AMERICAN JOURNAL OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Plagiarism and AI Policy

The American Journal of Qualitative Research has a strict policy against plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism. Authors must not present the ideas, data, or words of others as their own, and they must provide proper citation and attribution for all sources. Similarly, authors must not reuse substantial parts of their own previously published work without appropriate referencing.

All submissions are screened for originality using professional plagiarism detection software (Turnitin/iThenticate) before being sent to reviewers. In addition, reviewers are instructed to evaluate any potential overlaps with existing literature.

Plagiarism thresholds and actions:

  • < 5% similarity (excluding references, quotations, and methodological phrases): Acceptable.

  • 5–35% similarity The manuscript will be returned to the authors for revision and resubmission. Authors must reduce overlap and properly cite all sources.

  • > 35% similarity The manuscript will be rejected without review.

Detected plagiarism in published articles will result in retraction in line with the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Citation manipulation, including inappropriate self-citation, coercive citation practices, and artificial inflation of citation counts, is also considered a form of research misconduct. Any evidence of citation manipulation in submitted or published manuscripts will be handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.

By submitting to AJQR, authors confirm that their manuscript is original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. They also confirm that any potential conflicts of interest, funding sources, and use of generative AI tools (if applicable) are disclosed in accordance with our Publication Ethics Policy.

Artificial Intelligence

We at AJQR recognize the value of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to help authors in the research and writing process. We also welcome advancements in this area to enhance opportunities for generating ideas, accelerating research discovery, synthesizing, or analyzing findings, polishing language, or structuring a submission. Lastly, we value accuracy, transparency, and integrity in the research and writing process.

To comply with this policy, authors

  • must disclose their use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the body of the submission.
  • must not list Generative AI as an author of the submission.
  • should cite original sources, rather than Generative AI tools as primary sources within the reference.
  • must not use AI to create or manipulate images and figures.
  • must disclose on the AJQR submission page their use of any Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the research process reported in this submission including the creation of the report itself. In the disclosure, authors must name the tool, describe how it was used, and the reason for using it.

While submissions will not be rejected because of the disclosed use of Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies, if an editor becomes aware that Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies was inappropriately used in the preparation of a submission without disclosure, the editor reserves the right to reject the submission at any time during the publishing process. Inappropriate use of Generative AI includes the generation of incorrect text or content, plagiarism, or inappropriate attribution to prior sources.