Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research (2007-2010)

The Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research (AMBeR) project aimed to identify the range and nature of penalties applicable to cases of student plagiarism in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and arose following concerns that penalties were being applied inconsistently from one institution to another. Ultimately the project aimed to consider the feasibility of a generic penalty tariff which can be applied across the sector.

The project involved a three-fold study of the regulatory and practical aspects of dealing with student plagiarism. Finally, following a consultation exercise with a group of institutions a penalty tariff was developed for use as a benchmark for establishing and reviewing institutional policies and procedures.

Phase one (2007): Desktop survey of 150+ higher education institution’s academic misconduct regulations. Cite this resource: Tennant, P., Rowell, G. & Duggan, F. (2007) Academic misconduct benchmarking research project: part 1 [Online]. Available at: www.plagiarismadvice.org/images/plagad/resources/institutional_approaches/Tennant_amber1.pdf (Accessed: 29 November 2012).

Phase two (2008): Investigation of penalties applied in practice for cases of student plagiarism. Cite this resource: Tennant, P. & Duggan, F. (2008) Academic misconduct benchmarking research project: part 2 [Online]. Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/AMBeR_PartII_Full_Report.pdf (Accessed: 3 December 2012).

Phase three (2010): Development of a generic penalty tariff. Cite these resources: Tennant, P. & Rowell, G. (2010) Plagiarism reference tariff  [Online]. Available at: www.plagiarismadvice.org/images/plagad/resources/institutional_approaches/Tennant_referencetariff.pdf (Accessed: 29 November 2012). Tennant, P. & Rowell, G. Benchmark plagiarism tariff [Online]. Available at: www.plagiarismadvice.org/images/plagad/resources/institutional_approaches/Tennant_benchmarkreport.pdf (Accessed: 29 November 2012).