JISC

The  regulations  that  recommend penalties  for  plagiarism  among higher  education  institutions (HEIs) vary substantially throughout the UK, according to new research published today by JISCPAS, the national plagiarism advisory  service.  

Although some institutions possess regulations with detailed penalty tariffs, almost a third of HEIs use guidelines that fail to advise academic staff which penalties are appropriate for particular cases.

The exact penalties available for plagiarism were also shown to vary from institution to institution. Typical academic penalties, such as failing the assessment or module, were widespread, but 19 institutions also allowed for the possibility of financial penalties (ranging from £100 - £1,000).  

The  report,  which  classifies  the  range  and  spread  of  penalties  available  for  plagiarism,  is  the  first  in  a  series  of upcoming studies that aim to assess national plagiarism policy and practice in higher education. Under the umbrella title of  the  Academic  Misconduct  Benchmarking  Research  (AMBeR)  project,  this  first  project  set  out  to  analyse the plagiarism penalty regulations from 153 higher education institutions.

Other findings of the new research include:  

• Twenty-five different penalties were available for student plagiarism throughout the HE sector
• Expulsion is by far the most frequently cited penalty for plagiarism and is contained within the guidelines for nearly 99% of institutions
• Nearly 90% of regulations listed factors involved in assigning a penalty as being important, including the previous history of the student, their academic level and the perceived intention to deceive

The  findings  will  be  reported  to  Baroness  Ruth  Deech,  The  Independent  Adjudicator  for  Higher  Education,  who suggested during her keynote address at the Second International Plagiarism Conference that research into penalties for plagiarism was urgently needed when she warned that  vague  penalty  regulations  may  not  stand  up  to  legal  scrutiny.  The  issue has since  caught  the  attention  of  the  student  bodies,  including  the  National  Union  of  Students  (NUS).  Indeed, at the recent NUS conference in Blackpool delegates denounced some plagiarism regulations as ‘crude and unacceptable’.  

Baroness Deech welcomed the publication of the report, saying: “This is an enormously valuable report which not only highlights the very wide variety of penalties for plagiarism in higher education but also provides a step towards greater consistency and fairness throughout the sector. Some gradation in penalties is necessary to reflect the differences between inadvertent and deliberate plagiarism and in this and in other respects higher education institutions need to look in the looking glass to ensure that all their students are being treated with transparency, justice and fairness.”

Will Murray the director of JISCPAS commented: “Our analysis of regulations forms a great foundation for the next stage in this work which will look at how these written policies are applied in practice.”  

Dr  Fiona  Duggan,  the  head  of  advice  and  guidance  for  JISCPAS  commented that  the  “project  will  not  only  inform national policy, but will also help UK HEIs achieve consistency transparency and fairness in their approaches to student plagiarism.”