3%.
• Manuscripts above these levels are returned for revision, or declined if the matching is substantial.
• Copying a passage without attribution, or closely paraphrasing it, is plagiarism whatever the overall percentage.
• Reusing large parts of one’s own earlier published work without disclosure (self-plagiarism) is not allowed.
• Translating someone else’s work from another language and presenting it as original is plagiarism.

3. Use of artificial intelligence

• AI tools cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work.
• Using AI for grammar and language editing does not need detailed disclosure, but must be declared on the submission form.
• Any other use (for example to generate text, summaries, analysis or translations) must be described in a short disclosure note at the end of the manuscript.
• Authors are fully responsible for everything in the paper. Fabricated or inaccurate citations, whatever their origin, will lead to rejection or retraction.
• Reviewers must not share manuscripts outside the journal. The editorial office may use software tools, including similarity-detection and language tools, to support editorial work; manuscripts remain confidential and decisions are always made by human editors.

4. Reviewers

Reviewers must keep manuscripts confidential, declare conflicts of interest, review objectively and give constructive reasons for their recommendations.

5. Editors

Editors judge manuscripts only on their merit, keep authors’ and reviewers’ identities confidential, declare and avoid conflicts of interest, and never let payment or personal relationships influence a decision. Editors’ own submissions are handled by another member of the editorial board.

6. Corrections and retractions

• Correction: a minor error that does not affect the findings is corrected, with a dated correction note on the article page.
• Expression of concern: published while an allegation is investigated, if readers need to be warned.
• Retraction: for plagiarism, fabricated data or citations, duplicate publication or serious error. The article remains online, clearly marked as retracted, with the reason.

7. Handling allegations of misconduct

Anyone may report suspected misconduct to support@lexfolio.in. We will acknowledge the report, give the authors a chance to respond, investigate fairly and confidentially, and take proportionate action. Where appropriate we may inform the author’s institution.

8. Copyright complaints and takedown

If anyone believes that a published article infringes their copyright or other rights, they should write to support@lexfolio.in with the article link, the material concerned and the basis of the claim. Where a complaint appears credible, we will make the article unavailable within 48 hours while we review it, ask the authors to respond, and then restore, correct or retract it. Authors are responsible for the originality of their work under the author declaration and licence agreement.

9. Complaints

Complaints about the journal’s processes can be sent to support@lexfolio.in. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and to respond in full within 30 days.