1. During the handling of a complaint, the contents of the complaint, identity of the persons involved and the scope of the inquiry shall remain confidential to the extent practicable, consistent with the need for information and expeditious review.

2. In handling a case of alleged plagiarism, the editor should request the following basic information from the complainant on:

The original article:

(1) Title of article
(2) Full list of author names
(3) Publication title in which original appeared

The use of someone else’s unpublished ideas:

(1) Title of idea
(2) Full list of creators
(3) Verifiable date of creation

The alleged plagiarized paper:

(1) Title of article
(2) Full list of author names
(3) Publication title in which the paper appeared

Copies of both articles or, if appropriate, documentation of an idea and the subsequent article, preferably with highlighted text showing all instances of inappropriate reuse
Full name and address of complainant.

3. If a complaint is received concerning the accuracy or completeness of a paper published in an IEEE publication, the person responsible for that publication (e.g., editor, Organizational-Unit officer, etc.) shall investigate the complaint. If it is ascertained that the complaint stems from differences in opinion, the responsible person shall dismiss the complaint and notify the complainant of the conclusion. The responsible person may also recommend that the complainant prepare and submit a rebuttal for publication.

4. If a complaint is received against an editor, associate editor, or reviewer of an IEEE publication, one of the following steps applies depending on the complaint.

If the complaint concerns the editor's judgment in the rejection of a manuscript, then the author shall be informed that the editor has final decision-making authority over such matters.
If the complaint is against an associate editor or reviewer, the editor shall evaluate the merits of the complaint, determine the appropriate course of action in accordance with established policies, and respond to the author.
If the complaint involves an allegation of bias on the part of the editor, then the author may appeal directly to the designee of the Organizational Unit responsible for the publication (such as the Vice President of Publications, the Chair of the Publications Committee, etc.). If such a position does not exist, the complaint should be made to the PSPB Chair who shall then investigate the allegation in accordance with Section 8.2.3. In this case, upon completion of the investigation, the PSPB Chair’s findings shall be sent to the editor as well as the responsible person(s) for the sponsoring IEEE Organizational Unit(s).

Revisions to Section 8.2.4.A – Handling Complaints, as contained in this manual, require the review and approval of the IEEE Board of Directors, using the process in accordance with IEEE Bylaw I-300.4(5).

B. INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE AUTHOR MISCONDUCT

1. If the editor of an IEEE publication learns that an author may have acted improperly, which may include but is not limited to misrepresenting data, plagiarizing text, or not informing the editor that an article had been published, accepted for publication, or concurrently under review by another publication, then the editor shall investigate the alleged misconduct. All inquiries shall be handled promptly and fairly. All parties relevant to the allegation shall be given the opportunity to respond.

2. The editor will notify the IEEE Staff Executive - Publications or that person’s designee that an inquiry has been undertaken. The purpose of this notification is to provide information and a record. The Office of the IEEE Staff Executive - Publications will inform the PSPB Chair about the inquiry.

3. In considering the allegation, the editor shall appoint an independent ad-hoc committee of experts in the topic to confidentially investigate and make a recommendation on the allegation to the editor. In addition to the material supplied by the editor, the ad-hoc committee may seek other sources of relevant information, such as the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office. However, the ad-hoc committee shall not contact the institution where the work was performed unless it has explicit information that such institution has already investigated the issue.

Revisions to 8.2.4.B – Investigating Possible Author Misconduct, as contained in this manual, require the review and approval of the IEEE Board of Directors, using the process in accordance with IEEE Bylaw I-300.4(5).

C. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FOR AUTHOR MISCONDUCT

1. If a finding of misconduct relevant to an IEEE publication (data misrepresentation/fabrication, plagiarism, multiple submission, or prior publication, etc.) is made by an editor, then appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary actions shall be initiated.

2. For all cases involving alleged plagiarism or the multiple submission/publication of the same manuscript, the editor shall inform the PSPB Chair of the investigating committee’s conclusions or recommend action(s) to the PSPB Chair in accordance with Section 8.2.4.D “Guidelines for Adjudicating Different Levels of Plagiarism” and Section 8.2.4.F “Guidelines for Adjudicating Prior Publication, Multiple Submission, and Reuse of Previous Publications.”

3. Except for cases involving allegations of plagiarism or multiple submission/publication (see Sections 8.2.4.D and 8.2.4.F below for more specific information), the PSPB Chair shall notify the individual(s) named in the editor’s recommendation that an action is being reviewed. The PSPB Chair shall offer the named individual(s) the opportunity to respond within 30 days to the recommended action, and the Chair may choose to request additional information from the editor and/or the named individual(s).

4. No sooner than 30 days and no later than 90 days after notifying the individual(s) named in the editor’s recommendation, the PSPB Chair will issue a final determination of corrective action(s) to be taken. The decision of the PSPB Chair is final and not subject to further appeal within the process and guidelines specified by Section 8.2.4.

Revisions to Section 8.2.4.C – Corrective Actions, as contained in this manual, require the review and approval of the IEEE Board of Directors, using the process in accordance with IEEE Bylaw I-300.4(5).

D. GUIDELINES FOR ADJUDICATING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PLAGIARISM

The following guidelines require or recommend appropriate corrective actions to be taken by editors of IEEE publications for each of five defined levels (or degrees) of plagiarism. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, (a) uncredited copying of someone else’s work, (b) using someone else’s material without clear delineation or citation, and (c) uncited reuse of an author’s previously published work that also involves other authors. Guidelines for referencing of other peoples’ work are covered in Section 8.2.9. It should be noted that plagiarism is a type of copyright infringement, and as such may also subject the author(s) to legal liability. These Guidelines apply to all manuscripts at any point in the publication process, from initial submission to final publication. Proposed corrective actions related to level 1 or 2 of the following shall be approved by the PSPB Chair. Furthermore, a number of the corrective actions below either require or allow notice of the offense to be placed in the IEEE electronic database and/or in the relevant publication. Prior to carrying-out such public corrective actions, it is required that a legal review be processed by PSPB. The review is to ensure that, before such serious actions are taken, IEEE procedures were followed in an unbiased and proper manner.

1. Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Full Paper. [The most extreme case of plagiarism is when a full paper is copied and any name of the original author list is replaced with another one.], or

Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Major Portion (more than 50%) of a Paper. [An instance is where a large section of the original paper is copied without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography.]

a. In these cases corrective actions that must be taken are:

(1) Whenever possible, publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in Section 8.2.4.E, in the IEEE electronic database as part of the article’s bibliographic record

(2) Whenever possible, publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in Section 8.2.4.E, in the appropriate IEEE publication where the author(s) and the specific paper have been found to be in violation of IEEE Principles against plagiarism

(3) Prohibition of publication in all IEEE-copyrighted publications by the offending individual(s) for 3 to 5 years as determined by PSPB Chair

(4) Rejection and return of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication queue (papers may be re-submitted after prohibition term has expired).

b. Recommended corrective actions for uncredited verbatim copying of major portions of a paper may also include the following:

(1) Offending individual(s) prepare and submit an apology to the plagiarized author(s) and publication editor.

(2) Publication of the offending author’s apology.

a. If the corrective action recommended by Section 8.2.4.D.1.b.(1) is taken, and the offending individual(s) fail to apologize in writing, the following corrective action shall be taken:

(1) The duration of the prohibition of publication in all IEEE-copyrighted publications specified by Section 8.2.4,D.1,a.(3) shall be increased by 1 or 2 years as determined by PSPB Chair.

2. Uncredited Verbatim Copying of a Large Portion (up to 50%) from a Paper. [An instance is where a section of the original paper is copied from another paper without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography.]

a. In this case corrective actions that must be taken are:

(1) Whenever possible, publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in Section 8.2.4.E, in the IEEE electronic database as part of the article’s bibliographic record

(3) Prohibition of publication in all IEEE-copyrighted publications by the offending individual(s) for 1 to 3 years as determined by the Organizational Unit’s publications officer

(4) Rejection and return of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication queue (papers may be re-submitted after prohibition term has expired).

b. Recommended corrective actions for uncredited verbatim copying of large portions of papers may also include the following:

(1) Offending individual(s) prepare and submit an apology to the plagiarized author(s) and publication editor

(2) Publication of the offending author’s apology.

c. If the corrective action recommended by Section 8.2.4.D.2.b.(1) is taken, and the offending individual(s) fail to apologize in writing, the following corrective action shall be taken:

(1) The duration of the prohibition of publication in all IEEE-copyrighted publications specified by Section 8.2.4,D.2,a.(3) shall be increased by 1 or 2 years as determined by the Organizational Unit’s publications officer.

3. Uncredited Verbatim Copying of Individual Elements (Paragraph(s), Sentence(s), Illustration(s), etc.). [An instance could be where portions of original paper are used in another paper without quotation marks, credit notice, reference, and bibliography.]

a. In this case corrective actions that shall be taken are:

(1) Offending individual(s) prepare and submit an apology to the plagiarized author(s) and to the editor of the publication where the plagiarized work was submitted.

b. If the offending individual(s) fail to apologize in writing, the following corrective actions shall be taken:

(1) Prohibition of publication in the IEEE publication where the offense took place by the offending individual(s) for the next 1 or 2 years of the publication or, if appropriate, the next 1 or 2 volumes of the conference proceedings, as determined by the editor

(2) Rejection and return of all papers for that publication by the author(s) that are currently in review or the queue for that publication (papers may be re-submitted after prohibition term has expired).

(3) Whenever possible, publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in Section 8.2.4.E, in the appropriate IEEE publication where the author(s) and the specific paper have been found to be in violation of IEEE Principles against plagiarism.

c. The following actions may also be taken:

(1) Publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in 8.2.4.E, in the IEEE electronic database as part of the article’s bibliographic record.

(2) Publication of the offending author’s apology.

d. Repeated offenses for uncredited verbatim copying of individual elements of papers shall result in suspension of publication privileges in any IEEE Publications for 1 year and suspension of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication’s queue.

4. Uncredited Improper Paraphrasing of Pages or Paragraphs. [Instances of improper paraphrasing occur when only a few words and phrases have been changed or when the original sentence order has been rearranged; no credit notice or reference appears with the text.]

a. In this case corrective actions that shall be taken are:

(1) Offending individual(s) prepare and submit an apology to the plagiarized author(s) and publication editor.

b. If the offending individual(s) fail to carry out the above actions, the following corrective actions shall be taken:

(1) Prohibition of publication in the IEEE publication where the offense took place by the offending individual(s) for 1 year of the publication or, if appropriate, the next volume of the conference proceedings.

c. The following actions may also be taken:

(1) Whenever possible, publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles, as specified in Section 8.2.4.E, in the IEEE electronic database as part of the article’s bibliographic record

(2) Publication of the offending author’s apology.

d. Repeated offenses for uncredited improper paraphrasing shall result in suspension of publication privileges in all IEEE Publications for 1 year and rejection and return of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication’s queue (papers may be re-submitted after prohibition term has expired).

5. Credited Verbatim Copying of a Major Portion of a Paper without Clear Delineation. [Instances could include sections of an original paper copied from another paper; credit notice is used but absence of quotation marks or offset text does not clearly reference or identify the specific, copied material.]

a. In this case corrective actions that shall be taken are:

(1) Offending individual(s) prepare and submit an apology to the original author(s) and publication editor

(2) Offending individual(s) prepare correction or retraction and submit this document to the editor for publication.

b. If the offending individual(s) fail to carry out the above actions, the following corrective actions shall be taken:

c. Repeated offenses for improper credited verbatim use shall result in suspension of publication privileges in all IEEE Publications for 1 year and rejection and return of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication’s queue (papers may be re-submitted after prohibition term has expired).

(See also IEEE Policy 7.11 – Procedures for Member Conduct Complaints.)