Legal Aspects of Combating Plagiarism in Student's Qualifying Works: Problems and Solutions in Higher Education

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the legal aspects of combating plagiarism in final qualifying works in Russian universities. The norms of federal legislation regulating the organization of the educational process and final certification are examined. The study analyzes the local regulations of universities that establish requirements for the originality of works and plagiarism detection procedures. The powers of universities to identify and suppress plagiarism, including the right to prevent works from being defended and expel students, are disclosed. The rights of students in situations of suspected plagiarism, guarantees of objective assessment, and the possibility of appeal are highlighted. Considerable attention is paid to the technical and methodological problems of checking texts for originality, including the reliability and validity of anti-plagiarism systems, determining the permissible amount of borrowing, and expert evaluation of verification results. The research relies on a comprehensive methodology, including the analysis of legal acts, the study of scientific publications on the problem of plagiarism, and the generalization of the practice of Russian and foreign universities. The work employs methods of legal, comparative, and interdisciplinary analysis, allowing for a comprehensive examination of the problem. The necessity of improving legal regulation at the federal level and in local acts of universities is substantiated. The importance of establishing clear criteria for the originality of works, developing transparent procedures for plagiarism detection, and creating appeal mechanisms to protect students' rights is emphasized. Gaps in the legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in writing works and the difficulty of identifying generated texts are revealed. The study of international experience has made it possible to identify best practices that can be adapted to Russian conditions, such as the use of licensed anti-plagiarism systems, the creation of university repositories, and the use of stylometric analysis methods.