Plagiarism and Dishonest Practice

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STEP 1: DEFINITIONS:

In the interest of efficacy and transparency, clear and comprehensive definitions are needed. It is proposed that the following definitions of Dishonest Practice, Plagiarism and Cheating be used in regard to this policy.

(1) Dishonest Practice:

The USP Official Calendar defines cheating under the broad heading of dishonest practice. “Dishonest Practice covers cheating in examinations, test or coursework”.

For the purpose of the SOE policy framework, a distinction between these is made.

Dishonest Practice shall therefore include any behavior or action taken by a student that is deemed unacceptable or contrary to the university standards of academic integrity. This shall include but not be exclusive to:

Plagiarism as defined in this document; and,
Cheating in tests and examinations or any other academic activity and/or assessment.

(2) Plagiarism:

As outlined in the Official USP Calendar, Plagiarism shall be taken to mean: “the taking and using of another person’s thoughts, writings, inventions or other work as one’s own.”

The interpretation of which shall be taken to mean any one or combination of, but not exclusive to, the following list. Students shall have the following explained to them prior to their signing of the Student Honor Code Agreement.

Taking of and use of the published or unpublished words of another writer without making use of acceptable reference citation methods. This includes ‘cut and paste’ methods from internet sources and ‘lifting’ of sentences, ideas and sections of a textual source.
Paraphrasing without making reference.
‘Lifting’ and/or ‘cut and paste’ without quotation marks with or without citation of sources.
Paraphrasing of ideas and structure without proper acknowledgment of the source from which it was adapted.
Copying part of or all of another students’ assignment. In this instance ‘student assignment’ refers to a piece of academic work submitted for assessment purposes for any course, in past or current years at any educational institutional including USP or other university.
Submission of a paper that has been written by an author other than the author credited for that piece of writing. This includes the use of paid services of a student, or any other person that has been solicited for that purpose.
Fabrication of sources or false acknowledgment of references that have not been used for the purposes of the compilation of that piece of work.
Facilitating or enabling another student to plagiarize in any one or a combination of any of the above.

(3) Cheating:

Cheating shall be defined as any behavior or action demonstrated by a student in a test or examination that directly contradicts the explicit rules and guiding principles of that form of assessment. This will apply to, but not be exclusive to, short tests, quizzes and final examinations. This includes (but is not exclusive to) such behavior as:

carrying on one’s person ‘crib notes’ for the purpose of copying;
copying from another student in a test or examination; enabling another student to cheat in a test or examination;
soliciting a person to sit a test or final examination in place of the student enrolled; sitting a test or final examination in the place of another student;
manipulation of scores in tests or examination or in any other form of assessment; and
enabling another student in any or a combination of any of the above.

STEP 2: THE PROCESS

It is proposed that the internal process to be endorsed by SOE DCC and BOS be as follows:

(A) Plagiarism

In the instance of plagiarism, when a marker suspects a student of plagiarism that the piece of academic work be brought to the attention of the course coordinator concerned.
That an attempt is made to locate the sources from which this student has plagiarized. When the coordinator is satisfied that the student has plagiarized, copies of the assessment task as well as a list of sources, page numbers and/or copies of those sources be collated for record purposes.
The student be notified and issued an official warning letter. The student should then be allowed to make a case for him/herself.
If the coordinator is satisfied that the student had engaged unknowingly in such behaviors, he/she may implement a penalty at course level such as a mark reduction or a zero grade for that piece of assessment, or the coordinator may choose to allow that student to complete a specially designed task to cover part or all of the allocated mark for that particular task.
If it is established that the student has engaged in similar behavior in previous course work, or if the coordinator is convinced of the severity of the offence, he/she should present a formal report with recommendations as to how to proceed with the case to the Head of School for discussion at the DCC level at which point the student may be reported to the Student Development Committee following the procedures as outlined in the official USP Calendar.

(B) Cheating

Every effort must be made to ensure that an acceptable test, examination and assessment environment is provided for such tasks. This includes adequate seating arrangement and test supervision during such tasks. The process of cheating shall be as follows:

A student who is found in breach of the rules and regulations of the assessment task assigned shall be answerable to the coordinator of the course. The supervisor of the activity shall remove the student from the assessment task at the point of discovery and make a written complaint to the coordinator of the course.
In course assessment tasks the course coordinator shall take action as he/she sees fit, warranting the actions or attempted actions taken by the student in this regard. These may range from mark deduction or zero grade for that particular task, or if the offense is deemed serious, or in the event of the student being found to be a multiple offender in this regard, the coordinator shall present a formal letter to the HOS, with recommendations of formal action to be taken against the student.
In the event of cheating or attempting to cheat in final examinations, supervisors and coordinators are expected to follow the Official USP Rules and Regulations as outlined in the Official USP Calendar for action by the Student Development Committee.

(C) Other behaviors or actions that may be deemed dishonest practice

The guiding principles in any other task or activity that is designed for any academic purpose shall follow the process as outlined in point 1 covered under cheating with consultation with the relevant Division Head and/or HOS for further action.

References

This definition has been compiled using the frameworks of international university policies and definitions.