Plagiarism Guidelines

Pakistan Social Sciences Review (PSSR) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical publishing. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism as part of the editorial and peer review process.

Plagiarism Screening

  • PSSR follows the plagiarism guidelines and regulations issued by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan.
  • Manuscripts may be checked using plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin or similar tools.
  • The similarity report is used as a screening and evaluation tool, not as the sole basis for acceptance or rejection.

Similarity Threshold

  • As a general guideline, manuscripts with an overall similarity index within the limits prescribed by HEC (Pakistan) are considered acceptable for further evaluation.
  • Editors carefully review similarity reports to distinguish between acceptable similarity (e.g., references, methodological descriptions, commonly used phrases) and unacceptable overlap or plagiarism.
  • High similarity, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, redundant publication, or improper citation may result in revision requests, rejection, or other editorial action, depending on the severity of the issue.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for:

  • Ensuring that their work is original
  • Properly citing all sources, including their own previously published work
  • Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and duplicate or redundant publication

Ethical Handling of Plagiarism

PSSR handles suspected plagiarism in accordance with internationally accepted publication ethics and the relevant HEC guidelines. Allegations of plagiarism are investigated by the editorial team, and authors are given an opportunity to respond where appropriate.

Reference Resources (HEC Pakistan)

For detailed guidance, authors may consult the official HEC documents and resources on plagiarism and the ethical use of similarity detection tools, including:

  • HEC Plagiarism Policy
  • Guidelines on Ethics of Using Turnitin
  • How to Interpret Originality Reports
  • Plagiarism Awareness and Educational Resources

These resources are available on the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan website.