GUIDELINES TO CHECK PLAGIARISM

(As Amended in accordance with the UGC Notification on University Grants Commission
(Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational
Institutions) Regulations, 2018)

1. Preamble

Jagan Nath University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana has been established under Haryana State
Legislature Act No. 8 of 2013, is recognized by the UGC and empowered to award degrees under
section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956 and is member of Association of Indian Universities (AIU). All
the programs offered by the University have been approved by Department of Higher Education,
Government of India as well as respective councils, wherever applicable. The University is
offering UG and PG programs in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Faculty of
Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Commerce & Management, Faculty of
Agriculture Sciences, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Allied Health & Medical science, Faculty
of Journalism & Mass Communication and Faculty of Vocational Studies.

The University started Ph.D programmes w.e.f. the Academic Session 2015-16. The University
has framed guidelines to check plagiarism in compliance with the University Grants Commission
Regulations. The provisions of the UGC Regulations are applicable in toto in all the cases.

A researcher is required to have some ethical and moral values in his academic pursuit. The
researcher is expected to produce and submit the original and genuine work. In the present era,
tons of information is available on internet and online as source material. In this context,
plagiarism has become a serious problem. It is, therefore, necessary for any reputed and
prestigious university to formulate well defined Guidelines to check menace of plagiarism.
Accordingly, Jagan Nath University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana has framed the following guidelines:

2. Definition:

‘Plagiarism’ is the unacknowledged use of another person’s work as one’s own work. Plagiarism
involves copying of Phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, or longer extracts from published or
unpublished work including from internet without acknowledgement of the source.
Methods of Plagiarism:

(a) Quoting directly another person’s language, data, illustration, tables, etc. without due
acknowledgement of the source.
(b) Copying a section of book/article/report/monograph/dissertation/thesis without proper
citation.

(c) Buying, stealing or borrowing assignments, experiments/results.

(d) Paragraphing the work of others without due acknowledgements.

(e) Using ideas of someone else without crediting the originator.

(f) Copying, cutting and pasting from the internet or online source and submitting as one’s own
work without giving proper reference/citation.

Self-Plagiarism
Copying/reproducing, in part or whole one’s own published work without giving proper reference
of that work.

3. Golden Rule to avoid the Plagiarism:

(a) Always give the due credit to the original author (s) and give the proper citation and proper
reference.
(b) Place the sentence in inverted commas, if you quote text verbatim.

4. Detection of Plagiarism:
(a) Candidate shall submit the report generated on the plagiarism checking software like Turnitin
/ Ithenticate / Viper / or similar type of software, of his draft thesis along with a soft copy of
the draft thesis for the consideration of Departmental Research Committee.
(b) He shall also submit a declaration (Annexure-I) to be recorded on the plagiarism report
obtained from the software.
(c) He shall also submit an affidavit (Annexure -II) of plagiarism free and original PhD research
work.

5. Similarity checks for exclusion from Plagiarism

The similarity checks for plagiarism shall exclude the following:

i. All quoted work reproduced with all necessary permission and/or attribution.
ii. All references, bibliography, table of content, preface and acknowledgements.
iii. All generic terms, laws, standard symbols and standards equations.

Note:

The research work carried out by the student, faculty, researcher and staff shall be based on
original ideas, which shall include abstract, summary, hypothesis, observations, results,
conclusions and recommendations only and shall not have any similarities. It shall exclude a
common knowledge or coincidental terms, up to fourteen (14) consecutive words.
6. Levels of Plagiarism

Plagiarism would be quantified into following levels in ascending order of severity for the purpose
of its definition:
i. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% - Minor similarities, no penalty
ii. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%
iii. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%
iv. Level 3: Similarities above 60%

7. Detection/Reporting/Handling of Plagiarism

If any member of the academic community suspects with appropriate proof that a case of
plagiarism has happened in any document, he or she shall report it to the Departmental Academic
Integrity Panel (DAIP). Upon receipt of such a complaint or allegation the DAIP shall investigate
the matter and submit its recommendations to the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) of
the University.

The authorities of University can also take suomotu notice of an act of plagiarism and initiate
proceedings under these regulations. Similarly, proceedings can also be initiated by the University
on the basis of findings of an examiner. All such cases will be investigated by the IAIP.

8. Departmental Academic Integrity Panel (DAIP)

i. All Departments in University shall notify a DAIP whose composition shall be as given
below:

a. Chairman - Head of the Department

b. Member - Senior academician from outside the department, to be nominated by the head of
University.
c. Member - A person well versed with anti plagiarism tools, to be nominated by the Head of
the Department.

The tenure of the members in respect of points 'b' and 'c' shall be two years. The quorum for the
meetings shall be 2 out of 3 members (including Chairman).

ii. The DAIP shall follow the principles of natural justice while deciding about the allegation of
plagiarism against the student, faculty, researcher and staff.
iii. The DAIP shall have the power to assess the level of plagiarism and recommend
penalty(ies) accordingly.
iv. The DAIP after investigation shall submit its report with the recommendation on penalties to
be imposed to the IAIP within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of complaint /
initiation of the proceedings.
9. Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP)

i. University shall notify a IAIP whose composition shall be as given below:

a. Chairman - Pro-VC/Dean/Senior Academician of the University.
b. Member - Senior Academician other than Chairman, to be nominated by the Head of the
University.
c. Member - One member nominated by the Head of University from outside the University
d. Member - A person well versed with anti-plagiarism tools, to be nominated by the Head
of the University.
The Chairman of DAIP and IAIP shall not be the same. The tenure of the Committee members
including Chairman shall be three years. The quorum for the meetings shall be 3 out of 4 members
(including Chairman).
ii. The IAIP shall consider the recommendations of DAIP.
iii. The IAIP shall also investigate cases of plagiarism as per the provisions mentioned in these
regulations.
iv. The IAIP shall follow the principles of natural justice while deciding about the allegation
of plagiarism against the student, faculty, researcher and staff of University.
v. The IAIP shall have the power to review the recommendations of DAIP including
penalties with due justification.
vi. The IAIP shall send the report after investigation and the recommendation on penalties to
be imposed to the Head of the University within a period of 45 days from the date of
receipt of recommendation of DAIP/complaint / initiation of the proceedings.

vii. The IAIP shall provide a copy of the report to the person(s) against whom inquiry report is
submitted.

10. Procedure for reconciliation of plagiarism reports

(1) If a draft thesis is found plagiarized and is reported to Departmental Research Committee then
the Departmental Research Committee shall call the candidate to hear the candidate’s view.
On hearing the candidate, the Departmental Research Committee shall submit its
recommendations keeping in view of the following guidelines:

(a) The similarity between documents is within the limit (not more than 10%) for putting some
original results in proper context and all original sources are correctly cited. The similarity is
not of such nature which directly affects the original findings of research. No further action is
required. Candidate may be permitted to submit the thesis.
(b) Self-plagiarism: “Regarding self plagiarism or cases where published work of the student is
shown Plagiarism in the check, a certificate (Self Plagiarism Exclusion Certificate- Annexure-
III) has to be issued by the supervisor specifying and attaching the articles that have been
published by the student from the thesis work. Only these articles should be excluded from
the check, no other article of student or supervisor should not be excluded from the check.”
 Similarity contents are from candidate’s previous published work without proper citation.
Candidate will be required to resubmit the work with proper citations. If the published work is
co-authored by others, the researcher shall submit a consent letter from co-author(s) and
publisher permitting him to use the work in his thesis.
(c) Low- level plagiarism: When the plagiarism is a result of negligence or without intent to
cheat and the similarity between documents marginally outside the limit, the candidate may
be allowed to resubmit the work with proper citations.

(d) Mid- level Plagiarism: Failure to cite proper citations, copying few paragraphs only. Intent to
cheat is very low and may be due to lack of knowledge. The similarity between documents is
outside the limit. The candidate may be allowed to resubmit the work with proper citation and
with a warning not to repeat the mistake again otherwise registration in the programme will be
cancelled.
(e) High- level plagiarism: Deliberate and planned attempt to copy the work done by someone
else. Large amount of data taken from someone else’s work, art work copying, source code
copying etc. Intention to cheat is very clear. The candidate‘s registration may be cancelled.

(2) The thesis resubmitted as recommended by the Departmental Research Committee in view of
clauses (1)(a) to (d), will be again placed before Departmental Research Committee and the
candidate will also be required to be present to substantiate the necessary improvements made
by him in the thesis.

11. Plagiarism reported after the of Award of Degree

(a) In case, any plagiarism is reported to the University when a Ph.D. degree has already been
awarded, the Vice-Chancellor may constitute an expert committee to enquire into charges of
plagiarism and the committee will submit its report with recommendations.

(b) The expert committee may give the opportunity of hearing to the concerned parties as it
deems fit.

(c) The Vice-Chancellor will place the report along with recommendations of the committee
before the Academic Council for its consideration and action.

12. Penalties

Penalties in the cases of plagiarism shall be imposed on students pursuing studies at the level of
Masters and Research programs and on researcher, faculty & staff of the University only after
academic misconduct on the part of the individual has been established without doubt, when all
avenues of appeal have been exhausted and individual in question has been provided enough
opportunity to defend himself or herself in a fair or transparent manner.
12.1 Penalties in case of plagiarism in submission of thesis and dissertations
Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) shall impose penalty considering the severity of the
Plagiarism.
i. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% - Minor Similarities, no penalty.
ii. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40% - Such student shall be asked to submit a revised
script within a stipulated time period not exceeding 6 months.
iii. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60% - Such student shall be debarred from
submitting a revised script for a period of one year.
iv. Level 3: Similarities above 60% -Such student registration for that programme shall be
cancelled.

Note 1: Penalty on repeated plagiarism

Such student shall be punished for the plagiarism of one level higher than the previous level
committed by him/her. In case where plagiarism of highest level is committed then the
punishment for the same shall be operative.

Note 2: Penalty in case where the degree/credit has already been obtained

If plagiarism is proved on a date later than the date of award of degree or credit as the case may be
then his/her degree or credit shall be put in abeyance for a period recommended by the IAIP and
approved by the Head of the Institution.

12.2 Penalties in case of plagiarism in academic and research publications

I. Level 0: Similarities up to 10% - Minor similarities, no penalty.

II. Level 1: Similarities above 10% to 40%

i) Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

III. Level 2: Similarities above 40% to 60%

i. Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

ii. Shall be denied a right to one annual increment.
iii. Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D.
Student/scholar for a period of two years.

IV. Level 3: Similarities above 60%

i. Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript.

ii. Shall be denied a right to two successive annual increments.
iii. Shall not be allowed to be a supervisor to any new Master’s, M.Phil., Ph.D.
Student/scholar for a period of three years.
Note 1: Penalty on repeated plagiarism

Shall be asked to withdraw manuscript and shall be punished for the plagiarism of one level higher
than the lower level committed by him/her. In case where plagiarism of highest level is committed
then the punishment for the same shall be operative. In case level 3 offence is repeated then the
disciplinary action including suspension/termination as per service rules shall be taken by the
University.

Note 2: Penalty in case where the benefit or credit has already been obtained

If plagiarism is proved on a date later than the date of benefit or credit obtained as the case may be
then his/her benefit or credit shall be put in abeyance for a period recommended by IAIP and
approved by the Head of the Institution.

Note 3: University shall create a mechanism so as to ensure that each of the paper
publication/thesis/dissertation by the student, faculty, researcher or staff of the University is
checked for plagiarism at the time of forwarding/submission.

Note 4: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against the Head of the University, a suitable
action, in line with these regulations, shall be taken by the Controlling Authority of the University.

Note 5: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against the Head of Department/Authorities at the
institutional level, a suitable action, in line with these regulations, shall be recommended by the
IAIP and approved by the Competent Authority.

Note 6: If there is any complaint of plagiarism against any member of DAIP or IAIP, then such
member shall excuse himself / herself from the meeting(s) where his/her case is being
discussed/investigated.
Annexure-I

JAGAN NATH UNIVERSITY, BAHADURGARH, HARYANA

Plagiarism Verification

1. Name of Researcher: …………………………………………………………...…………….

2. Title of the Thesis: …………………………...........................................................................

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Faculty: …………………………………………………………………………………...….

4. Name of Supervisor: …………………………………………………………………………

12. Official Designation & Address: …………………………………………………………….

……………………….……………………………………………….......................................

The above thesis was scanned for similarity detection. The report is as follows:
Software used …………………………………………….. Date……………………………..
Similarity Index: …………………………………………… Total word count………………
The report is attached for the review by the Researcher / Supervisor

Sign. of Researcher

The plagiarism report of the above thesis has been reviewed by the undersigned The similarity
index is below accepted norms.
The similarity index is above accepted norms, because of the following reasons:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..

The thesis may be considered for submission to the University. The software report is attached.

Sign. of Researcher Sign. of Supervisor with Seal

Annexure-II

(To be submitted on a RS. 10/- Non-Judicial Stamp Paper dully notarized)

Affidavit

I,---------------------------------------------- S/D of Shri ------------------------------------ ,

aged ------ years, resident of …………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………..., Mobile No. ……………….. do
herby take oath and state :

(i) That, I am registered for the Ph.D. programme on the topic titled
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………….. in the Faculty of …………………… of Jagan
Nath University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana. My Registration no. is …… ……………
(ii) That, the contents of my thesis submitted to the Jagan Nath University, Bahadurgarh,
Haryana, for award of Ph. D Degree are original and my own work, and is not
plagiarized.
(iii) That, if , after checking my thesis for plagiarism by any standard plagiarism checking
software, are found copied or come under plagiarism, I will be solely responsible for it
and University shall have sole right to cancel my research work ab-initio.
(iv) That, this work has not been submitted by me for the award of any other
Degree/Diploma in any other University/ Institute.
(v) That, I shall be responsible for any legal dispute/case(s) for violation of any provisions
of the Copyright Act relating to my thesis.

Date : …………………….. DEPONENT

Place : ………………….

VERIFICATION

I, the above named deponent, do hereby take oath and verify that the contents of para (i) to
(v) of above affidavit are true and correct to my personal knowledge and nothing has been
concealed by me. No part of it is incorrect.

DEPONENT
Annexure-III

JAGAN NATH UNIVERSITY, BAHADURGARH, HARYANA

Self Plagiarism Exclusion Certificate from Supervisor

The content of the chapters …………………………………………… have been published in 1.

2.
3.
4.
This published work has been included in the thesis and has not been submitted for any degree to
any University/Institute.

Signature of the Candidate Signature of Supervisor

Annexure-IV
JAGAN NATH UNIVERSITY, BAHADURGARH, HARYANA

Self Plagiarism Co-authors Certificate

We have published the following articles jointly:

Name of Article Name of Journal / Book with the details (ISSN
No., etc.)

We give our consent to Mr./Ms. ……………………………………………..to make use of these

articles for his / her Ph. D. research.

The above research paper (s) have not been used by any of us for any degree / Diploma in any other
University.

We shall be responsible for any legal dispute/ case(s) for violation of any provisions of the Copy
Right Act.

Signature of Co-author Signature of Co-author Signature of Co-author

Name ………………………. Name …………………… Name ………………….

Address………………………. Address …………………… Address ……………….
……………………………….. ……………………………….. …………………………

Signature of Candidate

Name ………………..
Registration No. ………………….