University Grants
Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in
Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018[1] [23rd
July, 2018] Whereas, University Grants
Commission (UGC), as per UGC Act, 1956, is mandated to coordinate and determine
the standards of higher education; And whereas, assessment of
academic and research work done leading to the partial fulfillment for the
award of degrees at Masters and Research level, by a student or a faculty or a
researcher or a staff, in the form of thesis, dissertation and publication of
research papers, chapters in books, full-fledged books and any other similar
work, reflects the extent to which elements of academic integrity and
originality are observed in various relevant processes adopted by Higher
Educational Institutions (HEIs); Therefore, in exercise of
the powers conferred by clause (j) of Section 12 read with clauses (f) and (g)
of sub-section (1) of Section 26 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956,
the University Grants Commission hereby makes the following regulations:— (a) These regulations shall be
called the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity
and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations,
2018. (b) They shall apply to the
students, faculty, researchers and staff of all Higher Educational Institutions
in the country. (c) These regulations shall
come into force from the date of their notification in the Official Gazette. In these regulations,
unless the context otherwise requires— (a) “Academic Integrity” is the
intellectual honesty in proposing, performing and reporting any activity, which
leads to the creation of intellectual property; (b) “Author” includes a student
or a faculty or a researcher or staff of Higher Educational Institution (HEI)
who claims to be the creator of the work under consideration; (c) “Commission” means the
University Grants Commission as defined in the University Grants Commission
Act, 1956; (d) “Common Knowledge” means a
well known fact, quote, figure or information that is known to most of the
people; (e) “Degree” means any such
degree specified by the University Grants Commission, by notification in the
Official Gazette, under Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act,
1956; (f) “Departmental Academic Integrity
Panel” shall mean the body constituted at the departmental level to investigate
allegations of plagiarism; (g) “Faculty” refers to a
person who is teaching and/or guiding students enrolled in an HEI in any
capacity whatsoever i.e. regular, ad-hoc, guest, temporary, visiting etc; (h) “Higher Educational
Institution (HEI)” means a university recognized under Section 2(f) of the UGC
Act, 1956 or an institution deemed to be university under Section 3 of the UGC
Act, 1956 or an affiliating college/institution or a constituent unit of a
university; (i) “Information” includes
data, message, text, images, sound, voice, codes, computer programs, software
and databases or microfilm or computer generated microfiche; (j) “Institutional Academic
Integrity Panel” shall mean the body constituted at Institutional level to
consider recommendations of the departmental academic integrity panel and take
appropriate decisions in respect of allegations of plagiarism and decide on penalties
to be imposed. In exceptional cases, it shall investigate allegations of
plagiarism at the institutional level; (k) “Notification” means a
notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression “notify” with
its cognate meanings and grammatical variation shall be construed accordingly; (l) “Plagiarism” means the
practice of taking someone else's work or idea and passing them as one's own. (m) “Programme” means a
programme of study leading to the award of a masters and research level degree; (n) “Researcher” refers to a
person conducting academic/scientific research in HEIs; (o) “Script” includes research
paper, thesis, dissertation, chapters in books, full-fledged books and any
other similar work, submitted for assessment/opinion leading to the award of master
and research level degrees or publication in print or electronic media by
students or faculty or researcher or staff of an HEI; however, this shall
exclude assignments/term papers/project reports/course work/essays and answer
scripts etc.; (p) “Source” means the
published primary and secondary material from any source whatsoever and
includes written information and opinions gained directly from other people,
including eminent scholars, public figures and practitioners in any form
whatsoever as also data and information in the electronic form be it audio,
video, image or text; Information being given the same meaning as defined under
Section 2(1)(v) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and reproduced here in
Regulation 2(1); (q) “Staff” refers to all non-teaching
staff working in HEIs in any capacity whatsoever i.e. regular, temporary,
contractual, outsourced etc.; (r) “Student” means a person
duly admitted and pursuing a programme of study including a research programme
in any mode of study (full time or part-time or distance mode); (s) “University” means a
university established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial
Act or a State Act, and includes an institution deemed to be university under
Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956; (t) “Year” means the academic
session in which a proven offence has been committed. Words and expressions used
and not defined in these regulations but defined in the University Grants
Commission Act, 1956 shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in
UGC Act, 1956. (1) 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. (2) To establish institutional
mechanism through education and training to facilitate responsible conduct of
research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and deterrence
from plagiarism. (3) 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. Every HEI should 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. (a) HEI shall instruct
students, faculty, researcher and staff about proper attribution, seeking
permission of the author wherever necessary, acknowledgement of source
compatible with the needs and specificities of disciplines and in accordance
with rules, international conventions and regulations governing the source. (b) HEI shall conduct
sensitization seminars/awareness programs every semester on responsible conduct
of research, thesis, dissertation, promotion of academic integrity and ethics
in education for students, faculty, researcher and staff. (c) HEI shall: (i)
Include
the cardinal principles of academic integrity in the curricula of Undergraduate
(UG)/Postgraduate (PG)/Master's degree etc. as a compulsory course work/module. (ii)
Include
elements of responsible conduct of research and publication ethics as a
compulsory course work/module for Masters and Research Scholars. (iii)
Include
elements of responsible conduct of research and publication ethics in
Orientation and Refresher Courses organized for faculty and staff members of
the HEI. (iv)
Train
student, faculty, researcher and staff for using plagiarism detection tools and
reference management tools. (v)
Establish
facility equipped with modern technologies for detection of plagiarism. (vi)
Encourage
student, faculty, researcher and staff to register on international
researcher's Registry systems. (a) HEI shall 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. (b) The mechanism as defined at
(a) above shall be made accessible to all engaged in research work including
student, faculty, researcher and staff etc. (c) Every student submitting a
thesis, dissertation, or any other such documents to the HEI 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. (d) The undertaking shall
include the fact that the document has been duly checked through a Plagiarism
detection tool approved by the HEI. (e) HEI shall develop a policy
on plagiarism and get it approved by its relevant statutory bodies/authorities.
The approved policy shall be placed on the homepage of the HEI website. (f) Each supervisor shall
submit a certificate indicating that the work done by the researcher under
him/her is plagiarism free. (g) HEI shall 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”. (h) HEI shall create
Institutional Repository on institute website which shall include
dissertation/thesis/paper/publication and other in-house publications. The similarity checks for
plagiarism shall exclude the following: (i)
All
quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or attribution. (ii)
All
references, bibliography, table of content, preface and acknowledgements. (iii)
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. Plagiarism would be
quantified into following levels in ascending order of severity for the purpose
of its definition: (i)
Level
0: Similarities upto 10% — Minor similarities, no penalty (ii)
Level
1: Similarities above 10% to 40% (iii)
Level
2: Similarities above 40% to 60% (iv)
Level
3: Similarities above 60% 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 Departmental
Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP). 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 HEI. The authorities of HEI can
also take suomotu 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. (i)
All
Departments in HEI shall notify a DAIP whose composition shall be as given
below: (a) Chairman — Head of the
Department (b) Member — Senior academician
from outside the department, to be nominated by the head of HEI. (c) Member — A person well
versed with anti plagiarism tools, to be nominated by the Head of the
Department. The tenure of the members
in respect of points ‘b’ and ‘c’ shall be two years. The quorum for the
meetings shall be 2 out of 3 members (including Chairman). (ii)
The
DAIP shall follow the principles of natural justice while deciding about the
allegation of plagiarism against the student, faculty, researcher and staff. (iii)
The
DAIP shall have the power to assess the level of plagiarism and recommend
penalty(ies) accordingly. (iv)
The
DAIP after investigation shall submit its report with the recommendation on
penalties to be imposed to the IAIP within a period of 45 days from the date of
receipt of complaint/initiation of the proceedings. (i)
HEI
shall notify a IAIP whose composition shall be as given below: a. Chairman —
Pro-VC/Dean/Senior Academician of the HEI. b. Member — Senior
Academician other than Chairman, to be nominated by the Head of HEI. c. Member — One member
nominated by the Head of HEI from outside the HEI d. Member — A person well
versed with anti-plagiarism tools, to be nominated by the Head of the HEI. The Chairman of DAIP and
IAIP shall not be the same. The tenure of the Committee members including
Chairman shall be three years. The quorum for the meetings shall be 3 out of 4
members (including Chairman). (ii)
The
IAIP shall consider the recommendations of DAIP. (iii)
The
IAIP shall also investigate cases of plagiarism as per the provisions mentioned
in these regulations. (iv)
The
IAIP shall follow the principles of natural justice while deciding about the
allegation of plagiarism against the student, faculty, researcher and staff of
HEI. (v)
The
IAIP shall have the power to review the recommendations of DAIP including
penalties with due justification. (vi)
The
IAIP shall send the report after investigation and the recommendation on
penalties to be imposed to the Head of the HEI within a period of 45 days from
the date of receipt of recommendation of DAIP/complaint/initiation of the
proceedings. (vii)
The
IAIP shall provide a copy of the report to the person(s) against whom inquiry
report is submitted. 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 HEI
only after academic misconduct on the part of the individual has been established
without doubt, when all avenues 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. Institutional Academic
Integrity Panel (IAIP) shall impose penalty considering the severity of the
Plagiarism. (i)
Level
0: Similarities upto 10% — Minor Similarities, no penalty. (ii)
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. (iii)
Level
2: Similarities above 40% to 60%— Such student shall be debarred from
submitting a revised script for a period of one year. (iv)
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 IAIP and approved by the Head of the Institution. (I) Level 0: Similarities up to
10% — Minor similarities, no penalty. (II) Level 1: Similarities above
10% to 40% (i) Shall be asked to withdraw
manuscript. (III) Level 2: Similarities above
40% to 60% (i)
Shall
be asked to withdraw manuscript. (ii)
Shall
be denied a right to one annual increment. (iii)
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. (IV) Level 3: Similarities above
60% (i)
Shall
be asked to withdraw manuscript. (ii)
Shall
be denied a right to two successive annual increments. (iii)
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
HEI. 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 IAIP and approved by the Head of the Institution. Note 3: HEIs shall create a
mechanism so as to ensure that each of the paper
publication/thesis/dissertation by the student, faculty, researcheror staff of
the HEI is checked for plagiarism at the time of forwarding/submission. Note 4: If there is any
complaint of plagiarism against the Head of an HEI, a suitable action, in line
with these regulations, shall be taken by the Controlling Authority of the HEI. Note 5: If there is any
complaint of plagiarism against the Head of Department/Authorities at the
institutional level, a suitable action, in line with these regulations, shall
be recommended by the IAIP and approved by the Competent Authority. Note 6: If there is any
complaint of plagiarism against any member of DAIP or IAIP, then such member
shall excuse himself/herself from the meeting(s) where his/her case is being
discussed/investigated. UGC reserves the right to
remove difficulty/difficulties in the course of implementations of these
Regulations in consultation with the Government of India/Ministry of Human
Resource Development. [1] Vide Notification No. F.
1-18/2010(CPP-II), dated 23-7-2018, published in the Gazette of India, Extra.,
Part III, Section 4, No. 287, dated 31-7-2018.University Grants Commission (Promotion of
Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational
Institutions) Regulations, 2018