New regulations on plagiarism mandate that student researchers may lose their registration and teachers can be sacked if they are found guilty of plagiarism. These regulations have come into force after the HRD Ministry notified by UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2018 this week.
According to a gazette notification, plagiarism of up to 10 per cent would not result in any penalty for students. Those with plagiarism between 10 per cent and 40 per cent in their research papers would have to submit a revised research paper within six months. If the similarities are between 40 per cent and 60 per cent, students will be debarred from submitting a revised paper for one year. A student researcher's registration for a programme will be nullified if more than 60 per cent of the research paper is plagiarised.
Teachers will be asked to withdraw their manuscripts if their academic and research papers are 10 per cent to 40 per cent similar to other papers, the notification said. In case the similarities range between 40 per cent and 60 per cent, they will not be allowed to supervise new masters, MPhil, PhD students for two years and will also be denied the right to one annual increment, it added. The teachers will be liable to suspension and even dismissal in case of repeat plagiarism of over 60 per cent similarity.
The University Grants Commission had approved the regulations prescribing graded punishment for plagiarism during its meeting in March earlier this year.
The new regulations prescribe that members of the academic community shall approach the Departmental Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP) if they suspect with appropriate proof that a case of plagiarism has happened in any document.
"Upon receipt of such a complaint or allegation the DAIP shall investigate the matter and submit its recommendations to the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) of the Higher Education Institutions (HEI). The authorities of HEI can also take suo motu notice of an act of plagiarism and initiate proceedings under these regulations. Similarly, proceedings can also be initiated by the HEI on the basis of findings of an examiner. All such cases will be investigated by the IAIP," the regulations read.
Parliament was yesterday informed by the government that the UGC found three cases of plagiarism in writing PhD thesis, including two involving vice chancellors of different universities.
(With PTI inputs)