The academic spectrum across several Pakistani universities has become infected with the deadly plague of plagiarism. Academic integrity seems to have melted in the heat of churning out research papers to receive more grants, promotions and other benefits.

Plagiarism at the higher education level has been an open secret, with many suspected plagiarists holding senior faculty positions in different universities across the country. But in a comical turn, the Higher Education Commission recently gave its best research paper award to a scholar who had been blacklisted by the regulatory body in 2008 for publishing a plagiarized paper.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has expressed concerns at universities not following the commission’s plagiarism policy by not taking action on plagiarism complaints against their faculty. HEC’s Plagiarism Standing Committee met on Friday to discuss plagiarism complaints against faculty members of 10 universities. The committee, comprising educationists and representatives of various universities, deliberated upon complaints that have not been actioned upon by the respective universities within 90 days of registration of a complaint, as per the HEC regulations.