Peking University, China's most prestigious university, yesterday announced that undergraduates who plagiarize in essays would be expelled from the school.

It is said this punishment is the severest one nationwide geared toward essay cheating.

According to Lu Xiaodong, official in charge of the educational affairs, the new rules will be implemented immediately to ensure a fairer and more transparent academic field.

The new rule specifies that writers will lose their degree if they handed in any essay or report with a plagiarized rate of 50 percent, and any graduate thesis and design with a rate of 30 percent.

And in cases where students find someone else to write their essay, both parties will have the same above-mentioned punishment.

In addition, those who demand teachers to raise test marks through pleas, bribery, and threats will be punished as exam cheaters.

It is the first time for Peking University to write academic criterions into the undergraduate's managing regulation, which covers not only graduate theses, but also classroom essays, said the university official.

A senior student from the Chinese Department said in the past some students would not hand in a thesis that was not their own work, since they could make up one from on-line material in a single afternoon. This regulation may crack down on such academic cheating.

(China Daily December 15, 2005)