Plagiarism & AI Use Policy

Smart Education and Instruction (SEI) upholds the highest standards of academic integrity. We enforce strict policies against all forms of academic misconduct, including plagiarism and the unacknowledged or improper use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

1. Plagiarism Policy All manuscripts submitted to SEI must be the original work of the authors.

  • Similarity Screening: Every submission is rigorously evaluated using industry-standard similarity-checking software (e.g., Turnitin or iThenticate) during the initial desk review process.

  • Acceptable Threshold: The overall similarity index must be below 20%, with no single source exceeding 3%. (Excluding bibliography and standard methodological phrasing).

  • Consequences of Plagiarism: Manuscripts exceeding this threshold will be returned to the authors for revision or immediately rejected. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal reserves the right to issue a formal retraction and notify the authors' affiliated institutions.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy In alignment with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, SEI acknowledges the evolving role of AI in academic research. However, strict transparency and accountability are required:

  • No AI Authorship: AI tools, Large Language Models (LLMs), or chatbots cannot be listed as an author or co-author. AI cannot take responsibility for the management, ethics, or validity of the research.

  • Mandatory Disclosure: Authors must explicitly disclose the use of AI tools in their manuscript (e.g., in the Methods section or a dedicated Declarations section). The disclosure must specify the name of the tool, its version, and how it was applied.

  • Acceptable Use: Using AI for language editing, grammar correction, or translation is permitted. Utilizing AI for data processing or structural analysis is allowed only if the methodology is fully detailed and reproducible.

  • Full Author Responsibility: Human authors remain entirely accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their complete manuscript, including any AI-assisted content. Authors must thoroughly verify that AI outputs do not contain fabricated data (hallucinations) or plagiarized text.