Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) is committed to addressing any misconduct on campus involving staff and students, including academic offences such as conflict of interest, data fabrication, breach of agreement and plagiarism, where such offences may become malignant among its community.

UTHM Vice-Chancellor Professor Ts. Dr. Wahid Razzaly said UTHM will take firm action against the perpetrators who are found guilty of engaging in academic crimes as they can give a bad reputation to both academic and administrative management.

The Vice-Chancellor in his statement explained that UTHM provides several channels for students and staff to submit complaints regarding these academic crimes. One is through the Complaints and Suggestions Channel System (SACAD), which acts as a portal of complaints or direct suggestions to the university’s administration for feedback and immediate action.

He mentioned that complaints may also be made via e-mail or official letter to the top management, faculty management or Legal Advisory Office. These complaints will be further investigated and administered according to the procedure of the university under the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act. 2000 [Act 605] and the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (Discipline of Students) Rules 2009. He added that UTHM also emphasises ethical aspects involving honesty and integrity in each research and publication activity on campus.

He stated that UTHM management regulates all activities from the beginning of grant management to the final stage of a research. These include respecting research subjects, using research funds wisely and acknowledging all parties involved in the research.

Researchers should adhere to the principles of accountability, mannerism, and professionalism used in universities to prevent manipulation in any publication. All of these are highlighted in the ‘University General Research Ethics Guidelines’.

“To qualify them for inclusion in the list, researchers are also required to give credit and recognition by prioritising individuals who contribute significantly to the project,” Wahid added.

He further said that since 2008, UTHM has initiated and implemented ‘Code of Ethics and Academic Integrity’, which emphasises priorities to the authenticity and excellence of work created under the current copyright act.

For the record, UTHM has a special committee to investigate complaints regarding integrity and the university will not compromise in taking critical action in the event of offences on campus.