In order to put a check on plagiarism and to recommend some institutional mechanism to eliminate the scope of this menace in higher education system in the country, University Grants Commission (UGC) in its 530th meeting held on 20/03/2018 considered and approved the UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018. These Regulations have been notified in the Official Gazette of India on 31/07/2018 and are
available on UGC website i.e www.ugc.ac.in. Link to access these regulations is mentioned in the document below. All students and the faculty members of the Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune are requested to go through the prescribed documents related to plagiarism.

Preamble

Scientific values, morals and ethics are prerequisites in both academia and research. A breach in these values and honesty can tarnish the repute of not just the individual researcher/academic but also the associated institute. Thus, it is of utmost importance to have in place, a policy against plagiarism. Plagiarism is the incorrect or wrong appropriation or closeness towards other author’s language, thoughts, ideas or expressions. It is the representation of others’ work as one’s own original work. It is completely unacceptable to take credit for others’ work, steal information or calling something of others to be of our own. Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune hereby puts forth the following anti-plagiarism policy which will be abided by all the students and faculty members of the college.

Detection of plagiarism & necessary legal action

Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune is committed to use the best tools/software to detect plagiarism while preparing academic content as suggested by UGC and SPPU. If any member of the academic community suspects, with appropriate proof, that a case of plagiarism has been committed in any document, he or she shall report it to the Departmental Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP). DAIP will comprise of the following: Chairman – Head of the Department; Member- Senior academician from outside the Department and a member who is well versed with anti-plagiarism tools. Upon receipt of such a complaint or allegation, the DAIP shall investigate the matter and report to the Research Coordination Committee (RCC) of Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune who will further establish the existence and extent of plagiarism. The RCC will use the software suggested by UGC/ National Knowledge Commission/ SPPU, Pune such as “Urkund” and “Turnitin” for detecting the plagiarism. The College has licensed copy of “Turnitin” which will be used for plagiarism check. All teachers/ researchers/ PhD guides to be trained for the use of software. This committee will provide with the final decision and action will be taken against the candidate. Depending on the extent of plagiarism the punishment could be (as per UGC/SPPU guidelines):

• Fine or warning
• Prohibition to publish for a year
• Rustication for limited period or permanent (considering the severity of plagiarism) 4) Withdrawal of degree

Penalties in the cases of plagiarism shall be imposed on concerned faculty members and students only after academic misconduct on the part of the individual has been established without doubt, when all avenues of appeal have been exhausted and the individual in question has been provided with enough opportunity to defend him or herself in a fair and transparent manner.

Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune will not be held responsible for any violations of research ethics and plagiarism. The concerned faculty member/student will be solely responsible for his/her research misconduct and plagiarism.