4. ETHOS: SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY

Safeguard ethics and hard work.
[For educational institutions]

Automation of the adjudication process for plagiarism and misconduct

All the Tools you Need to Streamline the Processes, Safeguard Integrity, Save Time, and Reduce Costs.

What

Address the challenges that a) precede and b) follow the identification of misconduct. ​

How

We provide a suite of resources in a One-stop-shop that includes policies, procedures, and IT solutions.

Outcome

Institutions can streamline the process of reporting, examining, communicating, and recording plagiarism cases.​.

Background

During my work as the Authorised officer for academic integrity at a large Australian university, we realised how laborious it was for staff to report suspected plagiarism. Thus, we developed the workflow and a paperless online system for the automatization of reporting, processing and recording plagiarism incidents. I summarise below the challenge and the benefits of developing such a system.​

Business case

1. THE CHALLENGE
Cheating and plagiarism are major academic offences.
Students who plagiarize pose two challenges.
  • A first challenge is when the student is not caught.
  • Surprisingly, a second challenge arises when a student is caught (Rodafinos, 2018).
Some universities do not have well developed policies on academic misconduct. Others lack guidelines (e.g., workflow charts, examples) and efficient procedures for handling such cases.
Obstacles in implementing the policies include
  • Considerations regarding potential implications: a) for the student b) for the institution (litigation, reputation)
  • Operational factors: a) complexity in examining and decision making, b) amount of administrative work involved in handling the outcome (e.g., reporting, communicating the results, and recording plagiarism incidents).
As a result,
  • lecturers and administration are spending too much of their valuable (and expensive) time when they have to examine and report suspected plagiarism.
  • some think twice before reporting the incident if there is no easy-to-follow process. Others, to avoid the hassle, look the other way!
Finally, recording of incidents is scarce even among top 100 Universities.
  • Some institutions use traditional pdf forms that staff members need to complete, and email back to the admin.
  • Others record plagiarism instances within the department. Without an efficient central and automated recording system in place, second offences (e.g., students who plagiarize in units offered by different departments) are often treated as initial ones or students get away with it, damaging the credibility of the University!
2. Suggested solutions
A. Development of policies and procedures.
B. Software solutions to simplify the process of reporting, examining, communicating and recording plagiarism cases on a central database, all under one environment, to ​assist the decision makers. 
E.g.,
  • Flowcharts and decision trees incorporating definitions, policies, guidelines, and examples. 
  • Web forms, in which entering an ID number brings up the students’ record, pre-fills fields etc.
  • ​Drop down menus, which will provide options for penalties, and select and send template letters for each level, to improve consistency and processing speed. 

3. Summary of benefits
Our solutions help academic and administration staff to efficiently and effortlessly process incidents, ensure consistency, promote fairness, improve record keeping, and maintain high quality standards required for accreditation purposes.
The benefits fall under multiple categories: 
  • Operational: improved academic rigor and standards, reduced plagiarism, efficiency, accuracy, consistency
  • Financial: reduced processing effort for academic staff, thus more valuable time for teaching and research
  • Staff: increased staff satisfaction, improved organizational culture
  • Market: quality assurance process in place (an asset for accreditation), enhanced University reputation.
4. IT REQUIREMENTS
The solution will link to the University's ERP/Management Software and can be
  • Cloud-based
  • Standalone (with a plugin for Moodle, Blackboard, etc.)
5. RELATED SERVICES & PRODUCTS
  • Development of online courses on what is plagiarism and how to avoid it (for students)
  • Production of guidelines, manuals, handbooks (for staff) 
  • Training of staff and Authorised officers on the use of the related system/software, how much is too much plagiarism etc.
6. Additional Information
  • Location: On site or online.
  • Estimated duration of project: 3-5 days.
  • Cost: Variable (see for instance my fee schedule)

Research

​This article describes the issue and the solution in detail. ​

"​Ι do not see any reason why policies, processes and punishments should differ amongst institutions, in the same - or even different countries!"

- DR RO