NUSALEGIS: Journal of Legal Studies is committed to protecting academic integrity, originality, and responsible scholarly publication. For this purpose, submitted manuscripts may be examined using recognized similarity-detection software before being sent for external peer review and, where necessary, at later stages of the editorial process.

Similarity screening is intended to identify substantial textual overlap, inappropriate copying, insufficient attribution, duplicate publication, self-plagiarism, and other potential concerns relating to manuscript originality.

A similarity report is used as an editorial assessment tool and does not by itself establish that plagiarism has occurred.

Recommended Maximum Overall Similarity

≤ 20%

Manuscripts exceeding this level may be returned for revision or further editorial assessment.

The 20% threshold is not applied mechanically. The Editorial Team will assess the nature and location of the detected similarities, the sources involved, the presence of appropriate quotation and citation, and whether the overlap represents legitimate use of legal or scholarly materials.

Because legal scholarship frequently requires reference to authoritative legal texts, similarity reports must be interpreted carefully. Textual overlap may legitimately arise from accurate citation or reproduction of:

• Constitutional provisions;
• Statutes and regulations;
• Judicial decisions;
• International treaties and conventions;
• Official government documents;
• Standard legal terminology;
• Properly quoted scholarly materials.

Such similarities are not automatically considered plagiarism when the source is appropriately identified and the use complies with accepted scholarly and legal citation practices.

Plagiarism includes the presentation of another person's words, ideas, arguments, legal analysis, research findings, data, images, or intellectual contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment.

Examples may include:

1. The manuscript is submitted through the NUSALEGIS Online Journal System.
2. The Editorial Team conducts an initial technical and editorial screening.
3. The manuscript may be processed using recognized similarity-detection software.
4. The similarity report is reviewed qualitatively by the Editorial Team.
5. The editor determines whether the manuscript may proceed to peer review, requires revision, or should be rejected.
6. Where necessary, a manuscript may be screened again after revision or before final publication.

Important: A manuscript with a similarity score below 20% may still be rejected if serious plagiarism is identified, while a manuscript slightly above 20% may be considered further where the overlap consists primarily of properly cited legal texts, quotations, references, or other legitimate material.

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should ensure that:

Authors should avoid substantial reuse of text, arguments, data, or other material from their previously published works without appropriate citation and disclosure. Limited reuse of standard methodological descriptions or related material may be considered acceptable where justified, but the submitted manuscript must contain sufficient originality and a distinct scholarly contribution.

If credible evidence of plagiarism or significant unattributed overlap is identified after publication, the Editorial Team will assess the matter in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and related policies.

Depending on the seriousness of the issue, the journal may:

Appropriate action will depend on the extent, nature, and effect of the identified misconduct on the integrity of the scholarly record.

Passing a similarity check does not mean that a manuscript is automatically accepted for publication. The similarity screening process evaluates textual originality and potential ethical concerns, whereas the peer-review process independently evaluates the manuscript's academic quality, methodology, legal analysis, originality, relevance, and scholarly contribution.

The final determination of whether textual similarity is acceptable rests with the Editorial Team of NUSALEGIS. Similarity percentages are interpreted together with the manuscript context, citation practices, sources of overlap, field-specific characteristics, and the journal's publication ethics standards.