How to avoid academic offences

An academic offence may be defined as any attempt by a student to gain an unfair advantage in any assessed work (including practice assessments) by deception or fraudulent means. Helping another student to commit an academic offence is an academic offence in itself. Academic offences involving fraud may also fall within the scope of the Student Disciplinary Procedure.

The definition of an academic offence assumes dishonest intent (rather than a lack of competence on the part of a student; for example, the use of extensive quotations, even if references are cited).

An academic offence often includes:

• Plagiarism, where students represent another person’s work as their own, or use another person’s work without acknowledgement, or duplication (‘self-plagiarism’) where they use material that has already been submitted for assessment.
• Buying material or paying another person to complete an assignment, or using editors, translators or proof-readers who contribute significantly to the content.
• Using artificial intelligence software to write all or part of an assignment and claiming the work as your own.

All academic offences are serious, and they are determined based on the nature and severity of the offence, as either minor faculty offence, major faculty offence or University level offence (and can progress between these levels through the process).

If you commit a minor offence you may be required to resubmit work, with your mark being capped at the pass mark. For major offences you may have to repeat the year or even be withdrawn from the course.

The following factors will be taken into consideration when determining whether a suspected offence should be treated as minor, major or university level:

• The extent of the academic offence.  For example, a piece of work which has 31% or more of unreferenced material within it will be regarded as a major academic offence, whereas limited failure to acknowledge sources or citation within a piece of work may be regarded as a minor academic offence. The relative contribution of the assessment to the overall student profile is not a relevant issue.  For example, cheating will not be condoned simply because the weighting of the assessment is not significant in terms of the overall credits available. 
• The extent of premeditated intention to deceive or otherwise gain advantage through deception or fraudulent means.  For example, the evidence may suggest that the student has been sophisticated in their use of unattributed material, attempting to change minor aspects of plagiarised text to give the impression that it is their own work.
• Contract cheating is always deemed a University level offence, even if this is a student’s first offence and the full range of penalties are available in this instance.  

Typical penalties that may be applied by an academic offences panel or board, depending on the severity of the offence, include:

• A written warning
• A requirement to resubmit work, re-sit an examination, repeat a unit or a level
• A mark of 0% or a capped mark for an assessment, unit or level
• Withdrawing a student from their course, in some cases without any credit.

Resources for referencing, avoiding plagiarism, avoiding academic offenses and so forth can be found on our Library webpages.  The BU Student Learning Guide, which is given to students who are found to have committed an academic offence or poor academic practice also has helpful information and SUBU advice can be used by students who have or are suspected of having committed an academic offence. Finally, the Academic Offences Policy and Procedure for Taught Awards also contains key information.

If your Unit or Programme Leader have concerns about your work this will be considered as part of a preliminary investigation as described in the Academic Offences Policy and Procedure. Should the outcome be that you are suspected of an Academic Offence you will receive and email about this explaining what you will need to do next. Students are advised contact SUBU Advice, who can offer support (email [email protected], telephone 01202 965779, website http://www.subu.org.uk/advice).

"The practice of using someone else's idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or created it." (Collins English Dictionary)

Plagiarism is the most common academic offence committed by university students. Often students plagiarise by accident because they don't understand how to reference properly. You will be penalised for plagiarism regardless of whether you did it deliberately or not, so you must make sure you understand how to reference correctly. You can find out more about plagiarism and referencing in the guide to avoiding plagiarism.

Activity: Understanding plagiarism

You are not allowed to submit the same or substantially similar work for more than one assessment (this does not include resubmission of work for the same assignment).

Example: You are not allowed to cut and paste a section of a previous essay into an essay you are writing on a similar topic.

Activity: Self plagiarism webcast

'Collusion' means working with other students to complete assessments when you are supposed to do the work alone. You are not allowed to work with other students on individual assignments.

Example: you are not allowed to work with a friend to select quotes for an essay you are both working on and both use those quotes in your essays.

Activity: Avoiding plagiarism while working with other students

You are not allowed to pay another person to complete an assignment which is then submited as your own work. Such activity impacts on the values of intellectual and personal honesty, trust and fairness and therefore any deliberate attempt to deceive will likely be judged as academic misconduct.

Example: You are not allowed to purchase an essay form an online "essay bank" and submit it as your own work.

Example: You are not allowed to pay an essay writing company to produce an assignment for you. Beware of companies posting adverts to BU Facebook and social media channels.

Any behaviour aimed at gaining an unfair advantage in an exam or test may be considered cheating, such as trying to communicate with another student, copy another student or access unauthorised materials.

Examples: You are not allowed to copy from another student, consult hidden notes or take unauthorised material into the exam.

You are not allowed to forge signatures or documents related to certification or assessment.

Example: You are not allowed to forge a practice supervisor's signature on a timesheet for a clinical placement.

Arranging for another person to take your place in an exam or test or taking the place of someone else.

Example: You are not allowed to borrow your friend's student id and attempt to sit an exam for them.

Helping a student in any form of dishonest practice.

Example: You are not allowed to steal a student's work for your friend to copy.

Example: You are not allowed to sign a placement completion form for a friend who has not completed their placement, instead of the placement company director.

Paying or offering inducements to another person to obtain or to attempt to obtain an unfair advantage.

Example: Offering your lecturer money to alter the grade of your assignment.

Example: You are not allowed to offer a friend money to write or help you write an assignment.

Making a false declaration to receive special consideration by an assessment board or to obtain extensions to deadlines or exemption from work.

Example: You are not allowed to falsify a doctor's certificate to gain an extension for an essay deadline.

Example: You are not allowed to suggest to your tutor that there has been a bereavement in your family when there has not been, to get you out of sitting an exam.

You are not allowed to create false research data.

Example: You are not allowed to pretend to carry out a survey by filling in all of the responses yourself.

Example: You are not allowed to make up statistical data and produce false charts and graphs.

Asking another person, such as an editor or proof-reader, to help you to substantially change the content, meaning or significance of what you have written.

Example: You are not allowed to ask a friend to re-write substantial sections of your assignment.

Example: You are not allowed to use computer code created by a friend.

Looking at another person's assignment or notes and using the information to your advantage.

Example: You are not allowed to take a friend's assignment, or assignment notes, and use the information within it to write your own, even with their knowledge and permission.

Taking another person's work without their consent and using the information to your advantage.

Example: You are not allowed to take a friend's assignment, or assignment notes, and use the information within it to write your own.