KARACHI, March 26: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has decided to set up a Plagiarism Detection Cell, which will monitor all Ph.D. theses and research publications by checking them against international literature.

The HEC plans to acquire high quality software, which will automatically compare the materials against international literature and quickly review any copied items.

Over the past several decades there have been constant incidences of plagiarism in Pakistan, but no action has been taken as there was previously no easy way to detect such cases.

The Higher Education Commission has adopted a zero tolerance policy and instructed universities to take strict action against faculty members found guilty of plagiarism, to the extent that they will be removed from service.

Action has already been taken against some faculty members of the International Islamic University, Islamabad, as well as Government College University, Lahore, while action is presently underway in the University of Punjab.

It has also been decided by the HEC that universities which do not take effective and timely action against plagiarism will have their financial grants curtailed.—PPI