Similarity and plagiarism checks

From 1 September 2023 all new draft submissions should be transferred directly to the Central Editorial Service. Please continue the editorial process for revised submissions only. If you have any queries about the best action to take for a particular submission, please contact Cochrane Support. 

Several functions on the Action menu allow you to check title proposals, protocols and reviews against other content.

  • Similarity Check Results
  • Duplicate Submission Check
  • Similar Articles in MEDLINE

 

Similarity Check Results

  • View the Similarity Check Results before completing checklists such as the ME Submission Check. See Editorial checks.
  • Click on the link in the Action menu to open the Similarity Check Results screen.
  • Select Report Status Completed to view the open the full report in the iThenticate Document Viewer, where text matches making up the overall percentage are listed.

 

Duplicate Submission Check

  • This checks a submission against other submitted drafts in the system - it is essentially a check to confirm an author has not submitted the same version twice in error.
  • If a percentage greater than 0% shows, open click on the link in the Action menu to open the Duplicate Submission Check Results screen.
  • This lists any matches in the system based on title, authors and abstract.
  • If authors have previously submitted the same review at a previous stage, you will see a high similarity percentage; however the Initial Date Submitted will make it clear if this is the same review at a previous stage. 

 

Similar Arcticles in MEDLINE

  • Clicking the Similar Articles in MEDLINE link opens a PubMed search window with the search box automatically populated with the review title.
  • Edit the search terms and other filters as you wish - you can select to search against systematic reviews only, for instance.