When to report
There are four disciplinary offences in the Higher Education Ordinance. See below for some examples of the different disciplinary offences and a brief explanation on how to determine if you should report. The information is by no means exhaustive, so please note that all disciplinary matters must be examined based on all the circumstances of the individual case.
When to report and by whom?
Founded suspicions of disciplinary offences shall be reported promptly to the Vice-Chancellor, in accordance with Chapter 10 Section 9 of the Higher Education Ordinance. Suspicions must be based on objective grounds, but the threshold is low. A suspicion on the basis of only very little factual evidence may suffice for a report to be made. Purely subjective intuition is not sufficient, however.
Read more in Hans-Heinrich Vogel’s paper Procedures for dealing with disciplinary matters according to the Higher Education Ordinance – some matters in administrative law (PDF, 48 kB new window) (in Swedish)
The Higher Education Ordinance does not specify who should file a report. Therefore, it is not only the responsibility of certain officials, such as heads of department and examiners, but all university staff are obligated to report suspected disciplinary offences to the Vice-Chancellor.
That the report shall be made promptly means that a suspicion regarding cheating or any other type of disciplinary offence must be given high priority.
The report is addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, but is managed by the Legal Division
Please note that reports shall be made to the Vice-Chancellor and not the Disciplinary Board. Send in your report by filling out the different report forms to the right. Please note the registration number on the case, which you will find on the confirmation of your report. This registration number you will need when communicating regarding the report. The Legal Division handles the registration of the case in DFS/W3D3, including the report when it is filed.
When reporting a suspected disciplinary offence, you should also inform the head of department and/or director of studies at your department. Should the suspicion involve cheating on an exam or other forms of assessment of student performance, you must also notify the examiner for that particular course.
The department or the staff member who files a report on a student should also inform the student about the suspicion of a disciplinary offence and that you are obligated to report the suspicion to the Vice-Chancellor. Note any comments made by the suspected student in connection with this conversation, and include them in the actual report. The department should not take further action, but rather make a prompt report to the Vice-Chancellor, as previously stated.
Different types of disciplinary offences
Deceiving in examinations or other forms of assessment of study performance – cheating
Penalties may be issued if an investigation establishes that a student has deliberately deceived in an examination or other assessment of study performance, or if the student has knowledge of such actions being initiated or taken.
Read more in Nils Jareborg's paper Disciplinary responsibility for students found cheating or disrupting (PDF, 70 kB, new window) (in Swedish)
A clear example of cheating is using prohibited aids during an exam, such as notes on slips of paper, unauthorized notes in books or unauthorized generative AI. For more information regarding the use of unautorized generative AI please see Guidance for teachers in five steps | Transforming education in a digital world (lu.se). Another example that may be considered cheating is when a student during take-home exams or other written assignments copies other people’s text without marking them as quotations. For more information regarding plagiarism, see Guidelines and regulations on plagiarism and deceitful plagiarism in first-, second- and third-cycle education at Lund University (PDF, 400 kb, new window).
It can be difficult assessing what constitutes as plagiarism, even when there is information from Ouriginal (previously Urkund) in the form of a report. This is because the report from Ouriginal only gives an indication that something might be considered plagiarism. It is therefore important to make a manual control of the similarities between the texts. The hits Ouriginal provides may have a different explanation than that it would necessarily constitute plagiarism. It may for example be difficult to draw the line between insufficient independence, negligence or misunderstanding on the one hand and illicit plagiarism on the other hand. If you suspect plagiarism, you should take a stand on whether the student has tried to mislead or if the student’s examination simply does not meet the demands of the course objectives. In the latter part no report should be written. Instead, the examination should not be approved, or the student should be given the opportunity to complete the examination to reach the course goals.
An attempt to cheat is sufficient for a penalty to be issued, for instance, taking notes into an exam with the intention of using them. The student could then be found guilty even if the notes were not actually used.
It is important to know that helping someone else to cheat can be regarded as cheating. Students who allow someone else to copy their answers will be made subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Disrupting or obstructing teaching, tests or other activities within the framework of courses and study programmes at the higher education institution
Violating regulations might disrupt activities, for example, during laboratory exercises or examinations.
Disrupting activities in the library of the higher education institution or other separate establishments at the institution
The libraries have rules and for many reasons it is important that you follow them. An offence may be students not registering their loans of library books. Another form of disruption is using the University’s computer network for prohibited activities.
Harassments or sexual harassments
The harassments need to be directed at another student or member of staff at the university. Harassments are considered to be a conduct which violates someone's dignity and which relates to one of the grounds of discrimination according to the Discrimination Act (2008:567). The grounds of discrimination are sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age. Sexual harassment is considered to be a conduct of sexual nature which violates someone's dignity.
Please note that the department in question may need to take further actions to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged harassment or sexual harassment and where appropriate take measures to prevent harassment or sexual harassment in the future. This obligation, which follows from the Discrimination Act, is normally not fulfilled by making a report on suspected disciplinary offense.
To make a report please click on the relevant link below to open up a report form:
Report on suspected cheating:
https://portalbas.adm.lu.se/anmalan-om-misstankt-vilseledande
Report on suspected disruption or obstruction of teaching:
https://portalbas.adm.lu.se/anmalan-om-misstankt-storande-av-verksamhet
Report on suspected harassment:
https://portalbas.adm.lu.se/anmalan-om-misstankta-trakasserier
Please note that you cannot download or save a report form to fill out at a later date and furthermore please note that some of the boxes are mandatory to fill out. Finally, please also note the registration number on the case, which you will find on the confirmation of your report. This registration number you will need when communicating regarding the report.
Contact
For questions about the process in disciplinary matters, please send these to:
disciplin [at] lu [dot] se (disciplin[at]lu[dot]se)