The following is a guide of actions to be taken in the case of an accusation that a team cheated or otherwise violated the rules of competition. Accusations of cheating may include but are not limited to:
- A team using somebody else’s code
- A team misrepresenting the work they did
- A team having too many team members
- A team using code that was written outside the event
To determine the validity of cheating instances Hackers@UPC defers to the rules
If you suspect cheating, please get in touch with the organizers of the event. If you are still at the event, please talk to a HackUPC organizer. If it is after the event, please email [email protected]. The following steps are to be followed by Hackers@UPC.
Try to get as much of the allegation in written form by the reporter. If you cannot, transcribe it yourself as it was told to you. The important information to gather include the following:
- Identifying information (name, email, phone, etc.) of the reporter
- Identifying information (name, email, phone, etc.) of the participant/team accused of cheating
- Reason the reporter suspects cheating
- Other people suspected to be involved in the cheating
- Other witnesses / people who suspect the cheating
- Any relevant URLs (e.g. for GitHub repos or Devpost pages)
HackUPC organizers will then investigate the allegation by reviewing public materials about the hack, including project repos, project submissions, and anything else available to them.
If Hackers@UPC determines cheating did not occur, they will compile a report and inform the reporter.
If Hackers@UPC is unable to determine that cheating did not occur based on publicly available resources, organizers will then communicate with the alleged cheater. Informing them of what has been reported about them. Allow the alleged cheater to give their side of the story to the staff. After this point, if the report stands, let the alleged cheater know what actions will be taken against them.
Actions that organizers will consider when dealing with alleged cheating offenders:
- Warning the cheater to cease their behavior and that any further reports will result in sanctions
- Not allowing the participants to demo
- Not allowing the participants to win prizes
- Revocation of prizes & recognitions
- Banning the participants from future events (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)
- Publishing an account of the cheating
Depending on the cheating allegation, Hackers@UPC may decide to make one or more public announcements. If necessary, this will be done with a short announcement. No one other than HackUPC directors should make any announcements.
If some attendees were angered by the cheating, it is best to apologize to them that the cheating occurred to begin with.