ACTIVA: Journal of Applied Community Development is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and originality in scholarly publishing.

All submitted manuscripts are screened using recognized similarity-detection software before entering the peer-review process and may be screened again after revision or prior to publication. The journal evaluates not only the overall similarity score but also the nature, source, and context of any textual overlap.

As a general guideline, the overall similarity index should normally be below 20%, with no substantial unattributed overlap from any single source. References, bibliographies, properly quoted material, standard methodological descriptions, and unavoidable technical expressions may be excluded from the similarity assessment when appropriately justified.

The journal strictly prohibits all forms of academic misconduct, including:

• Plagiarism;
• Mosaic plagiarism;
• Duplicate or redundant publication;
• Undisclosed text recycling (self-plagiarism);
• Inappropriate reuse of figures, tables, images, or research data.

When minor similarity issues are identified, authors may be asked to revise their manuscripts before peer review. However, substantial or intentionally deceptive overlap may result in immediate rejection.

If plagiarism or other forms of publication misconduct are identified after publication, the journal may conduct a formal investigation and take appropriate actions, including issuing corrections, retractions, or notifying the relevant institutions, in accordance with established publication ethics procedures.

Authors are solely responsible for ensuring accurate citation of all sources and obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted materials where required.