The Netherlands Journal of Critical Care (Neth. J. Crit. Care) is committed to maintaining originality, academic integrity, and responsible research and publication practices. All submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism and similarity screening as part of the journal's editorial quality-control process.

1. Plagiarism Screening

The journal uses Turnitin to screen submitted manuscripts for plagiarism, inappropriate text overlap, duplicate publication, and other forms of substantial similarity with existing published or publicly available material.

2. Plagiarism Report at Submission

Authors are required to submit a plagiarism/similarity report generated by Turnitin along with their manuscript at the time of submission.

The report should correspond to the submitted version of the manuscript and should be sufficiently complete to allow the editorial team to assess potential similarities.

3. Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for checking their manuscript for inappropriate similarity before submission. Authors should ensure that:

• All sources are properly cited and acknowledged.
• Direct quotations are clearly identified and appropriately referenced.
• Previously published material is appropriately disclosed.
• The manuscript is original and has not been submitted simultaneously to another journal.
• The submitted Turnitin report corresponds to the manuscript being submitted.

Authors are encouraged to resolve inappropriate or unexplained similarities before submitting their manuscript.

4. Editorial Assessment

The similarity percentage reported by Turnitin is not considered the sole basis for determining plagiarism. The editorial team evaluates the nature, location, source, and context of identified similarities.

Common phrases, technical terminology, properly cited quotations, references, and other legitimate similarities may contribute to a similarity score without constituting plagiarism.

Conversely, significant unattributed copying may constitute plagiarism even where the overall similarity percentage is relatively low.

5. Similarity Concerns

Where substantial or inappropriate similarity is identified, the editorial office may:

• Request clarification from the authors.
• Ask authors to revise the manuscript.
• Request an updated Turnitin report.
• Conduct additional editorial assessment.
• Reject the manuscript where serious plagiarism or duplicate publication is identified.
• Refer serious concerns to the authors' institution or relevant authority where appropriate.

6. Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

Plagiarism, duplicate publication, redundant publication, fabrication, falsification, and intentional misrepresentation of previously published work are considered serious breaches of publication ethics.

The journal may take appropriate action in accordance with its Publication Ethics Policy and relevant COPE and ICMJE principles.

7. Screening After Submission

The journal reserves the right to conduct additional plagiarism or similarity checks at any stage of the editorial, peer-review, revision, or production process, even when a Turnitin report has already been submitted by the authors.

A manuscript may also be screened again after revision where significant changes have been made.

8. Post-Publication Concerns

If plagiarism or significant unattributed similarity is identified after publication, the journal will assess the concern and may take appropriate corrective action, including publication of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the seriousness of the issue.

9. Commitment to Originality

The Netherlands Journal of Critical Care considers originality and proper attribution essential components of responsible scholarly publishing. The requirement for a Turnitin report at submission, together with independent editorial screening, helps ensure the integrity and reliability of the journal's published content.