Plagiarism policy at the University of Otago was amended at a meeting yesterday.
University Council members approved changes to the renamed "dishonest practice procedures", after a recommendation was made by the Senate academic board for the policy guidelines about plagiarised work to be simplified.
Acting vice-chancellor Prof Vernon Squire said the amended procedure to identify instances of dishonest practices would provide "clearer guidance on the various steps" to be followed by the university.
The university has two levels of plagiarism - defined in the amended procedure as the copying or paraphrasing of another's work and presenting it as one's own.
The descriptions of the levels of plagiarism have been rewritten to make it easier for staff to identify the appropriate level of an alleged offence, he said.
A change in process has also been made so that students who are alleged to have committed plagiarism will receive "outcome letters" from the student administration manager, rather than their head of department, Prof Squire said.
The amended procedure outlines several "possible penalties" for students found to be in breach of the plagiarism or dishonesty regulations, with exclusion from the university listed as the most severe punishment.
