“To create awareness about responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and prevention of misconduct including plagiarism in academic writing among student, faculty, researcher and staff, and to establish institutional mechanism through education and training to facilitate responsible conduct of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and deterrence from plagiarism,” and to “develop systems to detect plagiarism,” and to “set up mechanisms to prevent plagiarism and punish a student, faculty, researcher or staff of HEI committing the act of plagiarism,” Prabhat Kumar College, Contai has not only adopted University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018, but  is moved “to establish the mechanism as prescribed in these regulations, to enhance awareness about responsible conduct of research and academic activities, to promote academic integrity and to prevent plagiarism” as well.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

As per “Document” provided by Turnitin.com and Research Resources—

Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work, or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense:

According to the Merriam-Webster On Line Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward.

 But can words and ideas really be stolen?

According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. In the United States and many other countries, the expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some media (such as a book or a computer file).

 All of the following are considered plagiarism:

• Turning in someone else’s work as your own
• Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
• Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
• Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on “fair use” rules)

Attention! Changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized

Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.

 

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

Anyone who has written or graded a paper knows that plagiarism is not always a black-and white issue. The boundary between plagiarism and research is often unclear. Learning to recognize the various forms of plagiarism, especially the more ambiguous ones, is an important step in the fight to prevent it.

 

I. SOURCES NOT CITED

1) “The Ghost Writer”

The writer turns in another’s work, word-for-word, as his or her own.

2) “The Photocopy”

The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without alteration.

3) “The Potluck Paper”

The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing.

4) “The Poor Disguise”

Although the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the paper’s appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.

5) “The Labor of Laziness”

The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.

6) “The Self-Stealer”

The writer “borrows” generously from his or her previous work, violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.

 

II. SOURCES CITED (but still plagiarized!)

1) “The Forgotten Footnote”

Document provided by Turnitin.com and Research Resources. Turnitin allows free distribution and non-profit use of this document in educational settings. The writer mentions an author’s name for a source, but neglects to include specific information on the location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms of plagiarism by obscuring source locations.

2) “The Mis-informer”

The writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible to find them.

3) “The Too-Perfect Paraphrase”

The writer properly cites a source, but neglects to put in quotation marks text that has been copied word-for-word, or close to it. Although attributing the basic ideas to the source, the writer is falsely claiming original presentation and interpretation of the information.

4) “The Resourceful Citer”

The writer properly cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. The catch? The paper contains almost no original work! It is sometimes difficult to spot this form of plagiarism because it looks like any other well-researched document.

5) “The Perfect Crime”

Well, we all know it doesn’t exist. In this case, the writer properly quotes and cites sources in some places, but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from those sources without citation. This way, the writer tries to pass off the paraphrased material as his or her own analysis of the cited material.

MALPRACTICES IN EXAMINATIONS

Prabhat Kumar College, Contai strictly follows code of conduct prescribed by the College for Examinations. Malpractices such as copying, using cell phones or answers from texts or guides are completely banned. Any student found guilty is reported to the external examiner and the College takes action on the defaulters.

Cheating is dishonest behavior usually in tests or examinations. It includes:

• Unless explicitly authorized by the course instructor or examiner, using books, notes, diagrams, electronic devices, or any other aids during an examination, either in the examination room itself or when permitted to leave temporarily.
• Copying from the work of other students.
• Communicating with others during an examination to give or receive information, either in the examination room or outside it
• Commissioning or allowing another person to write an examination on one’s behalf;
• Not following the rules of an examination
• Using for personal advantage, or communicating to other students, advance knowledge of the content of an examination (for example, if permitted to write an examination early)
• Altering answers on an assignment or examination that has been returned
• Taking an examination out of the examination room if this has been forbidden.

1. CURBING PLAGIARISM

• In accordance with University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018, Prabhat Kumar College, Contai has set

• To declare and implement the technology-based mechanism using appropriate software so as to ensure that documents such as thesis, dissertation, publications or any other such documents are free of plagiarism at the time of their submission.

• The mechanism is made accessible to all engaged in research work including student, faculty, researcher and staff etc.
• Every student submitting a thesis, dissertation, or any other such documents to the College shall submit an undertaking indicating that the document has been prepared by him or her and that the document is his/her original work and free of any plagiarism.
• The undertaking shall include the fact that the document has been duly checked through a Plagiarism detection tool approved by the College.
• The College has developed a policy on plagiarism as approved by Academic Council. The approved policy is placed on the homepage of the College website.
• Each supervisor shall submit a certificate indicating that the work done by the researcher under him / her is plagiarism free.
• College will submit to INFLIBNET soft copies of all Masters, Research program’s dissertations and thesis within a month after the award of degrees for hosting in the digital repository under the “Shodh Ganga e-repository”.
• College has created Institutional Repository on College website which shall include dissertation / thesis / paper / publication and other in-house publications.

 

2. SIMILARITY CHECKS FOR EXCLUSION FROM PLAGIARISM

The similarity checks for plagiarism shall exclude the following:

• All quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or attribution.
• All references, bibliography, table of content, preface and acknowledgements.
• All generic terms, laws, standard symbols and standards equations.

Note:

The research work carried out by the student, faculty, researcher and staff shall be based on original ideas, which shall include abstract, summary, hypothesis, observations, results, conclusions and recommendations only and shall not have any similarities. It shall exclude a common knowledge or coincidental terms, up to fourteen (14) consecutive words.

 

3. LEVELS OF PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism would be quantified into following levels in ascending order of severity for the purpose of its definition:

Level 0: Similarities upto 10% - Minor similarities, no penalty

Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

Level 3: Similarities above 60%

 

4. DETECTION/REPORTING/HANDLING OF PLAGIARISM

• If any member of the academic community suspects with appropriate proof that a case of plagiarism has happened in any document, he or she shall report it to the P.K College Academic Integrity Panel (PKCAIP).
• The College can also take suomotu notice of an act of plagiarism and initiate proceedings under these regulations. Similarly, proceedings can also be initiated by the College on the basis of findings of an examiner. All such cases will be investigated by a committee appointed by PKCAIP.

 

5. PRABHAT KUMAR COLLEGE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY PANEL (PKCAIP)

• Following shall be the composition of PKCAIP:
  1. Chairman - Principal / Senior Academician of the College.
  2. Member - Senior Academician other than Chairperson, to be nominated by the Research Committee.
  3. Member - One member nominated by President from outside the College.
  4. Member - A person well versed with anti-plagiarism tools, to be nominated by the Research Committee.
• The members of the Committee including Chairperson shall be three years. The quorum for the meetings shall be 3 out of 4 members (including Chairperson).
• The PKCAIP shall also investigate cases of plagiarism as per the provisions mentioned in these regulations.
• The PKCAIP shall follow the principles of natural justice while deciding about the allegation of plagiarism against the student, faculty, researcher and staff of the College.
• The PKCAIP shall send the report after investigation and the recommendation on penalties to be imposed to the President within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of the complaint.
• The PKCAIP shall provide a copy of the report to the person(s) against whom inquiry report is submitted.

6. PENALTIES

Penalties in the cases of plagiarism shall be imposed on students pursuing studies at the level of Masters and Research programs and on researcher, faculty & staff of the College only after academic misconduct on the part of the individual has been established without doubt, when all types of appeal have been exhausted and individual in question has been provided enough opportunity to defend himself or herself in a fair or transparent manner.

Penalties in case of plagiarism in submission of thesis and dissertations

Prabhat Kumar College, Contai Academic Integrity Panel (PKCAIP) shall impose penalty considering the severity of the Plagiarism.

Level 0: Similarities upto 10% - Minor Similarities, no penalty.

Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40% - Such student shall be asked to submit a revised script within a stipulated time period not exceeding 6 months.

Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60% - Such student shall be debarred from submitting a revised script for a period of one year.

Level 3: Similarities above 60% -Such student registration for that programme shall be cancelled.

Note 1: Penalty on repeated plagiarism- Such student shall be punished for the plagiarism of one level higher than the previous level committed by him / her. In case where plagiarism of highest level is committed then the punishment for the same shall be operative.

Note 2: Penalty in case where the degree/credit has already been obtained - If plagiarism is proved on a date later than the date of award of degree or credit as the case may be then his/her degree or credit shall be put in abeyance for a period recommended by the PKCAIP and approved by the President.

Penalties in case of plagiarism in academic and research publications

Level 0: Similarities up to 10% - Minor similarities, no penalty.

Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

1. Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

1. Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.
2. Shall be denied a right to one annual increment.
3. Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of two years.

Level 3: Similarities above 60%

1. Shall be asked to withdraw manuscripts.
2. Shall be denied a right to two successive increments.
3. Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D. Student/scholar for a period of three years.

Note 1: Penalty on repeated plagiarism - Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript and shall be punished for the plagiarism of one level higher than the lower level committed by him/her. In case where plagiarism of highest level is committed then the punishment for the same shall be operative. In case level 3 offence is repeated then the disciplinary action including suspension/termination as per service rules shall be taken by the College.

Note 2: Penalty in case where the benefit or credit has already been obtained - If plagiarism is proved on a date later than the date of benefit or credit obtained as the case may be then his/her benefit or credit shall be put in abeyance for a period recommended by PKCAIP and approved by the President.

Note 3: College has created a mechanism so as to ensure that each of the paper publication/thesis/dissertation by the student, faculty, researcher or staff of the College is checked for plagiarism at the time of forwarding / submission.

Note 4: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against the Head of the College a suitable action, in line with these regulations, shall be taken by the Controlling Authority of the College.

Note 5: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against the Head of Department/Authorities at the College level, a suitable action, in line with these regulations, shall be recommended by the PKCAIP and approved by the President.

Note 6: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against any member of DAIP or PKCAIP, then such member shall excuse himself / herself from the meeting(s) where his/her case is being discussed / investigated.