Disciplinary matters

The procedures for handling disciplinary matters are provided in Chapter 10 of the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), which states the following:

Disciplinary measures may be invoked against students who:

• use prohibited aids or other methods to attempt to deceive during examinations or other forms of assessment of study performance
• disrupt or obstruct teaching, tests or other activities within the framework of courses and study programmes at the higher education institution
• disrupt activities in the library of the higher education institution or other separate establishments at the institution, or
• subject another student or member of the staff of the higher education institution to harassment or sexual harassment of the kind laid down in Section 4 of Chapter 1 of the Discrimination Act (2008:567).

The disciplinary measures that a higher education institutions may take are caution and suspension.

For further information on how disciplinary matters are dealt with, see below under Reporting and processing cheating.

Cheating

Every course offered at Karolinska Institutet (KI) is examined through e.g. practical tests, assessments during work-based education, coursework or classroom examinations. These represent both a way of testing knowledge and an opportunity for learning. KI has to be able to rely on your own performance being examined. It is therefore important that you follow the applicable rules.

According to the Higher Education Ordinance, cheating is when students "by prohibited aids or other means attempt to deceive during examinations or when academic work is otherwise assessed".

Examples of what KI's disciplinary board may deem to be cheating include:

• copying text from the internet or other sources without referring to sources
• working together with fellow students without permission (e.g. where friends' answers are identical, despite the work being an individual task)
• copying another student's dissertation or other written work
• bringing aids/items to a classroom examination other than those permitted in accordance with KI's examination regulations

Please note that, as a student, you have a responsibility to adhere to the examination regulations.

Ouriginal

Ouriginal (FKA Urkund) is an automated web based system that KI uses for control of the students' answers on written exams. It is an automatic text-recognition system made for detecting, preventing and handling plagiarism, regardless of language.. If an assignment that is controlled in Ouriginal corresponds with the content of other sources, the teacher/examiner will receive a report that shows in what extent the texts corresponds.

Reporting and processing cheating

KI departments are obliged to report suspected cheating to the President. Reports of cheating made to the President will be investigated promptly. This will include the person reported being given the opportunity to comment on the report. Additional details may be added to this statement from e.g. the party making the report. The President will make a decision based on what emerges.

The President may decide to dismiss the matter without further action, to occasion a caution or to refer the matter to the disciplinary board for a hearing - every university must have a disciplinary board in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance - for review. The disciplinary board at KI consists of the President, a legally trained member who shall be or have been a permanent judge, and a representative of the teachers and two student representatives. The disciplinary board has an administrator who investigates the matter to be brought before the board.

If the President decides on a caution, the student in question may have the decision reconsidered by the disciplinary board. The secretary of the disciplinary board notifies the student of this entitlement. If the student does not wish to have the President's decision reconsidered, the matter is concluded and the documentation is logged. The caution is not shown in Ladok extracts or on degree certificates. After a caution has been occasioned, the examiner decides whether the coursework in question should be assessed or deemed to be invalid.

If the President decides to refer the matter to the disciplinary board for a hearing, it is important that the student gives the board his or her account of what happened. This may be in writing, or orally at the meeting of the board. Once the disciplinary board has heard the student and the party making the decision, the members of the board make their decision. The board may decide to dismiss the matter without further action, or to occasion a caution, or to suspend the student from studying at KI for up to six months.

A suspension decision shall mean that the student is prohibited from participating in instruction, tests or other activities. Suspension will result in student aid not being paid for the period during which the student is suspended.

Academic writing

There is information on the web site of the University Library on what is important to have in mind when you write academic texts.

Appeals

A decision by the Disciplinary Board to suspend or caution a student may be appealed by the student to the County Administrative Court. For more information see Appeals.