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PART 12: FACULTY PLAGIARISM REGULATIONS

With regard to irregularities in the Research Paper / Master's dissertation, or other forms of (written) reporting, the faculty applies the following regulations.

These regulations, however, do not apply to writing assignments in the context of course units of the first bachelor year or to writing assignments that are explicitly intended to clarify the rules regarding academic writing.

Article 1: Plagiarism description

§1 Unauthorised practices or irregularities as described in article 78 of the Education and Examination Code: Copying, adapting, paraphrasing or translating texts, theories, deductions, propositions, classifications diagrams, graphs, data or research results from other works in a Research Paper / Master's dissertation or other forms of (written) reporting, without clear and correct citation, with the intention or result that these texts, theories, deductions, propositions, classifications, diagrams, graphs, data or research results are presented as one's own work. Such a form of unauthorised practice or irregularity is considered plagiarism.
This also implies that all references mentioned in the submitted texts (papers, research paper or master's dissertation) must have actually been read by the student. Therefore, mentioning scientific references that have not been read by the student himself, but originate from other sources (such as articles or AI output), can also be considered a form of cheating if that source is not mentioned. Indeed, in this way, a student wrongfully claims the 'thinking and reading work' of other authors as his/her own. During oral defenses students can always be asked to what extend they have actually read and/or understood their cited references.


Such forms of unauthorised practice or irregularity are considered plagiarism

§2 The faculty provides a non-exhaustive list of examples for illustration purposes (see appendix). This information is communicated to students via Ufora.

§3 The responsible evaluator can assess the originality of submitted papers, which generally have to be submitted in electronic form, by means of anti-plagiarism software.

§4 Unless explicitly prohibited and communicated, the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (G-AI) as a tool does not automatically constitute plagiarism or fraud.
Students are, however, explicitly bound by faculty guidelines around the use of G-AI in writing assignments. These can be found in the 'RESPONSIBLE USE OF G-AI IN THE FPSW STUDY PROGRAMMES document, which can be found on Ufora.

Article 2: Suspicion of plagiarism

§1 If a responsible supervisor suspects that a student is committing fraud or irregularities during an evaluation, they may immediately terminate the current evaluation for that student, provide the student with a new blank examination copy or restart an online examination. Carrying and/or using a digital or electronic (communication) device during an exam or other test is considered fraud ,unless specifically stated otherwise or after permission in exceptional individual circumstances

§2 The examiner / responsible supervisor immediately informs the chair of the examination board of the study programme involved of the facts.

Article 3: Procedure

§1 If the irregularity concerns an indication of plagiarism in the Research Paper / Master's dissertation, or in another form of (written) reporting as described above (Article 1), the student concerned will always be heard by the full examination board of the study programme involved, assisted by the faculty ombudsman (EER art. 78, p. 4).

§2 In this case, the dean, and if applicable the supervisor and / or commissioner involved, informs the student of the indications of plagiarism and the student is given the opportunity to defend himself/herself.

§3 The disciplinary committee then deliberates and determines whether or not the student has committed plagiarism, and after voting, decides upon one of the sanctions included in art. 78 OER, taking into account the apparent or manifest nature of the plagiarism, the extent of the plagiarism, the impact of the plagiarism and the deliberate or fraudulent nature of the plagiarism.

Article 4: Disciplinary exam sanctions

1 In the event of detecting plagiarism in the Research Paper / Master's dissertation, or in another form of (written) reporting, the examination disciplinary committee may, in application of article 3 of these regulations, decide to apply the procedure described in article 78, §6 of the OER to enforce disciplinary sanctions:

  • Students receive an adjusted exam grade on the exam or assignment with which the course unit was evaluated.
  • Students receive the notification 'fraud' for the course unit concerned
  • Students receive the message 'fraud' for the course unit concerned and may not receive credits for a number of course units in the academic year (depending on the severity of the violation) (this means that the student will receive a 0/20 for the course units involved. This part can be equal to the whole of the course units included. The disciplinary examination body can decide that, for the course units concerned or part thereof, the student cannot, if appropriate, participate in the evaluations organised during the resit examination period.
  • Student is excluded

§2 The disciplinary examination committee includes a list of attendees in its report. The report mentions the facts and the motives that led to the disciplinary examination decision. A copy of this report is then provided to the director of the Department of Educational Policy and to the lecturers(s) involved. The examination disciplinary committee informs the student concerned of the disciplinary examination decision taken (if applicable, with mention of the imposed disciplinary examination sanction) via registered letter.

§3 An internal appeal may be lodged with the institutional appeals committee against the pronounced examination disciplinary decision, as determined in Article 81 of the Education and Examination Code.