Mandatory plagiarism control for PhD students
PhD regulations state that all PhD students are required to perform a plagiarism check, starting from September 1, 2022. To facilitate this, PhD students will gain access to iThenticate, a tool that enables users to check their research for plagiarism.
Workflow
The plagiarism check consists of a plagiarism scan in iThenticate by the PhD candidate of a produced text before the end of the second year of the PhD trajectory. The PhD candidate discusses the result of the plagiarism scan with the supervisor or co-supervisor, after which a report is drawn up. This report must be uploaded in Hora Finita. It must at least state whether evidence of plagiarism was or was not found. Other than that, the format for the report is up to the supervisor, or to the graduate school if they decide to use a generic format. A format for the report and more information on how to interpret the results of the scan may be supplied by the key user iThenticate of your faculty The key user iThenticate will also guide you further with regard to the registration of the results and any next steps. In case plagiarism has been found, a second plagiarism check of the completed dissertation will be required before it is submitted to the PhD committee. The regulation on this is set out in the Doctorate Regulations.
iThenticate: plagiarism prevention tool
iThenticate is plagiarism detection software used by researchers to ensure the originality of written work before publication. The approach to plagiarism checks at VU is not primarily for retrospective detection but is rather employed in an educational and preventive manner, explicitly aiming to enhance awareness of scientific integrity in accordance with the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (NGWI).
Starting from September 1, 2022, PhD candidates who commence their studies are required to conduct an initial scan in iThenticate early in their trajectory. The educational aspect involves discussing the results of the scan with their supervisor. The goal is to educate our VU PhD candidates to become engaged and responsible scientific researchers.