The Plagiarism Policy of the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
What is Plagiarism?
According to the Plagiarism Policy of the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, Plagiarism is “the act of appropriating someone else’s idea and/or work by any student of the Faculty and/or of any department of the Faculty, and passing it/them off as his/her own idea and/or work vis-à-vis any text produced and/or submitted by that student, individually or collectively” (2017, p. 1).
Why has the Faculty introduced a Policy on Plagiarism?
The Faculty has introduced such a policy to promote “ethical writing” among students, whilst providing a number of preventive and corrective measures to avoid plagiarism related academic misconduct.
To whom is this policy applied?
All students of the Faculty and its academic departments.
What actions are considered as Plagiarism?
According to the Plagiarism Policy of the faculty (2017, p.1-2), the following actions are considered as plagiarism and related academic misconduct:
1. Submitting someone else’s idea and/or work, partially or fully, by a student as his/her own idea and/or work;
2. Citing someone else’s idea and/or work, partially or fully, by a student as his/her own idea and/or work in any text produced and/or submitted by that student;
3. Citing someone else’s idea and/or work, partially or fully, by a student without proper reference to the original idea and/or work in any text produced and/or submitted by that student;
4. Mixing and/or merging a few ideas and/or works developed by another person/s and/or institution/s, partially or fully, by a student without proper reference to the original ideas and/or works in any text produced and/or submitted by that student;
5. Copying someone else’s idea and/or work, partially or fully, in any text produced and/or submitted by a student (peer plagiarism); and
6. Adopting someone else’s idea and/or work, partially or fully, by a student without proper reference to the original idea and/or work in any text produced and/or submitted by a student.
Under which circumstances will you tend to plagiarise?
When using others ideas and/or work, such as books, research articles, essays, figures, photographs etc., to develop your assignments, case studies, essays, research, projects, slide presentations or similar documents, individually or collectively, as part and/or as a partial fulfilment of the assessment/s of any course taught and/or offered by any department or unit of the Faculty.
What will happen if you are caught for Plagiarism?
Either, marks given for your assignment/s will be reduced (maximum up to eighty (80) per cent of the total marks given) or you will be asked for resubmission. The resubmitted assignment may only earn marks up to forty (40) per cent of the total marks originally allocated for assignment/s.
What will happen if you are caught for plagiarism in the resubmission?
You are not entitled to earn any marks for the resubmitted assignment.
How would you know if your plagiarised work is exposed?
At the point of exposure, you will receive a ‘Plagiarism Notification Letter (PNL)’ (See Annex 1) via the respective Plagiarism Officer.
Who is the Plagiarism Officer?
A Senior Lecturer of any Department or Unit of the Faculty, who is appointed to monitor and scrutinize plagiarism, poor scholarship, and/or related academic misconduct, committed by any student, individually or collectively in relation to any text (e.g. essays, project reports) produced and/or submitted by that student as part and/or as a partial fulfilment of the assessment/s of any course taught and/or offered by the Department or Unit.
What could you do if you are not satisfied with the decision communicated via the PNL?
You may appeal to the Head of the respective department or the coordinator of the respective unit within seven (07) working days of the date mentioned in the PNL. You may do so by addressing a letter to the respective department head or unit coordinator.
What would happen after your appeal?
All appeals will be considered by an ‘Appeal Board’ of the respective Department or Unit. The Appeal Board is an impartial body comprising of the Head of the Department (or the Coordinator of the Unit), the Plagiarism Officer and two other senior academic members of the Department or Unit. The decision made by the Appeal Board, which shall be treated as final, will be communicated to you in a letter, titled the “Appeals Decision Letter (ADL)” (See Annex 2).
Do you need to learn more on preventing plagiarism?
This is simple; you can discuss your concern with one of your lectures.
Further, we would like to advise you to use the following free services available online – Plagtracker and PaperRater prior to submission to uplift the quality of your write-up.
Annex 1
Plagiarism Notification Letter
Department /Unit ……………………………………….
Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
(Student’s Name and Address)
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Dear Student
As per the Plagiarism Policy of the Faculty, it was found that you have committed the following act/s of plagiarism and/or related academic misconduct vis-à-vis the text that you have submitted as part and/or a partial fulfilment of the assessment/s of the Course of (name of the Course) ____________________ __________________________________taught and/or offered by the Department/Unit.
▪ Submitting someone else’s idea as your own idea and/or work____
▪ Citing someone else’s idea and/or work as your own idea and/or work____
▪ Citing someone else’s idea and/or work without proper reference____
▪ Mixing and/or merging a few ideas and/or works developed by another person/s and/or institution/s without proper reference to the original ideas and/or works____
▪ Copying someone else’s idea and/or work_____
▪ Adopting someone else’s idea and/or work without proper reference to the original idea and/or work_____
Therefore, it was decided (please strike out the inapplicable section)
(1) to reduce the marks allocated for your text by ______ per cent. As such marks or grade that you have earned for the text is ______
OR
(2) that you should resubmit the text _____
(If you are asked to resubmit the text, please consult the Course Lecturer/s and/or the Course Coordinator for further information).
However, if you are not satisfied with the aforementioned decision, you are entitled to appeal in a letter addressed to me within Seven (07) working days of the date of this letter.
Head of the Department/Coordinator of the Unit
Annex 2
Appeals Decision Letter
Department /Unit ……………………………………….
Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
(Student’s Name and Address)
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Dear Student
In accordance with the appeal that you have made on____________(date), it was decided
(please strike out the inapplicable sections)
(1) to adhere to the decision mentioned in the Plagiarism Notification Letter dated ________
(2) to annul the decision fully as stated in Plagiarism Notification Letter dated________
(3) to change the decision of reducing marks allocated for your text by ______ per cent as stated in the Plagiarism Notification Letter dated________. As such, marks or grade that you have earned for the text after the decision of the Appeal Board is ______
(4) to reduce the marks allocated for your text by ____ per cent as an alternative to the decision of resubmitting the text as stated in the Plagiarism Notification Letter dated________. As such, marks or grade that you have earned for the text after the decision of the Appeal Board is ______.
(5) that you should resubmit the text as an alternative to the decision of reducing marks allocated for your text as stated in the Plagiarism Notification Letter dated________.
(If you are asked to resubmit the text, please consult the Course Lecturer/s and/or the Course Coordinator for further information).
Head of the Department/ Coordinator of the Unit