Plagiarism occurs when an author uses the work of another without proper permission, credit, or acknowledgment. This unethical practice can take various forms, from direct copying to paraphrasing someone else's work.

Literal copying involves reproducing someone else's work exactly as it appears, whether in whole or in part, without the necessary permission and acknowledgment of the original source. This type of plagiarism is easily identifiable by directly comparing the texts in question.

Substantial copying refers to the reproduction of a significant portion of another’s work without permission and proper credit. Determining what constitutes "substantial" involves considering both the amount and the importance of the copied content. Even if only a small portion of the original work is used, if it captures the essence of that work, it may still be considered plagiarism.

Paraphrasing involves using someone else's ideas without directly copying their words. Although this form of plagiarism does not involve verbatim copying, it still represents an unethical appropriation of intellectual content and can be challenging to detect.

SIMBION: Journal of Science Biology and Online Learning is committed to upholding high ethical standards and will immediately investigate and reject any manuscripts found to involve plagiarism or self-plagiarism. The journal's approach to handling suspected plagiarism is guided by the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):

• For suspected plagiarism in a submitted manuscript, refer to COPE's guidance here.
• For suspected plagiarism in a published article, refer to COPE's guidance here.

Plagiarism screening at SIMBION is conducted using Turnitin. The editorial board ensures that every published article does not exceed a 25% similarity score to maintain the integrity and originality of the content.