Meeting held on plagiarism complaints

Islamabad:Plagiarism complaints against faculty members and scholars of 10 universities were discussed at the 22nd meeting of Plagiarism Standing Committee of Higher Education Commission (HEC) held on Friday.

The Committee, comprising senior educationists and experts from different universities, deliberated upon complaints in which no action was taken by the respective universities even after passage of the stipulated period of 90 days after reporting of the case. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director HEC.

Engr. Muhammad Ismail, Consultant Quality Assurance, informed the members about the process followed by Quality Assurance division for processing plagiarism complaints. He shared concerns that universities are not following plagiarism policy in letter and spirit. He said that the HEC nominees in the Plagiarism Standing Committee need to be responsible for proper compliance of HEC policy on plagiarism.

The Committee discussed 22 plagiarism complaints and directed to issue reminders in 11 cases with clear warning to universities where plagiarism complaints are pending. It also blacklisted faculty members in two cases who have not complied with HEC directives. Six cases were closed as per policy and two others were referred to the Expert Committee.

The executive director stressed the need to follow merit while evaluating such complaints and emphasised upon formulating a mechanism to develop quality research culture at universities.