Plagiarism 

Please take note of the University’s updated policy, whereby the University of Pretoria commits itself to produce academic work of integrity. You, in submitting anything, affirm that you are aware of and have read the Rules and Policies of the University, more specifically the Disciplinary Procedure and the Tests and Examinations Rules, which prohibit any unethical, dishonest or improper conduct during tests, assignments, examinations and/or any other forms of assessment. You further agree that you are aware that no student or any other person may assist or attempt to assist another student, or obtain help, or attempt to obtain help from another student or any other person during tests, assessments, assignments, examinations and/or any other forms of assessments.

Plagiarism is a serious form of academic misconduct. It involves both appropriating someone else’s work and passing it off as one’s own work afterwards. Thus, you commit plagiarism when you present someone else's written or creative work (words, images, ideas, opinions, discoveries, artwork, music, recordings, computer-generated work, etc.) as your own. Only hand in your own original work and indicate precisely and accurately when you have used information provided by someone else. Referencing must be done in accordance with a recognised system, and indicate whether you have downloaded information from the Internet. Visit http://www.library.up.ac.za/plagiarism/index.htm.

Plagiarism for written assignments is evaluated through Turnitin. Turnitin is a powerful anti-plagiarism tool, but it does require some thought to use it properly. The system runs a piece of work against its database, and highlights all cases where a sequence of words matches a previously published work (the length of the sequence can be set by the user – default is 3 words in a row). The system then collates the number of words taken from a certain work, and compares this word count to the total word count in the paper to calculate a percentage (i.e. 300 words out of 3000 words = 10% for that source). The system will then calculate a gross plagiarism score, the Similarity Index, from the sum of all the different sources. Thus, 50 different sources each with 1% plagiarised will yield a Similarity Index of 50%, but so will 2 sources of 25% each. A lecturer cannot simply make judgements based on the Similarity Index- the plagiarism counts for individual sources must be examined.

Therefore, the following values will be used to judge plagiarism in the Geology Department:

• Turnitin will be set to look for matching sequences of 3 or more words
• The bibliography/references will be excluded from the match
• The student may be allowed to run each piece of work through Turnitin ahead of the submission date, according to the lecturer’s discretion.
• No individual source may contribute more than 3% to the total
• The overall similarity index must be 25% or less, unless all individual sources contribute less than 1% each to the total.

Contravention of these guidelines will result in legal action. In the event that legal action is avoided and that a zero mark is not awarded, resubmission prior to the newly established deadline will result in a maximum mark of 50%.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI), and in particular generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT), is revolutionising various facets of teaching and learning. The responsible and ethical use of generative AI during your academic career and beyond is essential to ensure that these types of technological advancements make a positive contribution and thus enhance your educational experience. The irresponsible and unethical use of these types of tools can be deemed as not conducting your work yourself and is viewed by the Department and UP the same as plagiarism.  To aid you in this journey, please refer to the summary of the Student Guide: Using Generative AI @UP. Your lecturer can enforce any of the following by stipulating so in the respective study guides:

• Prohibition: The lecturer prohibits the use of generative AI altogether in assignments, requiring students to rely solely on their own knowledge and resources.
• Limited use: Alternatively, the allows limited use of generative AI for specific purposes. For instance, students might be allowed to use it for clarifying concepts, generating ideas, or seeking initial guidance. However, the use of generative AI might be restricted when it comes to solving problems, writing essays, or completing substantial portions of the assignment.
• Citation requirements: If students are permitted to use generative AI, the must require them to cite the source of information generated by the model. This ensures that students provide proper attribution and distinguish their original work from the model-generated content.
• Collaboration guidelines: If collaboration is allowed, the lecturer must specify how students can work together and the limitations of seeking help from external sources, including generative AI.
• Transparency: The lecturer should inform students to be transparent about using generative AI. For example, students might be required to include a statement in their assignments indicating if and how they used language models while completing their work.
• Procedural instructions: The lecturer should provide specific instructions on how to use generative AI, such as time limits, specific prompts or questions that can be asked, or guidelines on the types of responses that are acceptable.
• Compulsory: Students are required to submit a generative AI version of the assignment, including the prompts, and their reflection/critique on the generative AI version based on the course material provided and their final assignment in track changes.

Complaints and Compliments

You are more than welcome to express your appreciation to your lecturer or tutor and supply feedback about aspects of the course that you enjoy and find valuable. If you have a query or complaint, you have to submit it in writing with specifics of the issue or the nature of the complaint. It is imperative that you follow the procedure outlined below in that order to resolve your issues, proceeding to the next if not addressed:

1. Consult the class representative (the primary function of the class representative is to serve as a two-way communication channel between the class and the lecturer). 
2. Consult the lecturer concerned about your complaint/concerns. 
3. Consult the class guardian (academic staff member in charge of the relevant academic year). 
4. Consult the Head of Department. 
5. Consult with the Dean of the Faculty.

Cases regarding Plagiarism and Artificial Intelligence

These cases are usually made by the lecturer and these matters should be handled in the Department first to reach a resolution. The following will be done in this sequence and with preferably two people present:

1. Consult with the Head of Department (mandatory)
2. Consult with the Course Coordinator 
3. Consult with the Module Coordinator

The accused party (student) will not be part of this process, and further communication will be through the correct channels in UP.