Plagiarism Policy — AllScience

AllScience is committed to upholding the integrity of scholarly and nonfiction publishing. Every submission on our platform undergoes automatic plagiarism detection before publication. This policy describes what constitutes plagiarism, how our detection system works, and how authors can appeal automated decisions. Our approach aligns with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the standards of major publishers.

1. What Counts as Plagiarism

1.1 Direct Copying

Reproducing text, data, figures, or other content from another source without proper citation or quotation marks. Even short passages copied verbatim must be cited.

1.2 Paraphrasing Without Attribution

Rewriting another author's ideas or arguments in your own words without crediting the original source. Changing the wording does not remove the obligation to cite.

1.3 Self-Plagiarism

Republishing your own previously published work (or substantial portions of it) without disclosing that the content has appeared before. Authors who wish to build on their prior work should cite it and clearly indicate which portions are new.

1.4 Mosaic Plagiarism

Piecing together text, ideas, or data from multiple sources and presenting the combination as original work without attributing each source. This includes interleaving copied phrases with original text to disguise the borrowing.

1.5 Contract and AI-Generated Plagiarism

Submitting work produced by a third party (ghostwriter, paper mill, or AI tool) and claiming sole authorship without disclosure. See our AI Content Policy for specific AI-related disclosure requirements.

2. Our Detection System

AllScience uses a multi-layered detection pipeline that runs automatically on every submission:

2.1 Winnowing Fingerprint Matching

We generate document fingerprints using the winnowing algorithm and compare them against all content in our local database. This catches exact and near-exact text matches efficiently, even across large corpora.

2.2 Semantic Embedding Similarity

Beyond surface-level text matching, we compute semantic embeddings of document sections and compare them against known works. This layer catches paraphrased copying that would evade simple fingerprint matching.

2.3 Federated Cross-Reference Checking

Submissions are checked against a federated index of 250M+ published papers from major academic databases. This ensures that similarity is detected even when the original source is not hosted on AllScience.

2.4 Self-Plagiarism Check

We compare each submission against the submitting author's own previously published works on AllScience. If significant overlap is detected with the author's prior publications, the system flags it for review.

3. Similarity Thresholds

After analysis, each submission receives a similarity score. The following thresholds determine the outcome:

Similarity	Result	Action
<15%	PASS	Normal citation and terminology overlap. No action required.
15–30%	WARNING	Published with a "Similarity Notice" badge visible to readers. Author is notified and may appeal.
>30%	BLOCKED	Submission cannot be published until the author revises it to reduce similarity below the threshold.

These thresholds apply equally to research papers, preprints, and books published on AllScience.

4. Appeals Process

4.1 How to Appeal

Authors who believe their submission was incorrectly flagged or blocked may submit an appeal through the platform. The appeal should include an explanation of the similarity, such as:

Common methodology language or standard terminology in the field
Properly cited direct quotes that contribute to the similarity score
Overlap with the author's own prior work that has been properly disclosed
Standard boilerplate text (ethics statements, data availability statements, etc.)

4.2 Review Timeline

A human administrator reviews all appeals within 48 hours of submission. The administrator may:

Override the automated decision and remove the badge or unblock the submission
Uphold the automated decision with an explanation
Request additional information or revisions from the author

4.3 Second Appeal

If the author disagrees with the outcome of the first appeal, they may request a second review by a senior editor. The second review is final.

5. Consequences of Confirmed Plagiarism

If plagiarism is confirmed after review, AllScience may take the following actions depending on severity:

Minor (unintentional, small overlap): Author is asked to revise and properly cite. A correction notice may be attached to the published work.
Moderate (significant uncited overlap): The work is retracted from AllScience with a retraction notice. The author receives a warning.
Severe (wholesale copying, paper mill submission, repeated offenses): The work is retracted, and the author's account may be suspended or terminated in accordance with our Terms of Service.

6. Standards Alignment

For Researchers

This policy aligns with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which provides best-practice guidance for editors, publishers, and institutions on handling cases of research misconduct including plagiarism.

For Book Authors

This policy aligns with the content standards of major book publishing platforms including Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Barnes & Noble Press, which require original content and prohibit the submission of plagiarized material.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Plagiarism Policy as detection technology and industry standards evolve. We will notify users of material changes by email or through a platform notice at least 30 days before changes take effect.

8. Related Policies

9. Contact

If you have questions about this Plagiarism Policy, contact us at:

legal@allscience.net