Plagiarism: Plagiarism involves the unacknowledged use or misattribution of another person’s original ideas, text, or results. It occurs when significant portions of text are copied without proper citation, effectively presenting someone else’s work as the author’s own. This includes direct copying, improper paraphrasing, and self-plagiarism, where authors reuse substantial parts of their previously published work without appropriate citation. SPARK Health follows the policies as outlined by the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviours on Academic Matters.
Plagiarism is a serious ethical breach that undermines the integrity of scientific research. They are unacceptable and manuscripts containing plagiarized content will not be considered for publication.
Duplicate Publication
Authors must not have the same work published in two different places; they must submit original work that is not under consideration by another journal. If there is related material under consideration or in press elsewhere, this must be disclosed at the time of submission. Any overlap with previous publications should be clearly stated, and relevant references must be provided. This includes material that may have appeared as part of a PhD thesis or on preprint servers. If authors intend to reuse figures or other material that has been published elsewhere, they must obtain permission from the original publisher or copyright holder and provide documentation of this permission.
Fabrication
Fabrication involves making up data or results, and recording or reporting them as if they were real. This is equally unethical and damages the trustworthiness of scientific literature.
Giving Due Credit: It is essential to give proper credit to the original sources of ideas, methodologies, and findings. When citing unpublished work, authors must ensure they have the appropriate permissions to use the data. Proper attribution must also be given to published works by clearly describing the contributions of previous studies and appropriately citing them.
Retraction and Republishing Rights: Authors have the right to retract their article from our journal if they decide to publish it elsewhere. However, this must be done in accordance with the SPARK Health’s journal policies and with the explicit permission from our Editorial Team and Executive Memberseditorial board or relevant executives. The authors must formally request the retraction, explaining their reasons, and obtain approval before proceeding with submission to another journal.
Addressing Plagiarism Post-Publication: If plagiarism is discovered after publication, SPARK Health may issue a correction, retraction, or other amendments to the original publication, depending on the extent of the plagiarism and its impact on the work. To prevent plagiarism, submitted manuscripts will be screened by similarity detection software.