From 1 February 2015, the Graduate School of Health will introduce a new screening system to prevent plagiarism and safeguard the continued quality of scientific research.

2014.12.18 | Christina Lund Højfeldt

All dissertations submitted after 1 February 2015 will be screened in accordance with predetermined criteria for plagiarism.

The State and University Library will manage the system and the screening, while an academic committee for plagiarism will handle any questionable cases in which academic insight is required. All dissertations submitted after 1 February 2015 will be screened in accordance with predetermined criteria for plagiarism.

Lise Wogensen Bach, vice-dean for talent development and head of the Graduate School of Health is pleased with the implementation of the new system. She views it as a tool to maintain and safeguard the academic and scientific integrity of the PhD dissertations:

"The PhD dissertation itself, which consists of an overview and a number of articles, is a product of a PhD degree programme. Another 'product' is the young researcher who has developed his or her academic competences over the course of the PhD degree programme. These competences include the ability to describe a research field, formulate scientific questions, present the essence of their own research and discuss the results. It is therefore important that a PhD dissertation is the PhD student's own product," says Lise Wogensen Bach.

The PhD degree programme has developed guidelines for plagiarism based on experience from the University of Copenhagen. The guidelines will be assessed on an ongoing basis.

"What we hope is that, all-in-all, the new screening system will motivate the PhD students to have even more focus on their own communication skills and encourage them to produce a high quality scientific product", says Lise Wogensen Bach.

If you would like to read more about good scientific practice at AU, you can find more information here: www.au.dk/en/research/responsible-conduct-of-research/ and at phd.au.dk/gradschools/health/phdstudies/phddissertation/screening-for-duplicate-text/

For further information please contact the Graduate School of Health at: graduateschoolhealth@au.dk