Information about cheating and plagiarism in University assessments and exams. You can find information on the following areas on the Unfair means, cheating and plagiarism web pages.
What is unfair means?
Types of unfair means
What happens when the use of unfair means is detected
How you can prevent it
How to appeal
In short, academic misconduct means refers to cheating. It involves any attempt by a student to:
gain unfair advantage over another student in the completion of an assessment or exam; or:
assist someone else in gaining an unfair advantage.
The University will commence procedures to investigate and, where appropriate, take action in response to the Use of Academic Misconduct. See: Guidance for Students Where Concerns are Raised About Their Use of Academic Misconduct.
Referencing is a key skill that can help you to prevent the use of unfair means. Whenever you take notes, you should note down referencing details at the same time, otherwise you may find it difficult to credit other scholars properly in assessed work later on.
Whether you are a home or an international student, you can book a one-to-one session with the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) to help with your writing, including referencing skills.
The Library also offers information on plagiarism and tutorials on how to adhere to University referencing standards.
Please watch the video below for the key do’s and don’ts from the University’s Examination Regulations.
If you are found to be using unfair means, you will face action by your academic department or formal disciplinary action.
You can find the Regulations Relating to the Discipline of Students in the University Calendar (Page 109 onwards)
We use a range of strategies to detect unfair means, including Turnitin, which helps detect plagiarism. See this link for further information: Turnitin and plagiarism
You are required to declare that all work submitted is entirely your own. We may require you to attach a declaration form to work that you submit.
If you wish to appeal against an academic misconduct decision taken by your academic department, please follow our Academic Appeals process.