Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism may also represent a violation of copyright law that is punishable by statute. Plagiarism establishes itself in different forms like verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying or purposely paraphrasing portions of paper of another author, Copying elements of the paper of another author, like equations or illustrations that maybe not common knowledge. It also includes copying or purposely paraphrasing sentences that too without citing the source. Similarly verbatim copying of patches of another author's paper with citing but not apparently differentiating what text has been copied like not applying quotation marks rightly) and/or not citing the source rightly. Talking about Self-plagiarism, it is a related issue. Here we talk about self-plagiarism as verbatim or near-verbatim reclaim of significant patches of one's own copyrighted work that too without citing the original source.

Please Note: Self-plagiarism does not apply to publications that are based on author's own previously copyrighted work Such a reuse does not need quotation marks to define the reused text but does demand that the source be cited.

All the authors are deemed to be both individually and collectively responsible for the content of the papers published by IRED. Hence, it is the accountability of each author to make sure that papers no matter research paper or any other ones submitted to IRED possess the highest ethical standards respecting plagiarism. IRED and IRED Publications Board conducts investigation of every claim of plagiarism at the highest priority to ensure action and resolution.

Informing IRED about Alleged Plagiarism

If you want to inform IRED about alleged plagiarism, send email to IRED Director of Publications. The following is the least information required for IRED to begin a plagiarism investigation:
All authors are deemed to be individually and collectively responsible for the content of papers published by IRED. Hence, it is the responsibility of each author to ensure that papers submitted to IRED attain the highest ethical standards with respect to plagiarism. IRED and the IRED Publications Board place the investigation of each claim of plagiarism at the highest priority for resolution and action.
- The names and contacts of the person(s) making the claim and their link with the allegation (e.g., author of plagiarized content, reviewer or editor).
- A citation to original paper(s) (paper title, publication title, author, date of publication). Proper citation to alleged plagiarizing paper. Indication of particular paragraphs, sections, pages in each work alleged as evidence of plagiarism.
Apart from this IRED encourages the submission of below given additional information to aid in investigation:
- Copies of all the papers involved in the alleged plagiarism.
- Additional data regarding how to get involved papers that are unpublished (e.g., a technical report or an online posting).
- Any other type of information that might help IRED efficiently resolves the claim.

Thorough Investigation

Once IRED receives an allegation of plagiarism, the Director of Publications shall inform appropriate IRED volunteers and the Senior Headquarters Staff. Thereafter, Director will coordinate the investigation. Depending on details of claim, the investigation might involve, but not be restricted to, any or all of following steps:
- Manual or automated tests of content similarity.
- Soliciting the comments to claim from Editor-in-Chief if a journal) or Program Chair or if a conference proceedings) and referees of either or both the papers.
- Creating an ad hoc committee of professionals in the field to review claim.
- Consultation with IRED legal counsel; and/or communicating with individuals engaged on both sides.
Once the investigation is done, the IRED Publications Board, on the basis of a recommendation from IRED Director of Publications, will decide the penalties to be imposed. These will depend on the kind of plagiarism.

Proper Confidentiality

All the aspects of any investigation will be treated with the greatest regard for confidentiality. The names and contact details of the person(s) involved in the claim and their relationship to allegation (e.g., the author of plagiarized content, reviewer or editor of plagiarised work) shall be kept confidential and used just for purpose and duration of investigation.
However, to ensure timely and effective resolution, details of a claim shall be circulated to individuals on a need-to-know foundation. As part of investigation, it might be essential for IRED to contact present and/or past employers of authors. Apart from this, some institutions have particular requirements for their employees to reveal any pending legal/ethical issues.
IRED, at its discretion, might decide to tell the general IRED membership of plagiarism investigation. However, during the time of investigation, under no circumstances shall IRED reveal any individual author's name, referees, paper titles, ad hoc investigation committee members or any other personal or particular information concerning a plagiarism claim to the general membership.

Outcomes of an Investigation

Once a decision has been taken, it will be communicated to all the parties immediately by IRED Director of Publications. If plagiarism has been found, all the parties are going to be informed about the penalties and actions that shall be taken. Once the notification is received, the investigative phase shall be deemed to have ended and there would be no further communication with any party by IRED except there is an appeal to IRED President.
All the appeals must be made in writing to IRED President no more than thirty days from date of notification. Once a determination of plagiarism is made, there is no insurance that the author names and paper titles will continue to be kept secret. However, IRED shall not disclose an individual author's name, the referees, the paper title, the ad hoc investigation committee members or any other personal or particular information in a forum actively circulated to general membership.

Penalties for Plagiarism

Once plagiarism has been found to be there, IRED will take actions listed below as decided by the kind of plagiarism. Unless decided otherwise during investigation, all the authors are deemed to be individually and collectively responsible for the material of a plagiarizing paper.
- In the case of verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying or purposely paraphrasing an important portion of another author's paper deprived of citing the source and without clearly defining (e.g., in quotation marks) the source content. IRED shall inform Department Chair, Dean, or the supervisor of the authors of the finding of plagiarism. The authors shall be asked to write a formal letter of apology to authors of the plagiarized paper. It would also include an admission of plagiarism. If the paper got appeared in press, IRED shall post a Notice of Plagiarism on the basis of the investigation on IRED Digital Library's citation page of plagiarizing paper and shall remove access to full text. The paper will be kept in database for future research or legal matters. If the paper is under submission, it can be automatically rejected by Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair without further revisions and without any additional plagiarism investigation coordinated by IRED Director of Publications. Similarly, a letter of warning shall be sent by Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair to authors with a copy of IRED Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism.
- Verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying, or purposely paraphrasing sentences of paper of another author and/or, copying elements of paper of another author(like non-common knowledge illustrations and equations) without citing source and without clearly defining (e.g., in quotation marks) source material. The authors shall be asked to write a formal letter of apology to authors of plagiarized paper. They would also have to mention about admission of the plagiarism. If the paper gets appeared in press, IRED will post a Notice of Plagiarism on the basis of the investigation on IRED Digital Library's citation page of plagiarizing paper and shall remove access to full text. The paper will be kept in database for future legal actions. If a paper is under submission, it can be automatically rejected by Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair without any further revisions and without any additional plagiarism investigation coordinated by IRED Director of Publications. Similarly, a letter of warning shall be sent by Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair to authors with a copy of IRED Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism.
- Verbatim copying of portions of another author's paper with citing, but not apparently differentiating what text has been copied (e.g., not given quotation marks correctly) and/or not citing the source properly. The authors shall be asked to write a formal letter of apology to authors of the plagiarized paper and also mention about an admission of plagiarism. If the paper is under submission, at discretion of the Editor-in-Chief or the Program Chair, it can either be automatically rejected without further review or a revision might be required that clearly and properly cites the previous work without any additional plagiarism investigation coordinated by IRED Director of Publications. A letter of warning will also be sent by the Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair to authors with a copy of the IRED Policy and the Procedures on Plagiarism.
- Self-plagiarism or redundant, duplicative publication (verbatim or near-verbatim reuse of important portions of one's own copyrighted work in succeeding papers wherein the authors have not revealed in the subsequent paper the previous publication). In case the paper has appeared in press, IRED shall post a Notice of Self Plagiarism or a Notice of Redundant Publication on the basis of the investigation on IRED Digital Library's citation page of self-plagiarizing paper. If the paper is under submission, at discretion of Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair, the paper can either get automatically rejected without future review or a revision might be required that includes a citation to and discussion of previous paper and without any further plagiarism investigation synchronized by the IRED Director of Publications. A letter of warning will also be sent by Editor-in-Chief or Program Chair to authors with a copy of the IRED Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism.
If the authors refuse to comply with the above (e.g., in case they refuse to write a formal letter of apology) or if it is determined during the plagiarism search that there has been manifold violations of any of the above given forms of plagiarism by same authors, IRED retains the right to impose further sanctions like automatic rejection of all the current and future submissions for some extended period of time, appealing penalties prescribed by IRED Codes of Ethics and perhaps statutory/injunctive relief. U.S. Copyright law permits a copyright owner to seek an all-out of $150,000 in damages upon a determination of wilful infringement of copyright.