According to the UGC Regulations 2018 on Plagiarism, which of the following…
2024
According to the UGC Regulations 2018 on Plagiarism, which of the following percentages of similarity in a research article would result in debarring a university teacher from supervising a Ph.D. student for a period of two years?
Answer: C. 44 % — ConceptThe UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 grade plagiarism by a…
- A.
27 %
- B.
38 %
- C.
44 %
- D.
65 %
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
The UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 grade plagiarism by a measured similarity percentage into four levels, and every penalty is attached to the LEVEL, not to the individual percentage.
So the method is fixed: first place the percentage in its band, then read off the penalty prescribed for that band. For a faculty member the bar on supervising new M.Phil. or Ph.D. scholars appears only from Level 2 upwards, and its duration is exactly what separates Level 2 from Level 3.
Application
The four levels of the Regulations and the penalty each carries for a faculty member are:
Level | Similarity | Penalty for a faculty member |
|---|---|---|
Level 0 | Up to 10 % | Excluded from penalty; the manuscript stands. |
Level 1 | Above 10 % to 40 % | Asked to withdraw the manuscript. |
Level 2 | Above 40 % to 60 % | Withdraw the manuscript; denied one annual increment; not allowed to supervise any new M.Phil. or Ph.D. scholar for two years. |
Level 3 | Above 60 % | Withdraw the manuscript; denied two annual increments; not allowed to supervise any new M.Phil. or Ph.D. scholar for three years. |
The stem fixes the penalty and asks for the percentage. A two-year bar on supervising a Ph.D. scholar is the Level 2 penalty, and Level 2 covers similarity above 40 % and up to 60 %. Among the four percentages offered, only 44 % lies inside that band, so the answer is 44 %.
Cross-check
27 % and 38 % both fall in Level 1 (above 10 % to 40 %), where the only penalty is withdrawal of the manuscript, so no period of debarment arises at all.
65 % falls in Level 3 (above 60 %), where the same debarment runs for three years rather than two, along with the loss of two annual increments.
Note also that the bands are read on the upper edge: 40 % itself still sits in Level 1 and 60 % itself still sits in Level 2, because each band is defined as ABOVE its lower bound and UP TO its upper bound.