Plagiarism Guidance
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence, with consequentially severe penalties, up to and including the non-award of a degree. Plagiarism, and cheating more generally, may take many forms, including:
- using published work without referencing (the most common); in other words, passing off published work as your own;
- copying coursework essays;
- collaborating with any other person(s) when the work is supposed to be individual;
- taking another person’s computer file/program;
- submitting another person’s work as one’s own;
- the use of unacknowledged material obtained from the web;
- purchase of model assignments from the web or other source;
- late submission of work, in order to gain an unfair advantage;
- cheating in examinations;
- copying another student’s results or work;
- falsifying results.
You can avoid most of the above simply by indicating your sources in your coursework. There is advice on how to avoid plagiarism on the University website. The rules are on the university website, via a link from the Office of Student Affairs page.
It’s not difficult, but it is essential. Plagiarism and cheating are unethical, possibly illegal, unfair on other students who play by the rules, and it undermines the value of your degree, as well as the high standards to which the University aspires.
Assessment offences include, but are not limited to, attempts to deceive the examiners by:
- bringing unauthorised material into an examination;
- communicating with others students in an examination;
- obtaining a copy of the examination paper in advance;
- persuading another person to sit the examination in one’s place;
- attempting to complete an exam by any other unfair means;
- copying from another student;
- falsifying the results of practical activities.
Penalties for plagiarism and examination offences include a mark of zero for the coursework or examination, failure of the course of which the coursework or examination forms part, failure of the particular stage of assessment (including the final stage), or recommendation to withhold the award.
Full details of both procedures and the penalties that may be imposed are available both from the Student Centre and the Students’ Union. The University website spells out the seriousness of plagiarism in its Plagiarism and Assessment Offences Regulations.
You need to know how to cite your sources, to quote from what you have read in a proper academic manner, attributing the quotations to their authors. In general, we encourage students both to cooperate with one another in their work and to make wide reference to other people’s work – published and unpublished. It is important to distinguish these activities from cheating, including plagiarism.
Information about referencing is available via the Portal under Library and Computing > Information Skills Training or under My Learning > Study Skills.