The Journal of Social Transformation and Community Engagement (JSTCE) is committed to maintaining academic integrity and ensuring that all submitted and published articles are original and free from plagiarism, duplicate publication, and other forms of academic misconduct.

All submitted manuscripts are subject to a similarity check using Turnitin or an equivalent plagiarism-detection system. The similarity check is conducted during the initial submission stage and may be repeated during the revision process or at any other stage deemed necessary by the editors.

As a general guideline, manuscripts with a similarity index above 20% may be returned to the authors for clarification and revision. However, the similarity percentage is not considered a definitive measure of plagiarism. Editors will assess the similarity report carefully, particularly the sources, context, extent of overlap, properly cited quotations, references, commonly used academic expressions, and other legitimate similarities.

Manuscripts that demonstrate substantial inappropriate overlap, unattributed copying, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other forms of academic misconduct may be rejected. Where necessary, the journal may request an explanation from the authors and take further action in accordance with applicable publication ethics standards.

In addition to Turnitin, the editorial team may use Google Scholar, Crossref, publisher databases, and other appropriate scholarly resources to verify the originality of the manuscript and identify possible duplicate or overlapping publications.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are original, properly cited, and not simultaneously submitted to or under consideration by another journal. Any form of double submission, duplicate publication, plagiarism, or significant self-plagiarism is considered a violation of publication ethics.

By submitting a manuscript to JSTCE, authors acknowledge and agree to comply with the journal's academic integrity and publication ethics policies.