Maintaining academic integrity is a fundamental commitment of SPECTRA COMMUNITY SERVICES: Journal of Community Services and Social Development. The Editorial Board is committed to ensuring that all manuscripts submitted to the journal are original and free from plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.

1. Similarity Screening
   All submitted manuscripts will undergo a similarity check during the initial editorial evaluation stage, before peer review, and may be checked again during the final evaluation stage prior to publication.
2. Similarity Threshold
   The maximum allowable overall similarity index is 20%. The similarity score is evaluated by the Editorial Team on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the nature and source of the matched text. Bibliographic references and properly identified direct quotations may be excluded from the similarity assessment where applicable.
3. Manuscripts Exceeding the Threshold
   If the similarity index exceeds 20%, the manuscript may be returned to the author for clarification and revision. Authors may be required to properly paraphrase, cite, or remove improperly reproduced material before the manuscript can proceed to the next stage.
4. Serious Plagiarism
   Manuscripts found to contain substantial, deliberate, or unethical plagiarism may be rejected immediately, regardless of the similarity percentage. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal reserves the right to take appropriate action in accordance with its publication ethics policies, including correction, retraction, or other measures deemed necessary.

The final determination regarding plagiarism and academic misconduct rests with the Editorial Board based on the similarity report, the context of the matched material, and applicable publication ethics standards.