ISLAMABAD, Dec 16: Dr Mohammad Sher, dean of science faculty and head of anti-plagiarism committee at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), has been found guilty of plagiarism for the second time in less than two years.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has officially informed the university that a research paper authored by Dr Sher in 1998 was plagiarised, Dawn has learnt reliably.

An official of the HEC requesting not to be named told this scribe that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) about three months ago lodged a complaint against Dr Sher about his paper “Application of Error Control Coding” printed in their journal on October 6 1998.

“IEEE stated that they had come to know that Dr Sher had plagiarised the research paper and HEC should take action against him as well,” said the HEC official.

“IEEE also sent us a soft copy of the research paper and we decided to check it through Turnitin (a plagiarism detection software). It was found that there was level I (severe) plagiarism and the research paper was actually plagiarised from different research papers of IEEE,” he revealed.

“We don’t have power to punish anyone so the university has been informed about it and it is their responsibility to take action against Dr Sher,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that in 2008 Dr Sher was awarded the ‘best university teacher’ award by the HEC, and he is also the president of the university’s Academic Staff Association.

However, just three years later in 2011, Dr Sher was in the spotlight again for gross plagiarism in a book he authored in 2003.

As per the record provided to Dawn, HEC had written a letter on January 01, 2011 to IIUI regarding the provision of the soft copy of a book titled “Foundation for Computer Network” written by Dr Sher.

The university registrar in a letter dated January 06, 2011 replied that they have requested Dr Sher for a soft copy.

A week later on January 15, 2011, the university informed HEC that Dr Sher claimed that the soft copy was saved on his laptop, which was stolen in Germany while he was doing his PhD in 2004.

In the 10th meeting of HEC dated August 19, 2011, the case against Dr Sher was discussed and it was decided that it was a severe case of plagiarism and violation of copyrights.

Soon after HEC received another letter from IIUI on behalf of Dr Sher, whereby it stated that since the case belongs to the period prior to the announcement of HEC plagiarism policy and since the author has not taken any academic credit from compilation of the book, so he should be forgiven.

Later, Dr Sher also acquired forgiveness through public notices and the file was closed.

A faculty member of the IIUI on the condition of anonymity opined that the university should take action against Prof Sher to avoid setting a bad precedent.

“If plagiarism is ignored the second time, then it will encourage other students preparing their research papers to copy paste,” he said.

Media coordinator HEC Murtaza Noor also confirmed that Dr Sher has been found guilty of level one (severe) plagiarism, and IIUI has been informed about it.

Rector IIUI Prof Dr Mohammad Masoom Yasinzai while talking to Dawn confirmed that he had received the letter from HEC about Dr Sher.

“I have referred the letter to the plagiarism committee of the university to look into it and as soon as I will get the report from the committee, action will be taken,” he said.

HEC guidelines for penalising senior faculty members found guilty of plagiarism…

l Major Penalty: In cases where most of the paper (or key results) has been plagiarised without crediting or referencing the original work. The offender may be dismissed from service, black-listed from finding academic/research-related employment and notification of the same may be publicised at the discretion of the vice-chancellor/rector/head of the organisation.

l Moderate Penalty: In cases where some paragraphs including the key results have been copied without citation. The plagiarist may be demoted to the next lower grade, and black-listing notification may be published at the discretion of the vice-chancellor/rector/head of the organization.

l Minor Penalty: In cases where a few paragraphs have been copied without citation, then the plagiarist is warned. Research grant may be frozen and promotions/annual increments of the offender may be stopped for a specified period. HEC or the university/organisation may bar the offender from sponsorship of research funding, travel grant, supervision of PhD students, scholarship, fellowship or any other funded programme.