Informational Awareness Meeting on Ensuring Academic Integrity and Combating Plagiarism: Mechanisms and Opportunities at the University

On December 6, 2024, an informational awareness meeting was held in the conference hall of State University of Shirak, organized by the Centers for Educational Process Management, Scientific Policy, and Innovation. The meeting aimed to inform staff and students about the existing mechanisms and opportunities for ensuring academic integrity and combating plagiarism at the university.
The speakers were Lilit Margaryan, Director of the Center for Scientific Policy and Innovation, Associate Professor at the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and IT, and PhD in Physical and Mathematical Sciences, along with Vahe Baghdasaryan, President of the “Legally Conscious Society” NGO, Lecturer at the Department of History and Law, and Lawyer.
The meeting began with a welcome speech by Nazeli Avetisyan, Acting Vice-Rector-Director of the Educational Process Management Center, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor. She presented the purpose of the meeting and emphasized the importance of regular discussions on such topics in the academic environment. In the first part of the meeting, Lilit Margaryan introduced the main principles of the university’s academic integrity policy and the concept for combating plagiarism. She explained what academic integrity is, highlighted its violations, and specifically focused on
plagiarism. Additionally, she outlined the main types of plagiarism and described the passive and active measures implemented at the university to prevent it. In the second part, Vahe Baghdasaryan noted that plagiarism is a violation of copyright law and presented some specific aspects of its legal regulation. At the end of the meeting, participants received concise guidelines on combating plagiarism, prepared by the organizing centers.