Sharing a paper on SSRN (Social Science Research Network) is a common practice for researchers to disseminate their work and receive feedback from the academic community. SSRN is a preprint repository where researchers can share their early-stage research papers before formal peer review. However, the issue of plagiarism can arise if the content shared on SSRN or any platform is found to have significant portions of text copied from other sources without proper attribution or permission.

When a reviewer marks a paper as containing plagiarism, they are likely indicating that they have identified instances of text that appear to be copied from other sources without appropriate citation. Plagiarism is a serious ethical violation in academia and publishing, as it involves presenting someone else's work, ideas, or words as one's own without proper acknowledgment.

There are several reasons why a reviewer might mark a paper as containing plagiarism content:

It's important to note that different journals and reviewers may have varying criteria for identifying and assessing plagiarism. Some journals use plagiarism detection software to identify potential issues, while others rely on the expertise of reviewers. If a paper is flagged for plagiarism, the authors may be required to revise the content, properly attribute sources, and address the concerns raised by the reviewer.

To avoid plagiarism issues, researchers should always provide proper citations for all sources used in their work, whether published papers, books, websites, or other forms of content. It's recommended to follow the citation and referencing guidelines of the specific journal or publisher when submitting work for publication.

But ithenticate software report of this paper has found only 5% similarity. So then what you say?

try turnitin, researchers have more advance plagiarism detection software.

Also turnitin provide around same result

Then Retract your Journal Article and try submitting it to a non predatory journal, who does not expect money for publishing your article.

How to identify a predatory Journal ?

Identifying predatory journals can be challenging, as they often mimic legitimate academic journals while engaging in unethical practices.

Here are some tips to help you recognize and avoid predatory journals:

Remember that while these tips can help you identify potential predatory journals, it's always best to use multiple criteria for evaluation and exercise caution when submitting your work. Conduct thorough research and due diligence before choosing a journal for your publication.

Dear Md. Mahmudur Rahman This is indeed a frequently recurring issue when it comes to pre-prints, see for example https://www.researchgate.net/post/My_manuscript_is_showing_in_SSRN_Electronic_Journal_whereas_it_is_under_review_in_one_Elsevier_journalis_it_fine/2

I think you are absolutely right, the problem here is the reviewer and not you. Most likely you deal here with a reviewer who simply does not understand how this works.

You can refer to the following link and click on the question “What happens if my paper is flagged by a publisher as plagiarism because it is on SSRN” https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34422/p/16539/supporthub/ssrn/related/1/ it states clearly: “SSRN is not a publisher and preprints posted on our site should never be considered a published work unless otherwise stated. Some plagiarism checkers will flag preprint servers like SSRN as previously published work, but this is not the case…”

Normally you are requested to reply to the comments/questions made/raised by the reviewers. You tried to explain the matter to the reviewer which apparently didn’t work. I think you should trust the editor who most likely does understand the matter and he/she will dismiss the matter.

Best regards.

PS. If you want to be absolutely sure you can send the editor a short message where you ask whether your willingness to delete the pre-print is helpful in this matter.

I think so, thanks for your response Rob Keller

This is actually the fault of this particular reviewer, not the concern of author.

Your point is exactly right, so you can now contact with the editor of this particular journal, he should understand the unreal behaviour of reviewer who actually dont know the basic difference between the SSRN and plagiarism issue.

Thanks for your kind information

Confusing issue

Should be solved

Problematic issue for author

Confusing issue

Same problem here