SMARTH: Journal of Mathematics Education and Learning is committed to maintaining academic integrity and the highest standards of publication ethics. All submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another journal. Any form of plagiarism, including direct plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate self-plagiarism, data plagiarism, or unattributed use of AI-generated content, is strictly prohibited.

Similarity Screening

Every manuscript undergoes similarity screening using recognized plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin, iThenticate, or equivalent tools before peer review and, when necessary, during the editorial process.

• The maximum acceptable Similarity Index is 20%.
• References, properly quoted text, and standard methodological descriptions may be excluded from editorial assessment.
• Editors evaluate similarity reports qualitatively and not solely by percentage.
• Manuscripts with excessive similarity may be returned for revision or rejected before peer review.

Unacceptable Forms of Plagiarism

• Copying text, ideas, figures, tables, or data without proper attribution.
• Using another person's research findings without appropriate citation.
• Duplicate or redundant publication without full disclosure.
• Excessive self-plagiarism or text recycling.
• Citation manipulation or misleading referencing practices.
• Submitting AI-generated content without human verification, disclosure, and academic responsibility.

Editorial Actions

Suspected plagiarism will be investigated following the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

• Request for clarification or manuscript revision.
• Immediate rejection of the manuscript.
• Withdrawal of the manuscript from the publication process.
• Publication of corrections or article retractions when necessary.
• Notification to the authors' institution in cases of serious misconduct.

Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work, properly acknowledging all sources, obtaining permission for copyrighted materials when required, and complying with the journal's publication ethics policies.