Student Handbook - ACADEMIC MALPRACTICE

Key Information:

Details of the procedures for dealing with Academic Malpractice are in Part 8 of the Academic Regulations - Undergraduate. These are available by clicking links above or via the University’s main website under Academic Quality and Standards/Academic Regulations.

Useful Links:

Academic Regulations - Undergraduate
Academic Malpractice

Description:

Academic malpractice can result from when a person, or people, trick, defraud or deceive others or may be committed unintentionally. Whether intended or not, all incidents of academic malpractice will be treated seriously by the University. Malpractice includes:

(i) Collusion: where a student works in a fraudulent manner with another (or others) being assessed independently (either wholly or in part) in the same module.
(ii) Plagiarism: to ‘take and use another person’s thoughts, writings, inventions as one’s own’ with intent or otherwise.
(iii) Commissioning: getting another person(s) and/or artificial intelligence to complete work which is subsequently submitted as the student’s own work (reasonable grounds in regard to commissioning may include a difference in the execution of the work compared with other work, stylistic differences, work of a higher level. A request to see earlier drafts, notes on references and sources may be made).
(iv) Impersonation: where somebody undertakes an examination or assessment posing as another person.
(v) Duplication: the replication of element(s) of material in more than one assessment within the same institution or elsewhere, simultaneously or at some other time.
(vi) Syndication: the submission of substantially similar piece(s) of work by two or more students, either in the same institution or in a number of institutions, either at the same time, or at different times.
(vii) Falsification of data: where data have been invented, altered, copied or obtained by unfair means.
(viii) Aiding and abetting: where a student assists another student in any form of dishonest academic practice.
(ix) Professional misconduct: where, in the course of their assessed work, students on professional courses act in a manner which breaches the relevant professional Code of Conduct.
(x) Cheating in Examinations: where a student is found to have contravened the arrangements for the examination, for instance bringing in notes where none are permitted, or secreting electronic devices on their person.

Students are reminded that:

* all passages taken word for word from any source, whether primary or secondary (including websites), must appear within quotation marks or in an agreed appropriate manner;

* the sources of each quotation must be clearly identified;

* where a quotation from primary material has been taken from secondary work, without the candidate having consulted the primary material, acknowledgement must be made to both the primary and secondary source of the quotation;

* where a part of a secondary work has been paraphrased, this also must be clearly identified;

* any collaboration with other people on the project, or any other assignment, must be acknowledged.

To help counter what has been perceived to be an increase in plagiarism from Website based sources and other forms of malpractice the university (like many others) uses IT software to help monitor good academic practice. All students will be required to submit an electronic version of any written assignments on disk, along with their printed hard copy.