Fraud protocol Faculty or Archaeology
Further elaboration of article 5.5 sections 1 and 2 of the Course and Examination
Regulations (OER), and article 11 of the Rules and Guidelines of the Examination
Committee regarding procedures during exams and the measures to be taken in
that respect, as intended in article 7.12, section 4 of the Higher Education and
Research Act (WHW).
Article 1, Definitions:
In this protocol, the following definitions are used:
1. Exam:
the conclusion of each teaching unit (art. 7.3, section 2, WHW). The OER
stipulates the form of the exam (oral, written or other) (art. 7.13, section 2).
2. Fraud:
a. during the exam, having access to aids (mobile phone, books,
syllabi, notes, etc.), which are expressly not permitted;
b. copying (parts of) answers from another exam candidate or candidates to
exam questions during a written collective essay or multiple choice exam;
c. sharing information inside or outside the exam room during the exam,
including consulting books, using the GSM, etc.;
d. getting third parties to take exams in the name of the student involved;
e. pretending to be someone else during the exam;
f. being in the possession of the exam questions before the date or time when
the exam is due to take place;
g. getting third parties to do a written individual assignment for you.
3. Plagiarism:
a. using or copying someone else’s texts, details or ideas without full and correct
referencing;
b. failure to clearly indicate in the text, for example by using quotation marks or
a different font, that literal or nearly literal quotes were used, even if the correct
source reference is used;
c. presenting something as one’s own work or own thoughts or copying the
structure or central idea from third party sources, even if a reference to other
authors is included;
d. submitting a text which has been previously submitted for an assignment for
another part of the programme; text copied from previously submitted
assignments should include the correct references to the previous assignments;
e. copying the work of fellow students and passing it off as your own work;
f. copying (parts of) text from written assignments by fellow students.
Article 2, Confidential Committee:
The board of the Faculty of Archaeology appoints a Confidential Committee,
consisting of a student, a lecturer and the study advisor. Lecturers, students and
invigilators may contact this committee if they suspect fraud.
Article 3, Complicity:
1. Both the perpetrator and co-perpetrator of fraud and plagiarism may/will be
punished.
2. If a student copies the work of fellow students with their permission and/or
with their cooperation, that student is also considered an accessory to
plagiarism.
3. If one of the authors commits plagiarism in a joint piece of work, the other
authors are also considered an accessory to plagiarism, if they could/should have
known that the other person was committing plagiarism.
Article 4, Detecting plagiarism:
Electronic detection programs can be used to detect plagiarism in texts. When
handing in the text, the student implicitly gives permission for the text to be
incorporated in the database of the detection program concerned.
Article 5, Procedure:
1. If a lecturer, student or invigilator feels that fraud may have been committed
as referred to in article 1, they can submit their claim to the Confidential
Committee. In the case of a written collective or individual exam, the claim must
be submitted within 10 days of the exam. For a written assignment, a claim must
be submitted within five weeks of the deadline for handing in the assignment.
2. The Confidential Committee assesses as quickly as possible, but certainly
within a period of four weeks, whether the claim is founded.
3. If the Confidential Committee concludes that there is a case of fraud, it reports
this in writing to the Examination Committee. The report contains the following
information:
- name of the lecturer involved
- name of the study component involved and date of the alleged fraud
- name and student number of the student(s) involved
- description of the suspicion of fraud and the committee’s reasons for accepting
the claim.
- date of signing
4. If these requirements are not fulfilled, as intended in article 3, section 3, the
Examination Committee may dismiss the claim, unless the Confidential
Committee provides the missing information within a period of two weeks.
Article 6, Handling by the Examination Committee:
1. The Examination Committee guarantees a thorough and swift procedure where
fraud cases are concerned, guaranteeing confidentiality.
2. The procedure is as follows:
a. The Examination Committee confirms receipt of the claim in writing to all
involved.
b. The Examination Committee determines within four weeks of receipt whether
the claim will be considered. It may decide not to consider the claim if this
relates to behaviour that has already been reported or if the fraud does not seem
sufficiently serious.
c. If the Examination Committee decides to consider the claim, a copy of the
claim is sent to the lecturer and student involved as well as to the Confidential
Committee.
d. The claim is not handled by members of the Examination Committee who are
themselves involved in the facts to which the claim relates. The Examination
Committee gives all those involved the opportunity to be heard within three
weeks, unless the claim is apparently unfounded.
e. The hearing takes place individually and in person.
f. The hearing is not conducted in public and a report is drawn up.
g. After hearing all involved, the Examination Committee decides on the
measures to be taken. Article 8 of this protocol considers the possible sanctions
in more detail.
h. Those involved (lecturer, student and Confidential Committee) are informed
within 6 weeks of the claim being handled by the Examination Committee about
the measures decided on by the Examination Committee.
i. Those involved have four weeks from the date of signing to respond to the
measures. The Examination Committee may decide to hear the parties again if
their response seems to justify such action.
j. The Confidential Committee and the lecturer may withdraw the claim at any
time. In that case, the Examination Committee will inform all those involved.
k. The Examination Committee can ask the lecturer or student whether any
compromise is possible in the situation which has arisen.
l. The sanctions imposed are recorded in the fraud dossier by the Examination
Committee.
Article 8, Sanctions in the case of fraud:
1. In response to behaviour as described in article 1 section 2, sub a, the exam
in question is declared invalid and the student is excluded from taking the next
exam and possibly the exam thereafter in the relevant subject.
2. In response to behaviour as described in article 1 section 2, sub b and c, the
work produced by fraudulent means is declared invalid and the student is
excluded from taking all tests, exams or other forms of assessment in the
programme or the whole institution for a maximum period of 12 months.
3. In response to behaviour as described in article 1 section 2, sub d to g, the
work produced by fraudulent means is declared invalid and the student is
excluded from taking all tests, exams or other forms of assessment in the
programme or the whole institution for a maximum period of 12 months.
4. In response to behaviour as described in article 1 section 3, whereby certain
parts were copied from existing texts but where the student has done his/her
own research, the submitted essay will be declared invalid and the student will
be excluded from taking the exam in the relevant subject or be excluded from
taking all tests, exams or other forms of assessment in the programme or the
whole institution for a maximum period of 6 months. If the essay is related to a
Bachelor or Master thesis, the supervisory tasks of the thesis supervisor will be
suspended for this period.
5. In response to behaviour as described in article 1 section 3, whereby the
whole essay or considerable parts thereof, including the research presented as
own work, has been copied from existing material and research or literature
published elsewhere, the submitted essay will be declared invalid and the student
will be excluded from taking the exam in the relevant subject or be excluded
from taking all tests, exams or other forms of assessment in the programme or
the whole institution for a maximum period of 12 months. If the essay is related
to a Bachelor or Master thesis, the supervisory tasks of the thesis tutor will be
suspended for this period.
6. In the case of behaviour not addressed by this protocol, the Examination
Committee will impose a sanction, depending on the seriousness of the fraud,
which includes declaring the submitted exam invalid, excluding the student from
taking the exam in question for a maximum of 12 months, or excluding the
student from all tests, exams or other forms of assessment in the programme or
the whole institution for a maximum period of 12 months.
7. If the student has already received a sanction relating to the identified fraud
or plagiarism, he/she will be excluded from all tests, exams or other forms of
assessment in the programme or the whole institution for a maximum period of
12 months and be advised to leave the programme.
8. The Examination Committee does not grant exemption based on results
obtained elsewhere, during the period for which the student was excluded from
taking exams in the programme, pursuant to this article.
9. If the student is enrolled in more than one programme, the Examination
Committee will consult the Examination Committees of the relevant
programme(s) before imposing a sanction.
10. If the identified behaviour relates to a module in the Honours programme,
the Examination Committee may decide that the student may no longer
participate in the programme.
Article 9, Registration of suspicions and claims:
1. The Confidential Committee records how often it is contacted with a claim of
fraud, how often it forwards such a claim to the Examination Committee and
which measures are imposed by the Examination Committee.
2. Once a year, it reports this information to the faculty board.
Article 11, Commencement:
This protocol has been approved by both the Examination Committee and the
board of the Faculty of Archaeology as well as the Administration and Central
Services department at Leiden University and comes into force on 1 September
2008.