Plagiarism

  • 1.1. Academic Offences

    • 1.1.1. Allegations of any of the following shall be dealt with according to the Academic Offences regulations.
    • 1.1.2. Offences relating to an invigilated examination, coursework and plagiarism:
      • a) unauthorised access to an examination paper before an examination;
      • b) forgery of an examination timetable produced by the University;
      • c) removal of a question paper, answer script or other examination stationery from an examination venue or any other University premises;
      • d) causing a disturbance during an examination either physically, verbally or through an electronic device;
      • e) refusal to cooperate with an invigilator or to follow an invigilator’s instructions;
      • f) possession of unauthorised materials whilst under examination conditions, or leaving unauthorised material in an examination venue (including toilets);
      • g) access, possession or use of unauthorised material on a computer, mobile telephone, or other electronic device during an examination;
      • h) communicating with another candidate while under examination conditions;
      • i) copying, or attempting to copy, the work of another candidate;
      • j) having writing on the body in an examination venue;
      • k) the fraudulent reporting of source material;
      • l) the fraudulent reporting of experimental results, research or other investigative work;
      • m) collusion in the preparation or production of submitted work, unless such joint or group work is explicitly permitted;
      • n) use, or attempted use, of ghost writing services for any part of an assessment;
      • o) submission of work, or sections of work, for assessment in more than one module or assignment (including work previously submitted for assessment at another institution);
      • p) impersonation of another student in an examination or assessment, or the employment of an impersonator in an examination or assessment;
      • q) plagiarism.
    • 1.1.3. The University defines plagiarism as the practice of taking someone else’s work and/or ideas and passing it/them off as your own. It is, moreover, the action of representing someone else’s work as one’s own irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, without adequate attribution; copying from the work of another person, including another student; using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement of all constitute examples of plagiarism. In addition, the action of re-using work, whether in part or in whole that you have previously submitted for graded assessment – at the University or at another institution – without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self-plagiarism’) shall also constitute plagiarism.
    • 1.1.4. Invigilators, assessors or Module Leaders who suspect a student of breaching the regulations shall immediately inform the Registrar or their nominee, who shall be responsible for investigating the allegation.
    • 1.1.5. A student accused of committing an academic offence in an invigilated examination or submitted piece of written work shall be invited to attend an interview with the Registrar or their nominee, and shall be given copies of all evidence submitted in support of the allegation.
    • 1.1.6. A student shall be considered to have admitted to an offence if they fail to attend this interview, or to contact the Registrar or their nominee to make alternative arrangements within five working days of notification of the allegation.
    • 1.1.7. Where the Registrar concludes that there is no case to answer, he/she shall report this to the Chair of the appropriate Assessment Board and notify the student that the matter is closed.
    • 1.1.8. Where an investigation reveals evidence of a potential academic offence, the Registrar shall refer the matter to the Chair of the Academic Offences Panel, and notify the student to this effect.
    • 1.1.9. Where a member of staff suspects that an academic offence has been committed, the case shall be dealt with in three stages:
      • a) Stage I: Informal;
      • b) Stage II: Formal (Minor Offence) Where the case is dealt within the School/ College and is classified as a minor offence;
      • c) Stage III: Formal (Major Offence) Where the case is referred to the Registrar for further investigation by the Academic Offences Panel and/or may be classified as a major offence.
    • 1.1.10. The Module Leader or assessor shall immediately notify the Head of School/College or nominee responsible for the module or course.
  • 1.2. Stage I: Informal

    • 1.2.1. Where the Head of School/College or the nominee concludes that it is poor academic practice they shall advise the student to obtain further support and guidance in good practice for referencing skills. A letter should be retained on their file to this effect. This process can be used at Level 3 and 4 only. Such cases will normally be concluded within 10 working days of the receipt of the case and be dealt with internally by the School.
  • 1.3. Stage II: Formal (Minor Offence)

    • 1.3.1. Where the Head of School/College or their nominee invites the student for an interview and determines that a student attempted to acknowledge their sources fully and/or comply with the regulations for assessment, but a minor oversight or error has given cause for concern, this shall be deemed a minor offence. A minor offence is when the student has committed plagiarism (as defined above) inadvertently and could potentially benefit from further academic advice and referral for support.
    • 1.3.2. As part of an interview, if the case warrants it, a student may be tested on subject knowledge by a viva voce examination. In such cases, the viva shall be conducted by a member of academic staff with knowledge of the subject being investigated and shall submit a report on the viva to the Head of School/College or their nominee for consideration.
    • 1.3.3. Where an interview with the student reveals that it is a minor offence, the Head of School/College or their nominee shall impose a formal reprimand to be retained on the student’s file for a period of 12 months or the duration of the course and one or more of the following:
      • a) to resubmit a corrected version of the element of assessment as a first attempt by a specified deadline with the maximum mark uncapped;
      • b) to resubmit the relevant element of assessment by a specified deadline, with the maximum mark limited to the minimum pass mark.
    • 1.3.4. Where the penalty involves resubmission of an element of assessment, this shall take place during the current academic year and/or by the deadline set by the School/College. Where a student does not resubmit, a mark of 0 shall be given for the element of assessment.
    • 1.3.5. All cases referred to the Head of School/College or their nominee will normally be concluded within 20 working days of the receipt of the case.
    • 1.3.6. All offences and outcomes must be reported to Academic Registry, where all student records are maintained.
  • 1.4. Stage III: Formal (Major Offence)

    • 1.4.1. Where the Head of School/College or their nominee determines that there is evidence of an academic offence that cannot be dealt with under Stage II, the Head of School/College shall notify the Registrar, who shall be responsible for investigating the case.
    • 1.4.2. A student accused of committing an academic offence in an element of assessment, or of a second or subsequent offence, shall be invited to attend an interview with the Registrar or their nominee and shall be given copies of all evidence submitted in support of the allegation.
    • 1.4.3. An Academic Offences Panel shall be convened with responsibility for determining whether assessment related offences have been committed and determining penalties.
    • 1.4.4. The Academic Offences Panel shall comprise:
      • a) a Chair, appointed by the authority of the Vice-Chancellor from among the academic staff to hold office for a term of one academic year. If for any reason the Chair is unable to act, the Vice-Chancellor shall appoint an Acting Chair;
      • b) a member of the academic staff from the same School/College to that of the student;
      • c) a member of the academic staff from another School/College to that of the student;
      • d) one student member, normally the President of the Students’ Union (or nominee).
    • 1.4.5. The Chair of the Panel shall have authority to act on behalf of the Panel in cases where a student admits or does not deny an offence.
    • 1.4.6. The Chair of the Academic Offences Panel may, at any point, decide to call a full meeting of the Panel for investigation.
    • 1.4.7. The Registrar shall nominate a member of staff as act as Secretary to the Panel.
    • 1.4.8. Under no circumstances may the student have legal representation or be represented by an external organisation or person.
    • 1.4.9. The Secretary is responsible for advising the Panel on the Academic Regulations. In the event of the Panel being divided over a decision to be taken, the Chair shall have a second and casting vote to determine the decision.
    • 1.4.10. As part of an investigation, a student may be tested on subject knowledge by a viva voce examination. In such cases, the viva shall be conducted by a member of academic staff, with knowledge of the subject being investigated, who shall submit a report on the viva to the Academic Offences Panel for consideration.
    • 1.4.11. A student shall be considered to have admitted to an offence if they fail to attend this interview, or to contact the Registrar or their nominee to make alternate arrangements within five working days of notification of the allegation.
    • 1.4.12. On completion of the investigation, the Registrar or their nominee shall refer the matter to the Chair of the Academic Offences Panel and notify the student as to the outcome of the case.
    • 1.4.13. All cases referred to the Registrar or their nominee will normally be concluded within 20 working days of the receipt of the case.
    • 1.4.14. If it is determined that a major offence has been committed, the Panel shall impose a formal reprimand to be retained on the student’s file for a period of 12 months or the duration of the course (with the exception of students on courses with additional requirements placed by PSRBs) and one or more of the following penalties:
      • a) failure (a mark of 0) in the element of assessment in which the offence occurred, with the maximum mark of the resubmission limited to the minimum pass mark, irrespective of the regulations for that course of study;
      • b) failure (a mark of 0) in the module of which the assessment forms a part, with the maximum mark on any resit or retake of the module limited to the minimum pass mark, irrespective of the regulations for that course of study;
      • c) failure (a mark of 0) in the module which the assessment forms a part, with no permission to resit or retake the module;
      • d) failure (with mark of 0) of the whole diet of modules taken during the academic year in which the offence occurred, but with no limit on the mark that may be awarded on a resit, irrespective of the regulations for that course of study;
      • e) failure (with mark of 0) of the whole diet of modules taken during the academic year in which the offence occurred, with the maximum mark on any resits of assessments or retakes of modules limited to the minimum pass mark.
    • 1.4.15. Where a penalty involves failure in a module but the student is not prohibited from resitting assessments or retaking the module, any reattempt/retake shall be in the subsequent academic year with the exception of NMC requirements on the courses, which supersede these Regulations.
    • 1.4.16. Where a penalty involves the reworking or resubmission of an element of assessment, this shall take place during the current academic year. If the student does not resubmit, a mark of 0 shall be given for the element of assessment.
    • 1.4.17. Where a penalty has been imposed the student’s file/record will be made available to the Panel at this stage along with a short summary of the student’s current academic position. In arriving at a decision on penalties to be applied, the Panel will take account of any previous penalties on record and shall impose the penalties on an individual basis, particularly in a case involving a group of students.
    • 1.4.18. The appeal regulations provide a single process for students who wish to appeal against outcomes arising from the investigation of academic offences.
    • 1.4.19. The outcome of all cases shall be communicated to the student in writing.
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