CrossCheck usage in a journal publication

Since the inclusion of the Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (JEET) published by the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers in the Science Citation Index Expanded on the Web of Science by Thomson Reuters, the journal has recorded a considerable increase in the number of submitted articles (i.e., from 400 articles in 2009 to 2,000 articles in 2015). This work explores the use of CrossCheck as a tool to prevent and provide protection against plagiarism in the JEET. Since 2011, the JEET has been using CrossCheck and has adopted implicit and latent review guidelines internally. In this study, we investigate the function of CrossCheck by considering two types of similarity levels for published and rejected articles, namely, integrated similarity index (ISI) and maximum similarity index (MSI). The Minitab tool is used for statistical analysis. The JEET employs a blind CrossCheck system, in which ISI and MSI information is supplied only to the associate editor and not to the reviewers. Positive results are obtained even under the blind CrossCheck system. An exception is the group of “red” articles with ISI and MSI scores of above 50%. The ISI and MSI information of such red articles is supplied to the editors and reviewers of the JEET. The results of this work could serve as a reference for establishing a guideline or criterion for rejecting suspicious plagiarized articles during the review process