An Overview of HEC Plagiarism Policy

HEC Plagiarism Policy Based on

Leeds Met University’s

Little Book of Plagiarism

Dr. Abida Eijaz Institute of Communication Studies

University of the Punjab, Lahore

Contents Definition

Aim

Applicability

Responsibility of the Institution

Reporting

Investigation

The Plagiarism Standing Committee

Penalties for Plagiarism

Additional Actions Required

Appeal

Penalty of Wrong Reporting/ False Allegation

Definition

Concise Oxford Dictionary

“Taking and using the thoughts, writings and

inventions of another person as one’s own”.

This definition is not practical enough to apply in

order to ascertain guilt or innocence.

Manifestations of Plagiarism

Verbatim copying, near verbatim copying or

purposely paraphrasing portions of another

author’s paper or unpublished report without

citing the exact reference.

Not applying quotation marks correctly,

not citing the source correctly,

Copying elements of another author’s paper such as equations or illustrations that are not common knowledge, or purposely paraphrasing sentences without citing the source.

1. Exact citation of anything (equation, formula, illustration etc.) that is not common knowledge, either copying or paraphrasing

2. Different interpretation of some common knowledge needs citation

Verbatim copying portions of another

author’s paper or from reports by citing but

not clearly differentiating what text has

been copied and/or not citing the source

correctly

1. Not applying quotation marks correctly

2. Wrong citation

The unacknowledged use of computer

programs, computer software, web pages,

databases, spreadsheets, graph, tables,

drawings, artifacts, music compositions

etc.

1. A researcher has to mention the

material that has facilitated to produce

results.

Self-plagiarism that is the verbatim or

near verbatim re-use of significant

portions of one’s own copyrighted work

without citing the original source.

1. Re-use of one’s own copyrighted work

without citing the original source.

Definition From Wikipedia

“The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work. Within academia, it is considered ‘Academic Dishonesty’ or ‘Academic Fraud’.

Self-plagiarism in wikipedia,

“The re-use of significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one’s own work without acknowledging that one is doing so or without citing the original work”.

The Little Book of Plagiarism

The University of Greenwich has a definition of plagiarism:

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

1. Using published work without referencing

2. Copying coursework essays

3. Collaborating with any other person when individual work is suggested

4. Taking another person’s computer file/ program

5. Submitting another person’s work as one’s own

6. The use of acknowledged material published on the web

7. Purchase of model assignment

8. Copying another student’s results

9. Falsifying results

Plagiarism in Practice

Plagiarism takes many forms. Some of the

common forms include

Copying from a single source

Copying from several sources

Paraphrasing

Collusion

Re-use of programming code

Aim of HEC Plagiarism Policy

Apprise students, teachers and

researchers about Plagiarism

Discourage plagiarism activities

Regulate and authorize punitive actions

Applicability of Plagiarism Policy

Students, teachers, researchers and staff of all institutions and organizations in Pakistan who are involved in writing or publishing their work

Any person listing his CV on the website or any current publication or applying for any benefit on the basis of published or presented work that is plagiarized will be liable to be punished as per prescribed rules.

Responsibility of the Institution Apprise and acquaint their students,

teachers, staff and researchers about this policy

A modified version of “Little Book of Plagiarism” a publication of Leeds Metropolitan University, serves as an Annexure to this policy

Any University or Degree Awarding Institution which does not adopt and implement this policy will have its degree derecognized by HEC

Reporting of Plagiarism

A complaint is to be made by email, post, fax or other means to HEC Quality Assurance Division or respective University about alleged plagiarism.

Information to be provided in the complaint includes, citation of the original paper along with details, citation of the alleged plagiarizing paper, copies of both and any other information, details of the complainant.

Investigation of Plagiarism

Allegations

HEC Quality Assurance Division will request the

respective VC/ Rector/ Head of the Institution/

Organization to carry out investigation

VC/ Rector/ Head will constitute a

‘Plagiarism Standing Committee’

consisting of three senior faculty members

(seniority in relation to the alleged person),

a subject specialist to be co-opted,

a senior student in case of student alleged.

Members of the ‘Plagiarism Standing Committee’ have to sign a confidentiality statement

Provide opportunity to the author(s) to justify the originality of their concepts and research.

Similar opportunity to the complainant to justify the complaint.

The Committee will submit its report within sixty days

The VC/ Rector/ Head of the Institution/ Organization will have the discretion to implement the recommendations after approval through the statutory process and take punitive action or to forward the report to HEC or the parent Organization for further action if outside their jurisdiction.

Penalties for Plagiarism

Two separate categories of punishment i.e

Penalties for Teachers, Researchers and

Staff

Penalties for Students

Penalties for Teachers,

Researchers and Staff

Major penalty

Where most of the paper have been exactly copied

from any published work without giving reference to

the original work.

Dismissal from service along with

the offender may be ‘black listed,’ may not be eligible

for employment in any academic, research

organization, the notification of the ‘black listing’ of the

author may be published in the print media or on the

websites.

Moderate penalty

Where some paragraphs including some key results

have been copied without citation

Demotion to the next lower grade

The notification of the ‘black listing’ of the author

may be published in the print media or on the

websites at the discretion of the VC/ Rector/ Head

of the organization

Minor penalty

Where few paragraphs have been copied from an

external source without citation

Warning, freezing of all research grants, the promotion

or annual increment may be stopped for a specified

period

HEC may debar from sponsorship of research funding,

travel grant, supervision of PhD students, scholarship,

fellowship, or any other funded program for a period

suggested by Plagiarism Standing Committee

Penalties for Students

Plagiarism Standing Committee in its recommendations will advise

the VC/ Rector/ Head of the Institution/ Organization for any one or a combination of the following disciplinary action(s).

In case of thesis the responsibility of plagiarism will be of the student and not of the supervisor.

The offender may be expelled/rusticated from the University and debarred from joining any other institution of HEC for a suggested period.

The offender may be relegated to a lower class

The offender may be given a failure grade in the subject

The offender may be fined, written warning if offence is minor

The degree of the student may be withdrawn if at any time plagiarism is detected.

Notification of the plagiarism may be published in the print media or on the website

Additional Actions Required

If the plagiarized paper is accessible on

the web page, its access will be removed.

The author will be asked to write a formal

letter of apology to the authors of the

original paper, including an admission of

plagiarism

Appeal

The affected person has the right to

appeal to the Chairman HEC/ VC/ Rector/

Head of the organization for a review of

the findings or may submit a mercy

petition within 30 days from the date of

notification.

Such appeals will be disposed off within

60 days.

Penalty for Wrong Reporting/

False Allegation

When it is confirmed that a false allegation

was lodged, the VC/ Rector/ Head of the

organization will inform the complainant’s

organization and will recommend disciplinary

action against the complainant to be taken by

his/her parent organization.