Visagaa Publishing House is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in academic publishing. This plagiarism policy defines our publishing ethics framework and outlines how we handle suspected or confirmed cases of plagiarism across all journals under our management, including Natural Resources for Human Health (NRFHH).

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism refers to the unauthorized use of another person's work—whether text, ideas, images, or data—without proper attribution. It may take various forms, including:

• Direct Plagiarism: Verbatim copying from other sources without citation.
• Self-Plagiarism: Republishing substantial content from the author’s prior works without disclosure.
• Mosaic Plagiarism: Paraphrased content too closely mimicking original structure or phrasing.
• Accidental Plagiarism: Unintentional failure to cite due to lack of awareness or oversight.

Publisher's Responsibilities

Visagaa Publishing House holds the following responsibilities in maintaining publication ethics:

• Implement and enforce a consistent plagiarism detection process for all journals.
• Provide clear plagiarism guidelines and policies across journal websites.
• Ensure that editors and editorial staff are trained to identify and act on potential plagiarism cases.
• Collaborate with editorial boards to ensure corrective action is taken where necessary.

Plagiarism Detection Process

• All submitted manuscripts undergo initial screening using plagiarism detection software such as iThenticate.
• Similarity reports are reviewed by trained editorial staff before manuscripts proceed to peer review.
• Content exceeding acceptable similarity thresholds (excluding references, boilerplate text, and author affiliations) is flagged for further investigation.

Editorial Action on Plagiarism

• Minor Similarities: Editors may return manuscripts to authors for revision and proper citation.
• Major or Systemic Plagiarism: Manuscripts are immediately rejected. Authors may be blacklisted across all Visagaa journals and their institutions informed.
• Post-Publication Plagiarism: Articles found to contain plagiarized content after publication will be retracted with an official notice, and repositories will be updated accordingly.

Institutional Notification

In all confirmed cases of major plagiarism, Visagaa Publishing House reserves the right to formally notify the author’s affiliated institution and request appropriate disciplinary action.

Retraction & Corrections

• Plagiarized publications will be retracted with a formal retraction notice citing the reason and responsible authors.
• If a correction is possible, a corrected version will be published alongside the original with proper metadata updates.

Commitment to Publication Ethics

This policy reflects Visagaa Publishing House’s commitment to publication ethics and the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Our editorial teams, peer reviewers, and staff actively work to prevent unethical behavior and preserve the trust of the scholarly community.

For questions or to report suspected plagiarism, please contact the Visagaa Publishing House Editorial Ethics Team at ethics@visagaapublishing.com.