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Here we explain what Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct are, why they are important and the support on offer to help you apply good academic practice in your work.

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic Integrity is about engaging in good academic practice. It means being honest and transparent, and demonstrating rigour and accuracy in your work.

This includes making sure that you cite the sources of your ideas and information properly, ensuring that you are using appropriate research methods, or checking that your work is free of errors.

What support does the University offer?

The University offers lots of services to help you develop your skills and practice good Academic Integrity. There is a wealth of support that you can explore below:

You can learn more about all of the support on offer via the Academic Integrity area of the Academic and Study Skills page on Moodle.

What is Academic Misconduct?

Academic Misconduct is any action that could give you an unfair advantage in coursework, exams or any other assessed work, which could lead to undermining the academic standards of the University.

Here are some examples of Academic Misconduct:

plagiarism – unacknowledged incorporation in your work of substantial amounts of material derived from another person’s work, whether published or unpublished

collusion – collaboration between two or more students, resulting in the submission of work as if it is solely their own (with the exception of group work where students are required to work together to produce one document)

cheating – usually takes place in an examination context, for example, copying from another candidate in an examination, bringing unsanctioned materials or devices into the examination room or gaining access to unauthorised materials prior to an examination

contract cheating – commissioning or using a third party to do some or all of a piece of work. This includes but is not limited to the use of essay mills and unauthorised inclusion of material generated by artificial intelligence (AI). (This does not apply to third parties such as Studiosity that have been sanctioned by the University to provide reviewing and feedback to students in specific assessment situations.)

self-plagiarism – submitting all or part of a piece of work for which you have already received credit

falsification of data – for instance, changing data to fit in with a hypothesis, making up responses to questionnaires or research, creating false references, etc

non-compliance with ethics procedures – for instance, proceeding with the collection of data without ethical approval, failure to secure appropriate consent to carry out research, etc

The University will investigate all suspected cases of Academic Misconduct and a proven case could seriously impact your future study.

How are cases of Academic Misconduct investigated?

There are three categories of investigation for suspected breaches of Academic Misconduct.

Minor cases

If a student at an early stage in their academic journey shows poor academic practice, the breach will be dealt with at a Programme or Departmental level. You will be provided with feedback and learning opportunities around good academic practice.

Major cases

Major cases include collusion, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, exam cheating and repeat instances of poor academic practice. This will be dealt with at an institutional level. If you are eligible for reassessment, the reassessed work will be capped at 40%. If you are not eligible for reassessment, you will fail the component or module in accordance with the Assessment Regulations.

Severe cases

Severe cases include contract cheating, large-group collusion or cheating and large-scale falsification of data. This will be dealt with at an institutional level through a Disciplinary Interview Panel. In this instance, you will fail the level and will be required to withdraw from your course of study. You will have an immediate right to appeal the outcome.

For more information, please visit our Academic Misconduct Policy 22/23 and Academic Misconduct Policy 23/24.