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HEC finally come up with Plagiarism Policy
LAHORE, Sept 26: Clearing the mist of uncertainty that had clouded the
plagiarism issue, the Higher Education Commission has finally come up with a
policy that calls for highlighting the menace of literary theft and curbing it
through exemplary punitive actions.
It also emphasises the need to guard
against bogus or false complaints in order to prevent victimisation which may
make researchers and scholars shy away from work simply because of the fear of
prosecution.
The HEC has circulated the policy document among respective
universities as well as the Academic Staff Associations' office-bearers for
their information. In order to facilitate the institutions and organisations in
creating awareness about the issue, the commission has also sent a modified
version of "Little Book of Plagiarism", a publication of the Leeds Metropolitan
University, to all concerned.
The commission says any university or
degree-awarding institution, which does not adopt and implement this policy,
will have its degree de-recognised by it.
Says the HEC: "A formal
plagiarism policy is being sent to all concerned to create awareness, define
various forms in which plagiarism exhibits itself, present a methodology of
investigation, cater for punitive action proportional to the extent of the
offence and even address the issue of false or spurious complaints".
It
has defined plagiarism in the words of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, which
says: "Taking and using the thoughts, writings, and inventions of another person
as one's own". It also says there are various similar definitions found in
recognised publications/documents which are very broad and can be used to create
awareness about plagiarism but are not practical enough to apply in order to
ascertain guilt or innocence in specific cases.
In order to establish the
violation of ethical norms, or academic or intellectual dishonesty resulting
from plagiarism and to take punitive actions in this regard, the HEC has also
explained the variety of forms in which the curse manifests itself.
The
aim of this policy, says the commission, is to inform students, teachers,
researchers and staff about plagiarism and how it can be avoided. It is also
aimed at discouraging plagiarism by regulating and authorising punitive actions
against those found guilty of the offence.
The HEC says the policy is
applicable to students, teachers, researchers and staff of all institutions and
organisations 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 plagiarised will be liable to be punished according to the
prescribed rules.
The HEC has stressed that all institutions and
organisations must acquaint their students, teachers, researchers and staff with
this policy and ensure that they are fully aware that all authors are deemed to
be individually and collectively responsible for the contents of papers
published by journals/publishers, etc. Hence, it is the responsibility of each
author, including the co-authors, to ensure that the papers submitted for
publication should attain the highest ethical standards with respect to
plagiarism.
It says a complaint about plagiarism must be provided to the
commission in detail as well as with authenticity. Upon receipt of an allegation
of plagiarism, the HEC Quality Assurance Division will request the respective
vice-chancellor/rector/head of the organisation to carry out
investigation.
To investigate a plagiarism case, the VC/rector/head of
organisation will be required to constitute a "Plagiarism Standing Committee"
comprising three senior faculty members, a subject specialist in that particular
field is to be co-opted, a senior student (only if a student is being
investigated upon), and a nominee of the HEC. The seniority of the members of
the PSC should be of a level keeping in view the seniority of the individual
being investigated upon and the nature and gravity of the offence.
They
will also be required to provide guideline as well as terms of reference for
investigation, prepared by the HEC for the functioning of the PSC, to all
members of the committee.
The commission says the PSC members will be
required to sign a confidentiality statement that during the investigation they
will, under no circumstances, disclose any individual author's name, paper
titles, referees, or any other personal or specific information concerning the
plagiarism complaint under investigation. Nor shall they reveal the names of the
committee members.
The PSC members will also provide opportunity to the
author(s) under investigation to justify the originality of their concepts and
research work. Similar opportunity will also be provided to the author whose
paper is deemed to have been plagiarised and/or the complainant to justify the
complaint.
The PSC will be required to submit its report with clear-cut
findings and recommendations to the VC/rector/head of the organisation within a
specified period not exceeding 60 days. The authorities concerned will have the
discretion to implement the recommendations after approval through the statutory
process and take punitive action against the offender in the light of the
penalties prescribed under this policy or to forward the report to the HEC or
his/her parent organisation for further action, if outside their
purview/jurisdiction.
PENALTIES: Prescribing penalties, the HEC
says plagiarism is an intellectual crime so the penalties should not only take
into account the severity and recurrence of the offence but also the
intellectual standing of the offender. This entails a gradual increase in
punitive action with minimum punishment for a first-time offence by a student
who copies a homework assignment to a maximum punishment for a
teacher/researcher/staff who attempts to present/publish, or actually
presents/publishes plagiarised material as his own in a
conference/journal.
Therefore, it says, the punishments for plagiarism
have been divided into two separate categories - those for teachers, researchers
and staff, and those for the students.
TEACHERS, RESEARCHERS AND STAFF:
When an act of plagiarism is found to have occurred, the PSC in its
recommendations, depending upon the seriousness of the proven offence, will
advise the competent authority of the organisation to take any one or a
combination of the disciplinary action(s) against the teacher, researcher and/or
staff found guilty of the offence:
MAJOR PENALTY: In cases where
most of the paper (or key results) have been exactly copied from any published
work of other people without giving the reference to the original work, a major
penalty of dismissal from service needs to be prescribed, along with
'blacklisting' of the offender who may not be eligible for employment in any
academic/research organisation. And the notification of blacklisting of the
author(s) may be published in the print media or may be publicised on different
websites at the discretion of the VC/rector/head of the
organisation.
MODERATE PENALTY: In case where some paragraphs,
including some key results, have been copied without citation, a moderate
penalty involving any one or both of the following needs to be imposed: demotion
to the next lower grade; the notification of blacklisting of the author(s) which
may be published in the print media or may be publicised on different websites
at the discretion of the VC/rector/head of the organisation.
MINOR
PENALTY: In case a few paragraphs have been copied from an external source
without giving reference to that work, minor penalties need to be prescribed for
a specified period involving any one or more of the following: warning; freezing
of all research grants; the promotions/annual increments of the offender may be
stopped for a specified period; and the HEC or the university/organisation may
debar the offender from sponsorship of research funding, travel grant,
supervision of PhD students, scholarship, fellowship or any other funded
programme for a period as deemed appropriate by the PSC.
STUDENTS:
When an act of plagiarism is found in a thesis, the responsibility of plagiarism
will be of the student and not of the supervisor or members of the supervisory
committee.
The policy says the offender may be expelled/rusticated from
the university and from joining any institution of higher education in Pakistan
for a period as deemed appropriate by the PSC. A notice may be circulated among
all academic institutions and research organisation to the effect.
The
offender may also be relegated to a lower class; given a failure grade in the
subject; fined an amount as deemed appropriate; given a written warning if the
offence is minor and is committed for the first time.
The policy also
says the degree of a student may be withdrawn if at any time it is proven that
he or she has presented plagiarised work in his/her MS, MPhil or PhD
dissertation, if the extent of plagiarism comes under the category of major
penalty.
The notification of the plagiarism by the author(s) may be
published in the print media or may be publicised on different websites at the
discretion of the VC/rector/head of the organisation. The HEC or the
university/organisation may also debar the offender from sponsorship of research
funding, travel grant, scholarship, fellowship or any other funded programme for
a period as deemed appropriate and any other penalty deemed fit by the
PSC.
The HEC has also recommended some additional actions, if the offence
of plagiarism is established. These include: removal of plagiarised paper's
access from the web page but kept in its database for future research or legal
purposes; the author(s) will be asked to write a formal letter of apology to the
authors of the original paper that was plagiarised. It will include an admission
of plagiarism. Should the author(s) refuse to comply, additional punishments as
deemed fit may be recommended by the PSC.
If the paper is submitted but
not published yet, the paper will be rejected by the editor-in-chief or the
programme chair without further revisions and without any further plagiarism
investigation conducted. However, warning may be issued to the
author/co-author.
APPEAL: As the penalties are severe, the
affected person(s) will have the right to appeal to the HEC
chairman/VC/rector/head of the organisation for a review of the findings or may
submit a mercy petition within 30 days from the date of notification. Such
appeals/petitions will be disposed of within 60 days of receipt, by following
the laid down procedures.
MISREPORTING/FALSE ALLEGATION: If the
case of plagiarism is not proved and it is confirmed that a false allegation has
been lodged, the VC/rector/head of the organisation will inform the
complainant's organisation and recommend disciplinary action against the
complainant. Dawn
Your Comments
"Its very usful specially for MEEEEE. i really happy to find it cos i was in need of it. thanks alot. "
Name: Asif Naeem
Email: asifqlc@hotmail.com
City, Country: D.G Khan, Pakistan
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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