Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education Across Europe: Results of the Project

Exploring policies and systems for assuring academic integrity and deterring plagiarism in different higher education institutions was the subject of a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU). The research for Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher Education Across Europe (IPPHEAE), completed in November 2013, was conducted by teams at five higher education institutions from UK, Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus and Czech Republic. The research included an EU-wide survey of higher education institutions across 27 EU member states. Separate reports were prepared for the countries surveyed, each containing details of findings and recommendations for what could and should be done to improve academic quality and integrity at national, institutional and individual levels. An EU-wide comparative study provided an assessment of the maturity of policies and processes for academic integrity in each country, based on the data collected and the research conducted for each national report. This paper presents selected comparisons of results from the research, especially looking at evidence for maturity of policies, consistency of approach, examples of good practice and highlighting where serious effort is needed to strengthen current policies and practices.