Plagiarism & Similarity Policy

Terra Alimentaria enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism and academic misconduct. In accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the national journal accreditation standards (Permendiktisaintek No. 9 Tahun 2026), all submitted manuscripts are rigorously screened for originality before they are allowed to proceed to peer review.

1. Similarity Screening (Turnitin)

To ensure the originality of published work, the editorial board evaluates all incoming manuscripts using Turnitin / iThenticate similarity detection software.

Note: During the screening process, the software is configured to exclude the bibliography/reference list, properly enclosed quotations, and minor matches of fewer than 7 words.

2. Forms of Unacceptable Plagiarism

Terra Alimentaria considers the following acts to be severe academic misconduct:

• Direct Plagiarism: Verbatim copying of text, data, or figures from another source without proper citation and quotation marks.
• Mosaic Plagiarism: Borrowing ideas or phrases from a source and seamlessly blending them into one's own text without adequate attribution.
• Self-Plagiarism (Redundant Publication): Recycling substantial portions of one’s own previously published work (including data sets) without citation. Submitting a manuscript that has been published elsewhere, or is under review elsewhere, is strictly forbidden.
• Undeclared AI Generation: Using Artificial Intelligence (LLMs) to generate substantive text, data, or figures without explicitly disclosing it in the Declarations section (see our AI Policy).

3. Editorial Action on Plagiarism

If plagiarism or excessive similarity is detected, the editorial board will take the following actions based on the severity:

• Minor Overlap (Similarity 20% - 30%): If the overlap involves general methodological phrasing or literature review summaries without intent to deceive, the manuscript will be returned to the authors for immediate revision and paraphrasing before peer review begins.
• Severe Plagiarism (Similarity > 30% or blatant data theft): The manuscript will be subjected to an immediate Desk Rejection. The authors will be formally warned. In cases of blatant intellectual theft, the journal reserves the right to ban the authors from future submissions and notify their affiliated institution or funding agency.

4. Post-Publication Plagiarism Discovery

If severe plagiarism is discovered after an article has been published, Terra Alimentaria will follow the COPE Retraction Guidelines. The article will be formally retracted, and a retraction notice will be permanently attached to the article's digital footprint (DOI). Please refer to our Article Correction, Retraction & Removal Policy for more details.