Medical Science of Ukraine accepts for consideration only original manuscripts that have not previously been published and are not under simultaneous consideration by another publication.

Authors are responsible for the reliability of the submitted materials, the appropriate use of borrowed content and compliance with the principles of academic citation. Any texts, ideas, data, findings or images created by other persons must be accompanied by appropriate references to the original sources.

The Editorial Office uses iThenticate software to identify textual similarities. The resulting report is reviewed by the Editorial Office, taking into account the nature, extent and legitimacy of the identified matches.

The following indicative thresholds apply:

• a text originality score above 85% – the manuscript may proceed to further consideration;
• a text originality score of 75-85% – the manuscript is returned to the authors for review and correction of inappropriate borrowing;
• a text originality score below 75% – the manuscript is generally rejected;
• inappropriate textual similarity with any single source must not exceed 3%.

These percentages are supplementary criteria and do not replace expert assessment. Properly formatted quotations, reference lists, names of institutions, standard methodological wording and commonly used terms are taken into account. Even where the overall originality score is high, a manuscript may be rejected if substantial inappropriate borrowing is identified.

Depending on the outcome of the assessment, the Editorial Office may send the manuscript for peer review, return it to the authors for revision or reject it on the grounds of plagiarism, self-plagiarism or duplicate publication.

Where plagiarism is identified after publication, the Editorial Office requests an explanation from the authors and acts in accordance with COPE recommendations. Depending on the nature of the breach, the journal may publish a correction, an expression of concern or a retraction notice.