Dhaka University has developed a policy titled "The Rules for the Prevention of Plagiarism" with penalties for students, teachers, or researchers under the university who plagiarize.
They are also likely to use a software called “dubd21” to check for plagiarism in the research papers of the students. The software was launched on August 2 last year.
In an academic council meeting of the university on Monday (January 23), most of the attendees initially agreed to the policy.
However, two more weeks have been given to the policy formulation committee to see if these policies can be improved any further.
In this regard, Pro Vice Chancellor (Education) Professor Dr ASM Maksud Kamal said: "There has been an initial discussion regarding all these policies. Another two weeks' time has been given to the policymakers.”
The punishments
The university authorities have allowed up to 20% plagiarism in research papers.
However, if above 20-40% plagiarism is found, then it will be considered “Level 1”.
The authorities would give an opportunity to redo the paper in six months. The responsible person will be fined a certain amount or their degree or paper will be revoked.
“Level 2” would be considered when a paper has a plagiarism score of 40-60%.
In this case, the responsible person would be given up to a year and a half to redo the paper. If they fail, then the paper would be revoked.
If the responsible person in “Level 2” is a teacher, officer, or researcher of Dhaka University and if they received an appointment, promotion, or any other financial benefit on the basis of the plagiarised degree, then all the money received at the relevant time will be returned to the treasury immediately.
Plagiarism above 61% is classified as “Level 3”. This may result in the suspension of the degree or course for two years.
The person responsible will be given the opportunity to revise or redo the paper for a fine of Tk30,000.
Previously, Dhaka University found evidence of plagiarism against several teachers.
Last year, an associate professor of the Pharmaceutical Technology Department, Abul Kalam Lutful Kabir made the headlines after allegations rose that 98% of his PhD thesis was plagiarized.
The High Court on January 11, last year wanted to know whether DU uses any software or any other information technology to preserve the thesis of PhD holders after a writ petition was filed referring to Kabir's news.
On February 5, the DU Syndicate relieved Kabir from administrative and academic duties and formed the probe body that found proof of plagiarism.
