Plagiarism Policy & Pre-Check Guide
Last updated: June 2025
We are committed to publishing only original, authentic historical writing. This page explains our stance on plagiarism, how we detect it, and how you can check your own article before submitting.
What counts as plagiarism?
We consider the following to be plagiarism:
- Copying text from another source word-for-word without quotation marks and attribution.
- Paraphrasing another author's work so closely that the original phrasing is still recognisable.
- Presenting AI-generated text (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) as your own original writing.
- Submitting an article that was previously published elsewhere under your name or another author's name.
- Using translated content from a foreign-language source without disclosure.
Quoting is allowed — brief quotations from primary or secondary sources are encouraged, provided they are enclosed in quotation marks and the source is credited.
How we check submissions
Every submission goes through an editorial review that includes a plagiarism screening. Our team uses a combination of:
- Manual editorial review by experienced editors familiar with common historical sources.
- Automated similarity detection comparing the submission against indexed web content.
Articles flagged as potentially plagiarised are escalated to a senior editor. If plagiarism is confirmed, the submission is rejected and the Author is notified.
Plagiarism pre-check — what you can do before submitting
We strongly encourage authors to run their own plagiarism check before submitting. The following free and low-cost tools are widely used:
Grammarly
Free tierIncludes a plagiarism checker on the free plan. Checks against billions of web pages.
grammarly.com ↗Quetext
Free tier5 free checks per month. Provides a similarity score with source highlights.
quetext.com ↗Duplichecker
FreeFully free, no sign-up required. Best for a quick check on shorter articles.
duplichecker.com ↗Copyscape
PaidIndustry-standard tool used by publishers. Pay-per-search, from $0.03 per search.
copyscape.com ↗Consequences of plagiarism
| Offence | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Minor unintentional similarity (<20%, no exact copying) | Edit request sent; resubmission allowed |
| Moderate plagiarism — paraphrasing without attribution | Article rejected; author notified |
| Significant plagiarism — large blocks of copied text | Article rejected; account flagged |
| AI-generated content presented as original writing | Article rejected; account may be suspended |
| Repeat offences | Permanent account ban |
AI-generated content policy
We do not accept articles that are primarily or entirely written by AI language models. We value human research, human voice, and human perspective. AI tools may be used for light editing assistance (grammar, readability), but the substance and structure of your article must be your own.
If we determine that an article was generated by AI, it will be rejected regardless of its historical accuracy.