Antiplagiarism Tool
Last update: 02/05/2026
Pensar – Journal of Legal Sciences adopts, as part of its scientific integrity policy, the textual similarity verification and originality analysis of all submitted manuscripts, using Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate, as a tool to support preliminary editorial screening. The tool is licensed and funded by the journal.
Purpose
Similarity verification aims to promote academic integrity, the originality of scientific contributions, and the observance of editorial best practices. It specifically seeks to:
- Identify possible textual overlaps;
- Prevent plagiarism and self-plagiarism practices;
- Detect redundant or duplicate publication;
- Curb undue reuse of previously published material.
About the tool
Crossref is the main international DOI registration organization for scientific communication. Similarity Check is its textual similarity detection service, operated in partnership with iThenticate, a tool that compares the submitted manuscript with a database of more than 100 million academic documents, scientific journals, books, and public web sources.
Alignment with national and international guidelines
The journal's policy is aligned with national and international scientific integrity guidelines:
- The recommendations of COPE — Committee on Publication Ethics;
- The SciELO guidelines for integrity in scientific publication;
- CNPq Ordinance No. 2,664, of March 6, 2026, which establishes the Scientific Integrity Policy, addressing principles, guidelines, and duties related to integrity in scientific activity, including the prevention and investigation of practices such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and undue appropriation of intellectual production.
Author duties
Authors must ensure:
- The originality of the submitted manuscript;
- Proper authorship attribution;
- Correct indication of sources used;
- Transparency regarding the reuse of content previously published by the authors themselves or by third parties;
- The observance of duties of honesty, responsibility, and traceability of scientific production.
Editorial procedure
Similarity verification is part of the initial editorial screening stage of the manuscript. The report generated by the system is analyzed by the editorial team, which evaluates the academic context of the matches identified, considering:
- The existence of adequate citations and correct references;
- The legitimate use of already published passages (transcription of case law, legal provisions, court summaries);
- The nature of the matches (continuous text vs. punctual fragments);
- Possible need for clarifications or adjustments by the authors.
Contextual analysis criterion
Pensar does not adopt an absolute quantitative index as the sole criterion for acceptance or rejection. It is recognized that, in legal research, there is legitimate and necessary reproduction of case law, court summaries, legal provisions, and doctrinal citations, which naturally generate textual similarity without constituting misconduct.
As an operational reference:
- Total similarity indices above 20% require mandatory contextual analysis by the editorial team, with possible request for clarifications or adjustments to the authors;
- Substantial unjustified overlap, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or undue reuse of others' material may lead to immediate rejection, regardless of the global index;
- The decision always considers the context, the nature of the manuscript, and the adequacy of cited sources.
Possible editorial actions
When relevant similarity indices or indications of textual impropriety are identified, the journal may:
- Request clarifications or adjustments from the authors;
- Determine corrections before forwarding to peer review;
- Immediately reject the manuscript when substantial overlap, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or undue reuse of others' material is characterized;
- In cases of already published manuscripts, initiate proceedings for retraction, correction, or expression of concern, as applicable.
Post-publication verification
Similarity verification is not limited to the pre-publication stage. In case of subsequent allegation of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or other impropriety, the journal may repeat the verification and adopt the appropriate measures, as detailed in the Publication Ethics and Retraction, Correction, and Erratum policies.
Confidentiality of reports
Similarity reports generated by the system are for the exclusive use of the editorial team and are not shared with third parties, being treated with confidentiality within the editorial process. When applicable, the similarity index may be part of the Editorial Decision Note published as supplementary material of the approved article, as per item 3.3 of the Open Science Editorial Policy.
