1. HOW ARE STUDENTS INFORMED ABOUT PLAGIARISM AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY?
Heads of School are responsible for ensuring that appropriate and timely arrangements are in place to promote academic integrity and advise students of plagiarism (Academic Integrity Policy, section 3.4). Schools may wish to avail of the resources that are available from the Library with regard to academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism: (opens in a new window)https://libguides.ucd.ie/academicintegrity
2. WHAT IS THE UNIVERSITY’S PROCESS FOE DEALING WITH SUSPECTED CASES OF PLAGIARISM?
The UCD Student Academic Misconduct Procedure sets out the University’s process for dealing with suspected cases of plagiarism.
3. WHAT IS THE SCHOOL PLAGIARISM PROTOCOL?
The School Plagiarism Protocol provides additional information on how the School will apply UCD Student Academic Misconduct Procedure. It may include the following information: School name, name of the School Academic Integrity Adviser (if appointed), Chair and member(s) of the School Academic Integrity Committee; information about the referencing / citation system(s) in use in the School and any other information that clarifies the procedural steps that will be taken for dealing with suspected cases of plagiarism. The Head of School is responsible for the development and periodic review of the School Academic Misconduct Protocol (section 3.4).
4. WHAT IS THE UCD PLAGIARISM TARIFF?
The UCD Plagiarism Tariff is adapted from the (opens in a new window)AMBeR Tariff model. Its purpose is to provide guidance to those responsible for decision-making and application of penalties in relation to suspect cases of plagiarism.
While the tariff is primarily designed to be used for deciding penalties in cases of plagiarism identified in assessments that are graded, an additional tariff table has been included in the proposed UCD tariff to take account of a) research degree theses, b) PhD Stage Transfer Assessments, or c) final PhD dissertation submission or d) pass/fail assessments, because they do not receive a graded outcome. The UCD Plagiarism Tariff is available as an appendix to the UCD Student Academic Misconduct Procedure.
5. WHAT IS THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEE?
School Academic Integrity Committees are established by Heads of School and are responsible for reviewing allegations of academic misconduct submitted by Module Coordinators. The committee will review all information submitted, meet with students and make determinations as to whether academic misconduct has taken place. Where academic misconduct has taken place the committee may decide to impose a penalty against the student. In certain circumstances the committee may decide to refer a case to be dealt with under the Student Discipline Procedure without decision.
6. HOW MANY MEMBERS CAN SIT ON SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEES?
The UCD Student Academic Misconduct Procedure states that School Academic Integrity Committees will comprise of three voting members, a chair and a maximum of two additional academic staff. Schools may choose to have an additional member of staff present to take notes at meetings. If Schools do not wish to create a three-person standing committee, they may choose to form a larger panel of staff from which a three-person committees can be convened.
7. CAN THE CHAIR OF THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEE ACT AS THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY ADVISER?
Yes, the Chair of the School Academic Integrity Committee can also be the School Academic Integrity Adviser. The Student Academic Misconduct Procedure does not prevent this. The role of School Plagiarism Adviser is optional, and each School decides whether there is benefit in having such a role. If the School decides to have such a role, the Head of School will need to nominate the School Academic Integrity Adviser (section 3.1).
8. ARE STUDENTS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEE MEETING?
Students should be encouraged to attend the meeting with the School Academic Integrity Committee as it provides the opportunity for members to hear from the student in relation to the alleged academic misconduct and for the committee to impress upon students the importance of academic integrity.
9. WHAT IF THE STUDENT DOESN’T RESPOND OR REQUESTS THAT THE TIME OF THE MEETING BE CHANGED?
Students should make every effort to attend meetings scheduled by the School Academic Integrity Committee. If they request a change of appointment because they have a class, for example, reasonable efforts should be made to reschedule. However, if a student fails to engage with the committee the meeting may proceed in the student’s absence (section 5.3.2).
10. CAN THE SCHOOL APPLY TIMELINES TO ENSURE ALLEGATIONS CAN BE DEALT WITH EFFICIENTLY?
Yes, the school can establish timelines for the effective management of suspected cases of academic misconduct, e.g., set a timeline for students to respond to school communications. Such timelines are usually established in ‘working days’ and where applied should be reflected in the School Academic Misconduct protocols.
11. CAN STUDENTS BE ACCOMPANIED TO THE MEETING WITH THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEE?
Yes, students may be accompanied to the meetings with the School Academic Integrity Committee by a support person such as their Student Adviser or Student’s Union sabbatical officer. Where students are accompanied, they should be prepared to speak for themselves at meetings. The role of the accompanying person is to provide support.
12. WHAT IF THE STUDENT PRESENTS MITIGATING FACTORS?
Following the School Academic Integrity Committee’s decision that academic misconduct has occurred they may consider any mitigating factors presented, that may have impacted on the student’s actions. The committee may decide to adjust the penalty to appropriately, as the UCD Plagiarism Tariff is not designed to deal with mitigating factors. There is a separate, formal University procedure for the consideration of extenuating circumstances. If a student raises matters that may fall under the scope of the Extenuating Circumstances Policy the student should be encouraged to consider making an application. Late applications may be considered under exceptional circumstances (7.3.3).
13. WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE OUTCOME LETTER FROM THE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY COMMITTEE’S TO THE STUDENT?
The School Academic Integrity Committee should notify the student of their decision via the student’s UCD email address. Where the committee finds that academic misconduct has occurred, the communication should refer to the mechanism for appeal under specified grounds, see the Student Appeal Procedure. The communication should also advise that the incident will be recorded on the Plagiarism Record System. Please note, this does not apply in cases where a committee has determined that a case should be referred to the Student Discipline Procedure. Please see question and response below.
14. HOW ARE SUSPECTED CASES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT REFERRED TO THE STUDENT DISCIPLINE PROCEDURE?
For cases where the School Academic Integrity Committee determines that a case should be referred to the Student Discipline Procedure, the referral will be made without decision and the student should be advised that they will be contacted directly by Student Engagement, Conduct, Complaints and Appeals in due course. As cases that are referred are done so without decision the student may not submit an appeal. Students may avail of the appeal process once decisions have been made under the Student Discipline Procedure. To refer a case, please complete an incident report form and any submit with any related material to student.conduct@ucd.ie Forms are available in the ‘information for Staff’ section of the Student Conduct website.
15. WHAT ARE THE AVAILABLE OUTCOMES IF A STUDENT IS FOUND OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT IN A RESIT ASSESSMENT?
Under the Academic Regulations students are permitted one opportunity to resit a failed assessment, which is graded as pass/fail. If a student plagiarises in a resit attempt the School Plagiarism Committee should consider all of the circumstances of the case to determine whether a fail should be applied to the assessment, as capping or grade reduction is not possible in the context of pass/fail grading.
16. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SUSPECTED ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT HAS NOT BEEN DEALT WITH IN TIME FOR THE GRADE APPROVAL PROCESS (GAP)?
Most cases will have been dealt with in advance of GAP, where an assessment is under review and the matter has not been resolved in advance of the GAP, an NM may be applied to the relevant component assessment. Where a grade is subsequently changed following a decision by a School Academic Integrity Committee or taken under the Student Discipline Procedure, the Module Coordinator will be required to submit an exceptional change of grade request for approval by Academic Council Committee on Examinations (ACCE).
17. WHAT IS THE UNIVERSITY’S PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM?
A centralised University Plagiarism Record System was introduced in September 2020. It is developed in InfoHub and includes information relating to academic misconduct incidents approved by School Academic Misconduct Committees or referred without decision to the UCD Student Discipline Procedure.
The system consists of two services:
- Reporting and Recording of Plagiarism Incidents tool – allows members of School Academic Integrity Committees to check whether a plagiarism incident was previously recorded for a particular student and/or to record details of plagiarism incidents that have been referred to Committees. Details will only be recorded if a decision is made that plagiarism has occurred.
- Plagiarism Incidents Reporting tool – allows users to generate plagiarism incident reports.
18. WHO CAN BE GRANTED ACCESS TO THE PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM?
Access to the system is limited to faculty and staff with responsibility for applying the policy, administering the student discipline procedure and maintaining the system.
Two individuals per School (nominated by the Heads of Schools) can be granted access to the system and this normally includes: the Chair of School Academic Integrity Committee, and a member of School staff (typically a senior Administrator such a School Manager) responsible for implementing the policy i.e., identifying previous incidents of plagiarism by students and entering outcomes by a School Academic Integrity Committee.
The Student Engagement, Conduct, Complaints and Appeals team (SECCA) is responsible for maintaining the system and coordinating the user access. You can contact the team at (opens in a new window)student.conduct@ucd.ie
19. HOW CAN I ACCESS AND NAVIGATE THE PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM?
Access to the Plagiarism Record System can be granted by a member of SECCA team upon receipt of a request from your Head of School. Such requests should be submitted to student.conduct@ucd.ie You will be notified via email when you get access to the system and you will also receive a copy of the Student Academic Misconduct Record System Staff Guide (for School Nominees) which outlines step by step how to access and navigate the system.
20. WHAT INFORMATION IS RECORDED ON THE PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM?
Where a School Academic Integrity Committee finds that plagiarism has occurred, the details of cases will be recorded on the system by a nominated member of staff in School. The system will prompt the user to enter the following information: student name and ID number, module code, module title, plagiarism category, assessment type and the decision of the School Academic Integrity Committee.
21. ARE INCIDENTS DEALT WITH DIRECTLY BY MODULE COORDINATORS RECORDED ON THE PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM?
No, only cases where the School Academic Integrity Committee has found academic misconduct to have taken place are recorded. Where a case is referred to the Student Discipline Procedure and it is determined that plagiarism has occurred, the School will receive notification of the outcome and Student Engagement, Conduct, Capacity and Appeals Office will update the Plagiarism Record System.
22. HOW WILL THE INFORMATION RECORDED ON THE PLAGIARISM RECORD SYSTEM BE USED?
Information recorded on the system will be used to inform decision-making of School Academic Integrity Committee i.e., where a Committee receives an allegation of plagiarism it will be able to check the system to determine whether there have been any previous recorded incidents of plagiarism against the student, even if this occurred in another School. Once a Committee has determined that plagiarism had taken place, previous incidents can be taken into consideration when deciding on an appropriate penalty. Under the new UCD Plagiarism Tariff, which provides guidance on penalties, one of the factors that is considered by the Committee is whether the student has previously plagiarised in other assessments.
It important to note that the Plagiarism Record System is for internal use only. Information relating to plagiarism incidents by student will not be recorded on the student’s general record (in Banner) and will not appear in transcripts.