Glossary of research integrity and publishing terms
Short definitions of the terms that come up when you check, cite and publish a paper — each one with a link to the tool or guide that goes further.
Abstract
An abstract is a stand-alone summary of a paper, usually 150 to 250 words, covering the context, aim, method, main results and conclusion. Many medical journals require a structured abstract with headings. Writing an abstract →
AI content detection
AI content detection estimates how likely it is that a text was produced by a large language model, using classifiers trained on human and machine-written examples. The result is a probability-like signal, not proof of authorship. Are AI detectors accurate? →
Article processing charge (APC)
An article processing charge is the fee some open-access journals charge authors, or their funders, to publish an accepted paper. Diamond open-access journals charge neither authors nor readers.
BibTeX
BibTeX is the reference format and tool used with LaTeX: each source is an entry in a .bib file with a key, and the bibliography style decides how references are printed. BibTeX Cleaner →
CiteScore
CiteScore is Elsevier's journal metric based on Scopus data: the citations received in a four-year window by documents published in those four years, divided by the number of those documents. Publishing in a Scopus journal →
COPE
COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics, is a non-profit body that publishes guidance and flowcharts editors use for cases such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes and the use of AI. AI policies of journals →
Corresponding author
The corresponding author is the author who handles communication with the journal during submission and review and answers readers' questions after publication.
Crossref
Crossref is the DOI registration agency used by most scholarly publishers. Its open metadata records the title, authors, journal and references of each registered work. Citation Generator →
DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
A DOI is a permanent identifier for a published work, such as 10.1038/nature12373, which resolves to the work's current location through https://doi.org/. Most citation styles include it. Citing a DOI →
Duplicate publication
Duplicate, or redundant, publication is publishing the same study, data and conclusions more than once without disclosure. It is the most serious form of self-plagiarism and can lead to retraction. Self-plagiarism explained →
h-index
The h-index is the largest number h such that a researcher has h papers each cited at least h times. It was proposed by the physicist Jorge Hirsch in 2005.
IMRaD
IMRaD is the standard structure of a research article: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. Most journals in the sciences expect it.
Journal Impact Factor
The Journal Impact Factor is Clarivate's yearly metric: the citations received in a year by a journal's items from the two previous years, divided by the number of citable items it published in those two years. Choosing a journal →
Journal template
A journal template is the publisher's Word or LaTeX file that sets a journal's layout, fonts, headings and reference style, such as IEEEtran for IEEE journals. IEEE LaTeX template guide →
LaTeX
LaTeX is a typesetting system that turns a marked-up text file into a formatted PDF. It is the standard for mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering papers. Online LaTeX Editor →
Open access
Open access means a paper is free to read online. Gold open access is published open by the journal, green open access is a copy the author deposits in a repository, and hybrid journals are subscription journals that make single articles open for a fee.
OpenAlex
OpenAlex is a free, open index of scholarly works, authors, institutions and journals, run by the non-profit OurResearch. It covers about 250 million works. How our checks work →
ORCID iD
An ORCID iD is a free, persistent 16-digit identifier for a researcher, such as 0000-0002-1825-0097, that links a person to their work across journals and databases.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is restating a source's idea in your own words and sentence structure. A paraphrase still needs a citation. Paraphrasing without plagiarism →
Patchwriting
Patchwriting is copying a source's sentence structure while swapping in synonyms. It is treated as plagiarism even when the source is cited. Paraphrasing without plagiarism →
Peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of a manuscript by experts in the field before publication. In single-blind review the reviewers know the authors' names, in double-blind review neither side knows the other, and in open review identities or reports are published.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words, ideas, data or images as your own without proper credit. It includes close paraphrase without citation, not only copying. Plagiarism Checker →
Predatory journal
A predatory journal puts its own profit ahead of scholarship: it charges fees while offering little or no real peer review, and uses false or misleading information and aggressive solicitation. Spotting predatory journals →
Preprint
A preprint is a version of a paper shared publicly before peer review, on servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv or SSRN. Most journals accept submissions that were posted as preprints.
Scopus
Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database. A Scopus-indexed journal has been accepted for coverage after review by its Content Selection and Advisory Board. Publishing in a Scopus journal →
Self-plagiarism
Self-plagiarism is reusing your own published work as if it were new without saying so — duplicate publication, undisclosed text recycling or salami slicing. Self-plagiarism explained →
Similarity index
A similarity index is the percentage of a document's text that a checker matched to sources in its database. It measures overlap, not plagiarism: quotations, references and common phrases can match too. Acceptable plagiarism percentage →
Text recycling
Text recycling is reusing passages from your own earlier writing in a new document. Cited, limited reuse such as a methods description is often acceptable. Self-plagiarism explained →
Web of Science
Web of Science is Clarivate's citation database. Its Core Collection indexes journals in citation indexes such as SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI, and its data underlies the Journal Impact Factor.