• Purpose and Context
• Definitions
• Preventing Plagiarism
• Detecting Plagiarism
• Procedure for Dealing with Plagiarism
• Appeals
   

1. Purpose and Context
   
   The College is committed to academic excellence and high ethical standards in relation to work that is produced by students.¹
   
   The College supports the rights of a scholar’s ownership of their intellectual property. For students to act with academic and ethical integrity, it is essential that they give due acknowledgement to authors of the work they are using. Failure to do so is equivalent to stealing. ²
    

2. Definitions
   
   Plagiarism means presenting another person’s work as one’s own. This is often done by taking passages of text from another and representing them as one’s own, but plagiarism can also assume other forms, including ³ :
    

   • The direct duplication of the thoughts or work of another without appropriate acknowledgement.

   • Paraphrasing another person’s work with minor changes but keeping the meaning, form and/or progression of ideas of the original.

   • Piecing together sections of the work of others into a new whole.

   • Presenting assessment as an independent work when it was produced in whole or part in collaboration or collusion with other people. I think that ‘collusion’ was intended here, but collaboration should be covered too.

   • Submitting an assessment that has already been submitted for assessment in another subject.

   Plagiarism can be negligent (Negligent Plagiarism) or dishonest (Dishonest Plagiarism).
   
   Negligent Plagiarism ⁴ means innocently or carelessly presenting another person’s work as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgement of the source. It often arises from a student’s fear of paraphrasing or writing in their own words, and/or ignorance of this Policy.
   
   Dishonest Plagiarism ⁵ means knowingly presenting another person’s work as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgement of the source.
   
   Alleged plagiarism will be deemed to be alleged Dishonest Plagiarism where:

   1. Substantial proportions of a student’s work have been copied from the work of another person in a manner that clearly exceeds reasonable academic practice;

   2. A student’s work contains a substantial body of copied material (including from the internet) without appropriate acknowledgement of the source, and in a manner that cannot be explained as negligent plagiarism;

   3. There is evidence that the student engaged another person to produce or conduct research for the work, either partly or wholly, for payment or other consideration; or

   4. The student has previously received a written warning.

3. Preventing Plagiarism
   
   Students are required to sign a declaration on the assignment cover sheet which states:

   "I certify that this assignment is my own work in my own words. All sources have been acknowledged and the content has not been previously submitted for assessment to Tabor College or elsewhere."
   
   Students can avoid plagiarism by ensuring that:

   1. They only submit work which they have prepared themselves;

   2. They do not submit work that has already been presented for assessment in another subject; and

   3. They acknowledge all items used in their assessment which come from the work/s of others.
       

4. Detecting Plagiarism
   
   Students are advised that in some modules, submission of assessments may be in electronic form. Although moral and legal copyright to this material vests in the student as the author, the student, by enrolling in an accredited program, provides an implied consent to the College which authorizes:
    

   • Reproduction and storage of electronic material which they may author and submit as part of their program assessment; and

   • Scanning this material for purposes of detecting, through software processing, any plagiarized material used in assignments.
      

5. Procedure for Dealing with Plagiarism
    

   1. Procedural Fairness⁶
      
      The College is committed to dealing with student plagiarism in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness, including the right of a student to:

      • Be informed of the allegations in sufficient detail to be able to respond appropriately;

      • Have a reasonable period of time within which to respond to the allegations;

      • Have the matter resolved in a timely manner;

      • Be informed of their rights under this policy;

      • Invite a support person or student representative to any meeting regarding alleged plagiarism;

      • Impartiality in the investigation and decision-making process.

      This does not preclude penalties being imposed if detection occurs at a time after assessments have been returned or after results have been issued.
       

   2. Negligent Plagiarism
      
      First Breach: Students in their First Session of Study ⁷
       

      • If the student is in their first session/semester of study, the student should be educated about the ways to avoid plagiarism. A warning should be given about the penalties for future breaches. The warning should be noted by the Lecturer and given to the Registrar to be placed in the student’s file.
         

      • Subsequent negligent breaches will be dealt with as a breach under the section ‘First Breach: Other Students’.

      First Breach: Other Students ⁸
       

      • The student can be given an appropriate mark and the breach is noted on the student’s file. The grade will be determined by the lecturer in consultation with the Head of Faculty, or nominee. The student will also be required to seek remedial advice concerning plagiarism.
         

      • Subsequent breaches will be dealt with as alleged Dishonest Plagiarism.
         

   3. Dishonest Plagiarism
      
      Instances of alleged Dishonest Plagiarism will be referred to the Faculty Head unless the Faculty Head considers the allegation to be serious enough to warrant formal review by the Faculty Executive.
      
      Notification
      
      Within ten working days of receipt of the allegation, the Faculty Head will advise the student in writing of the nature of the allegation and the processes that will follow. The Faculty Head will arrange to meet with the student within twenty working days to discuss the allegation.
      
      If the student advises in writing that the allegation is accepted, the Faculty Head will determine the appropriate penalty, in accordance with this policy.
      
      If the student wishes to attend a meeting, he/she must, within ten working days of the posting of the notification of the allegation, confirm their attendance either in writing or by telephone.
      
      The Meeting
      
      The student is permitted to invite a support person or student representative to any meeting regarding alleged plagiarism. The Head of Faculty is permitted to invite other nominated officers of the College to the meeting.
      
      Penalties
      
      For a first breach involving Dishonest Plagiarism, the following penalties may be applied ⁹ :
       

      1. A warning given and no further action taken;

      2. The student be required to resubmit the item of work;

      3. The student be required to complete a new assessment task;

      4. Downgrading the mark for the assessment;

      5. Downgrading the final grade in the unit;

      6. Imposing a fail grade in the unit;

      7. Any combination of the above.

      For subsequent breaches involving Dishonest Plagiarism, in addition to the penalties outlined above, the Head of Faculty may, with the approval of the Faculty Executive, impose one or more of the following penalties:

      1. Suspending the student for a period of time, between six and 12 months;

      2. Excluding the student for a period of time, between 12 and 24 months; and/or

      3. Excluding the student permanently.
          

6. Appeals

Appeals against decisions regarding plagiarism will be handled by the Principal. The Principal will acknowledge in writing, receipt of the request for an appeal and inform the student of the following information:

• who will be responsible for conducting the investigation;

• that he/she has the right to a personal meeting to present his/her case (verbally and/or in writing) and the name, address and telephone number of the person to contact if a personal meeting is required;

• that he/she has the right to submit addition information in writing, should a personal meeting not be desired; and the name and address of the person to whom the additional information should be submitted;

• the timeframe during which the internal investigation will be conducted, generally within 45 days of receiving the request for an investigation

The Principal will refer the matter to the Faculty Executive for investigation and a decision. If the appeal is against a decision of the Faculty Executive, the matter will be referred to a Special Committee comprising the Principal, Academic Dean and at least two members of the External Academic Advisory Committee. When the Faculty Executive or Special Committee makes a decision, a formal letter will be sent to the student advising:-

• of the outcome of the investigations;

• of a recommendation to resolve the appeal; and

• of the external review process available.

The Faculty Executive may confirm the decision of the Faculty Head, vary the decision, or set aside the decision and substitute a new recommendation.

References:
^1. http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/policies/Plagiarism.pdf
^2. http://policies.uws.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00051&dvid=1
^3. http://www2.science.unsw.edu.au/guide/slatig/acadmisc.html#Plagiarismpolicy
^4. http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/policies/Plagiarism.pdf 
^5. http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/policies/Plagiarism.pdf 
^6. http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/policies/Plagiarism.pdf
^7. http://policies.uws.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00051&dvid=1
^8. http://policies.uws.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00051&dvid=1 
^9. http://policies.uws.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00051&dvid=1
 

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