Unfair means and their avoidance

Using unfair means in the assessment process undermines the value of the award by the University of Sheffield. Thus the University takes the use of unfair means very seriously.

This video explains the different types of unfair means used in assessments and exams, such as plagiarism and essay buying.
sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/unfair-means/video

It is important that you understand what is regarded as unfair means as penalties are severe. Below are some examples of unfair means:

• Plagiarism is presenting the work of another person as your own. Any material which is not your own must be clearly indicated. Plagiarism may take the form of cutting and pasting, taking or closely paraphrasing ideas, passages, sections, sentences, paragraphs, drawings, graphs and other graphical material from books, articles, internet sites or any other source and submitting them for assessment with appropriate acknowledgement.

• Submitting bought or commissioned work is an extremely serious form of plagiarism. This may take the form of buying or commissioning either the whole assignment or part of it and implies a clear intention to deceive the examiners. The University also takes an extremely serious view of any learner who sells, offers to sell or passes on their own assignments to other learners.

• Double submission (for self-plagiarism) is resubmitting previously assessed work on one or more occasions (without proper acknowledgement). This may take the form of copying either the whole assignment or part of it. Normally credit will already have been given for this work.

• Collusion is where two or more people work together to produce a piece of work, all or part of which is then submitted by each of them as their own individual work. Note that if you give a copy of your work to another learner before the other has submitted and they copy it, you will also be guilty of collusion, even though you have not worked together. You will be seen to be aiding and abetting plagiarism and the use of unfair means.

• Fabrication is submitting work in an assignment, any part of which is untrue, made up, falsified or fabricated in anyway. This is regarded as fraudulent and dishonest.

How can I avoid the use of unfair means?

To avoid using unfair means, any work submitted must be your own and must not include the work of any other person, unless it is properly acknowledged and referenced.

If you have any concerns about appropriate academic practices, you should consult the module leader. Guidance on referencing and paraphrasing is available at:

librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/shef-only/info_skills/plagiarism.html

Avoiding charges of collusion

When you are given a piece of work to do, make sure that you understand fully the extent to which you can liaise with other learners on the work. For instance, in some cases the module leader may suggest that is acceptable to share references or discuss ideas and approaches. However, do not let another course learner see a copy of your work or give them an electronic copy. In cases where a course learner has done this and the two pieces of submitted work match; both learners are likely to be disciplined.

Detection of unfair means

The University subscribes to a national plagiarism detection service, Turnitin, which helps academic staff identity the original source of material submitted by course learners. This means that academic staff have access to specialist software that searches a database of reference material gathered from professional publications , student essay websites and other work submitted by students. Your work will be submitted to this service - however, this is just one tool in detecting plagiarism.

You should follow any guidance on the preparation of an assignment given by the module leader. There is unlikely to be any objection to you discussing the subject of an assignment with fellow course learners, or colleagues in the workplace, in general terms, But these discussions must not give on to others contributing to your assignment. If you are unsure of what is acceptable in any assignment always consult with the module leader who will give general advice and help.