POLICY ON THE USE OF PLAGIARISM DETECTION SOFTWARE AT AeU

Introduction
Academic integrity is an intrinsic feature of academic life, and upholding academic integrity as a core
value is essential in the academic world. All work produced must acknowledge the sources of ideas
presented, and to cite the original written work from which it has been sourced. While the growth in
information and communication technology (ICT) has allowed for more creativity in the way students
produce work for assessment it has also given rise to increasing incidents of plagiarism.

Amidst this growing concerns on plagiarism, universities are now turning to technology to help check
for academic integrity with the use of originality detection software. The AeU Senate had decided at
the October 2013 Meeting to utilize the plagiarism detection software for checking the undergraduate
and postgraduate assessments as deterrent measures against plagiarism.

Definition of Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as submitting a piece of work that derives in part or in its entirety from the work of
others, as one’s own work without due acknowledgement. Plagiarism is typically found in the main forms
of academic work such as essays, assignments, project papers, theses, reports etc.

Purpose
1. This paper outlines University policy and guidelines on the use of the plagiarism detection
software.
2. The guidelines are to be implemented within the context of the University policies and
procedures on plagiarism. This will ensure consistency and transparency in procedures.

Policy and Guidelines

1. Our plagiarism policy would be to educate-first, detect, correct/revise then followed by
disciplinary action

2. All students are to be informed of the Plagiarism Policy of AeU and the use of plagiarism
detection software by the University

3. Students are to be given instructions on the academic conventions or referencing styles

accepted by AeU and are taught the importance of proper citations.

4. Schools must ensure that the requirements for using the software; e.g. Turnitin are clearly
communicated to students before or at the time an assignment is set.

5. The Administrator will ensure and safeguard the privacy, and will not disclose any report to
anyone except the concerned person and to the concerned authorities, if required.

6. The software should also be available to all academics staff involved in the grading of
assignments and for their own work

7. The Administrator is required to create accounts for all faculty members of the university.

8. All undergraduate and postgraduate students at AeU will be required to submit an electronic
copy of their written assignments, including coursework assignments, research papers, theses
or project reports through the plagiarism detection software in their Personalised Learning
Space (myPLS)

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 9. The University can decide on the limits or the number of times students are allowed to make
submissions of their own written work

10. For all assignments submitted through the software, the setup must allow for at least one draft
submission before the final submission

11. The Student Guide on how to use the software should provide step-by step instructions and
information about the software should be given to all students.

12. When students self-submit their own assignment they should also have access to the
Originality Reports arising from each submission

13. All academic facilitators (AFs)/ tutors responsible for marking assignments are to provide with
guidance to students on: Interpreting the ‘originality reports’ produced by the software.*

14. Students are required to hand in a copy of their Originality report together with the final
submission of their assignment.

15. As a guide a returned percentage of not exceeding (20%) may indicate that plagiarism has
not occurred (The American Psychological Association (APA) states that academic writing
should contain no more than 20% quoted material)

16. The percentage obtained from the software may NOT be used for the final GRADING;
instead, the Academic Facilitator should view the overall paper to decide on the grading.

17. The final piece of work submitted will become part of the database that subsequent works will
be checked against.

18. Submission of a thesis must be together with an electronic copy of the Report to the School/
School of Graduate Studies.

Procedure
1. All undergraduates and post graduate students are instructed to submit an electronic copy of
their work (in Word or PDF format) that will be submitted to the plagiarism detection software.

2. Students submitting assignments theses, research papers or project reports for examination
must be accompanied by an electronic copy of the software report for marking.

3. Schools are to obtain the informed written consent of the students in advance of submission,
ideally at the beginning of the semester

4. Upon submitting the work to every student has to make the following declaration:

I am aware of and understand the University’s policy on plagiarism and I certify that
this assignment is my own work. Where the work of others has been incorporated
they have been acknowledged by referencing in keeping with good academic
practices.

I agree that an electronic copy of my work is to be submitted to the software database for the
purpose of the work to be electronically checked for matches with existing sources and to
detecting possible future plagiarism of this work.
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5. The supervisor must sign the relevant forms confirming that the student has run his/her
work through the plagiarism detection software

6. Students submitting their thesis are required to submit a hard copy together with their
digital receipt as proof of submission through the system

7. Students are to be informed that the work submitted for summative assessment may be
made available to third parties in either paper, or electronic form for the following reasons
i.e
a) To allow a piece of work to be independently assessed by more than one
assessor/ examiner/ MQA officers.
b) To share and review with external examiners, to allow for fair assessment

8. Academic Facilitators or Tutors should refer to the Staff Guide for more detailed
instructions and information on how to use the software (available in the Personalised
Learning Space)

9. If a tutor suspects that a student’s work has been plagiarised, the matter must be referred
to the University’s authority formal academic misconduct regulations. (Academic
Misconduct)

10. In the case of theses, research papers and project reports, supervisors may be required
to sit with their students and run through the ‘report’ from the software in order to provide
guidance on any revisions that may be required as a result of this process

11. The ICT Centre will provide support for the use of the softwares concerned which can be
accessed through Personalised Learning Space (myPLS)

12. The output report from the software is only available as evidence, and should not be a
singular determinant for plagiarism. Any action on student plagiarism must be in keeping
with the University Plagiarism Policy

13. In case of any conflict the decision of University Plagiarism Committee according to
Plagiarism Policy of AeU will be final.

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APPENDIX A

Originality Report

What is an Originality Report?

An ‘originality report’ identifies texts within the assignment, that matches or near-matches texts
with other documents searched by the software. When an assignment is submitted, (Turnitin) the
software scans and compares the electronically submitted papers with the electronic text from a
range of sources including:

 Texts from publicly accessible internet sites

 Academic propriety databases of journals and periodicals under its licensing agreements
 Previously submitted student papers
 Assignments obtained from ‘paper mills’

The scanning produces an Originality Report that identifies the percentage of text (excluding that
in quotation marks) which can be matched to any of the existing data, either as identical text or
closely paraphrased materials. The report gives a quick overall picture of the level of matches–
shown as percentages (of matches) that are colour coded
http://turnitin.com/en_us/features/originalitycheck

Percentage Match Colour Code

0% Blue
1-24% Green
25-49% Yellow
50-74% Orange
75%-100% Red

Reading the report

An example of a student’s submitted work on the left hand side, with the matches it finds on the
right hand side. Turnitin has identified that: 15% of the student’s work may be from the web site
www.smifforums.net and a further 8% may be from the web site www.spellsofmagic.com

In terms of level of the matched text in a Turnitin Originality Report, there is no predetermined level
of percentage to confirm that a piece of work does, or does not, contain plagiarised passages. The
text matches should be reviewed to check:

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  If such matched text is a result of common terminology in the discipline
 Whether matched text has been properly referenced and cited in accordance with
University requirements
 Whether there is an appropriate level of matched text given the nature of assignments

Acceptable Percentage
As a guide a returned percentage of below (20%) may indicate that plagiarism has not occurred.
However, if the matching text is one continuous block this could still be considered plagiarism.

Anything exceeds over twenty percent (20%) would probably be considered a high percentage.
This will depend on the students work and the requirements of the report or essay.

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