Plagiarism

• Plagiarism shall be considered to be deliberate representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own or the deliberate arrangement of someone else’s material(s) as one’s own.
• Any one of the following constitutes plagiarism:
  
  • - Quotation without appropriate punctuation and citation of source;
  • - Paraphrasing of expression or thought without proper attribution;
  • - Dependence upon a source for a plan, organization or argument without appropriate citation.
• As AFU treats plagiarism as a serious form of academic misconduct, the following procedures have been devised in accordance with the Transparency and Integrity policy at the University to promote and protect Intellectual Property:

In line with existing plagiarism policy of AFU & to preserve the academic integrity, AFU enforces the following guidelines in interpreting the similarity:

1. All students’ coursework must be processed through  an e-submission via Turnitin
2. Each faculty member/instructor has to verify each and every similarity index for potential evidence of plagiarism.
3. The similarity index produced by the Turnitin services should not exceed 20 percent (maximum) in any submitted work of the student including internship projects and graduation paper. Fair academic judgement should be exercised by the faculty member by considering all the available information included in the report to interpret this threshold of similarity index. Academic judgment should also include common phrases and subject specific terminology, quotations in appropriate manners, reference/bibliographic details while interpreting the similarity report.
4. The single source match in the Turnitin similarity report of students work should not exceed a maximum of three (3) percent.

Instructors/Faculty members should take into consideration the following guidelines:

• It is the responsibility of the instructor to provide guidance to the students and reinforce the awareness about the ways where high similarity score could be problematic and plagiarism can take form in the student’s written work.
• Instructors should let the students view the similarity report of their work in order to provide an opportunity to the student to see where they have improperly paraphrased or inadvertently misused a source.
• The instructors should exclude references/bibliographical details from the student work while evaluating the originality report.
• In case of occurring plagiarism, the following penalty will apply:

When plagiarism is suspected in whole or in part, it is reported to the Disciplinary Committee. If a charge is upheld against the student who committed plagiarism by the Disciplinary Committee, the following penalties will be imposed:

1. First-time offence will result in:
   • a grade of zero “0” in the plagiarized assignment.
   • first warning and an entry in the student’s discipline file.
2. Second-time offence will result in:
   • a failing grade in the course in which the offense was committed.
   • second warning and an entry in the student’s discipline file.
3. Third-time offence will result in:
   • failing grade in all registered courses for the semester in which the offence was committed.
   • final warning and an entry in the student’s discipline file.
4. Repeated plagiarism will result in:
   • a failing grade in all registered courses for the semester in which the offence was committed.
   • dismissal from the university.

CHEATING POLICY

Al Falah University will not condone academic cheating or plagiarism in any form. Faculty members are expected to uphold and support the highest academic standards in this matter. Cheating or plagiarism in any form is considered a serious violation of expected student behavior and may result in disciplinary action up to grade (F) in all of the courses registered for the semester in which the cheating occurred. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: copying from another’s test or examination; using or displaying notes, “cheat sheets,” or other information devices inappropriate to the prescribed test conditions; allowing someone other than the officially enrolled student to represent same.

STUDENT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY

This policy includes plagiarism and cheating, and is accompanied by regulations and full operational procedures. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, knowingly providing false information, plagiarizing, and any other form of academic misrepresentation. Should incidents of academic dishonesty occur, the following procedures will be followed:

• A Faculty members suspecting dishonesty will confer with the student so accused, within a reasonable time after the alleged offense has been discovered.
• If the student denies responsibility and the Faculty members is convinced that the student is not responsible, the matter is dropped.
• If the Faculty member is convinced that the apparently unethical behavior was unintentional, the Faculty members will help the student to understand what was done wrong and how to avoid doing so in the future. Unintentional violations should be reported by the Faculty members.
• If the student admits the act of dishonesty, the penalty will be an “F” on that assignment/test, a final grade of “F” for the course, or other appropriate penalty, as determined by the Faculty members depending on the severity of the infraction and the significance of the assignment. When an “F” is levied on an individual assignment/test, the Faculty members may require the student to complete additional work in order to continue in the course. Violations should be reported by the Faculty members. If the Faculty member believes that the dishonesty is severe enough to warrant suspension or dismissal from the University, he or she should refer the case to the Dean who might report to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If the student wishes to appeal the severity of the grade assigned by the Faculty members, the student will follow the procedures stated in the University academic policy for appeal of grades.
• If the student is not satisfied with the decision, the student may, within five business days, appeal to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• If the student denies responsibility and the Faculty members is not convinced that the student is not responsible, the case is referred, with supporting documentation, to the Dean for action. The Faculty members will delay assigning a grade for the course or the assignment until the Dean makes a determination of responsibility or no responsibility and takes appropriate Faculty disciplinary action.
• A student accused of academic dishonesty may not withdraw from the course until the allegations have been resolved. A student who receives an “F” in the course for academic dishonesty cannot obtain a “W” from that course.
• The Dean will schedule a meeting to hear cases of academic dishonesty when any of the following occurs:

1. The student denies responsibility and the Faculty members is not convinced that the student is not responsible.
2. The Faculty member is not convinced that the admitted violation was unintentional.
3. The Faculty member believes that the violation is severe enough to warrant suspension or dismissal from the University.
4. The student has been involved in a previously documented incident of academic dishonesty.

• The Dean will recommend to the Vice President for Academic Affairs the action to be taken.
• Whenever academic dishonesty occurs, a Faculty member will provide the head of the department, the Dean and the student with a written report of the violation, any penalty imposed and the counseling provided by the Faculty members.
• The case will be reported to the Student Disciplinary Committee.
• In order to insure that a pattern of misconduct is not established, the Dean will notify the Vice President for Academic Affairs who will place a copy of the Faculty member’s statement in the academic dishonesty file. This statement will be destroyed no later than three months after the student’s graduation. Decisions of the Dean will be placed in the student’s personnel file. Materials placed in the academic dishonesty file may not be released to outside agencies.
• Contents of the student’s personnel file may be released only as stipulated in the University Records Policy.
• If a student witnesses an act of academic dishonesty; he/she should report it to the teaching Faculty member immediately. That Faculty member will handle the matter according to the steps as outlined above.
• For the purpose of this policy, plagiarism shall be considered to be deliberate representation of someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own or the deliberate arrangement of someone else’s material(s) as one’s own.
• Any one of the following constitutes plagiarism:
  1. Quotation without appropriate punctuation and citation of source;
  2. Paraphrasing of expression or thought without proper attribution;
  3. Dependence upon a source for a plan, organization or argument without appropriate citation.