I. Policy Statement

Passerelle maintains a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism and all forms of scholarly misconduct. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

The submission of a manuscript to Passerelle certifies that the work is original, has not been published elsewhere in its current form, and that all sources used in its creation have been fully and properly attributed. Plagiarism, in any form, constitutes a severe breach of professional ethics and will be treated as such.

II. Definition and Types of Plagiarism

Passerelle defines plagiarism as the act of presenting another's work, words, ideas, data, or creative expression as one's own without full and proper attribution. This policy applies to all submitted manuscripts, whether the misconduct is intentional or unintentional.

This definition is comprehensive and includes, but is not limited to: direct plagiarism, which is the verbatim copying of text, data, or images from another source without quotation marks and a precise citation; improper paraphrasing (or "mosaic plagiarism"), which involves rephrasing another's work by changing a few words or altering sentence structure without providing proper citation; the plagiarism of ideas, defined as presenting a novel concept, theory, or research finding from another source as one's own original thought; and source misrepresentation, which involves the falsifying or fabricating of citations. Any misconduct related to artificial intelligence, as defined in our Generative AI Policy, is also considered a form of plagiarism.

III. Self-Plagiarism (Text-Recycling)

Passerelle also considers self-plagiarism (text-recycling) a form of misconduct. This is defined as the re-use of significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one's own previously published work without citing the original source or declaring it as a previous publication.

This prohibition strictly forbids duplicate submission, which is the submission of a manuscript that is substantially similar to one already published, in review, or accepted elsewhere. Authors wishing to build on previous work must cite it properly and ensure the new manuscript provides a significant new contribution, analysis, or conclusion, and does not simply republish old data or text.

IV. Detection Process

All manuscripts submitted to Passerelle are subject to a rigorous screening process. We utilize sophisticated, industry-leading similarity-checking software to screen all submissions upon arrival.

Furthermore, all manuscripts are assessed by our editorial staff and expert peer reviewers, who are instructed to report any suspicion of plagiarism or ethical misconduct.

V. Consequences of Misconduct

The Editorial Board will investigate all allegations of plagiarism rigorously, following the procedures outlined in our Publication Malpractice Statement.

Consequences for misconduct are tiered based on the severity of the offense and the stage of publication.

A. Before Publication (During Review)

Minor Infraction: If minor plagiarism (e.g., poor citation practices, accidental omission of a source) is detected, the manuscript will be returned to the authors for immediate revision.

Major Infraction: If significant plagiarism (e.g., direct copying, theft of ideas, duplicate submission) is detected, the manuscript will be immediately rejected. The author's home institution and/or funding body may be notified.

B. After Publication

If plagiarism is detected after an article has been published and subsequently confirmed by the investigation, the journal will issue a public Retraction of the article. This Retraction notice will be permanently linked to the original article, which will be clearly marked as "Retracted" in all online versions and in all abstracting and indexing services to ensure the integrity of the scholarly record. Furthermore, the author's home institution, funding body, and any relevant professional organizations will be formally notified of the misconduct.