Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity Resources

The University provides a range of support services to help you with your academic skills.

LibGuides

LibGuides is a collection of online resources and guides to aid students with their academic practices. LibGuides also contains full guides on referencing conventions for reference systems used by the University.

You can find the full catalogue here.

Additionally, the Students' Guild has produced a Reference Right Website for all students to use: Reference Right (exeterguild.com). 

Study Zone (Streatham Campus)

Study Zone advisers can help students to develop personal learning strategies and discuss specific questions relating to students work. Students can develop their skills as critical thinkers and writers, learn new tips, and improve their academic performance.

For more information on the Study Zone please visit their website.

ASK: Academic Skills Study Guides (Penryn Campus)

The ASK team of teachers and advisors support student learning at the University of Exeter Cornwall Campuses by:

• running workshops on writing, referencing and study skills
• providing study guides and learning resources
• offering individual advice through one-to-one appointments

For more information, please visit their webpage.

English Language Skills Development programme (Insessional Support)

English Language Skills Development (The Insessional programme) is a university-funded programme open to all students who are non-native speakers of English. They provide an extensive range of workshops, courses, online resources and one-to-one tutorials in English for academic purposes and social and cultural English. They can give guidance and advice on the many language factors associated with good academic practice, including: strategies for reading, paraphrase and summary, incorporating sources into writing, and referencing. You can find out more about the programme by visiting the website https://www.exeter.ac.uk/into/englishlanguage/about/.

In order to participate you should register with the programme here. If you are not sure which type of support is most appropriate, please email [email protected]. If you are a tutor and would like to refer a student for specific support, please email Emma Sweeney in the first instance. 

Workshops on Avoiding Plagiarism and Practical Skills for Paraphrasing

This class will offer opportunities to develop your skills for incorporating sources more effectively and responsibly. You will:

• Review academic honesty rules and what they mean for writing.
• Explore what effective paraphrase looks like.
• Complete a guided practical paraphrase task.

You will leave with a toolkit of practical strategies to use in future assignment writing.

If you feel you would benefit from a one-to-one appointment to discuss Avoiding Plagiarism and Practical Skills for Paraphrasing, you can email [email protected].

ELE Module on Academic Honesty

Each Discipline has its own Academic Honesty module on ELE, which explains academic honesty in detail and also provides the academic conventions followed the Discipline. Students are expected to take this module when they begin their studies and are strongly encouraged to retake the module at the start of each year.

Please find a link to module for your Discipline in the table below:

For those on a Flexible Combined Honours programme, a bespoke module for the programme is available here.

When concerns are raised about the Academic Integrity of a student's assignment during the marking process, these are considered by trained Academic Conduct Officers within each discipline. The Conduct Officers use their academic judgement to decide if the work needs to be referred into the Academic Misconduct process. The Academic Misconduct process will be used to determine whether an academic offence has occurred within the assignment.

We realise that in some cases a breach in Academic Integrity can occur unintentionally or unknowingly but in order to maintain the University's standards of academic honesty and integrity, and to be fair to all students we do have to carefully consider all concerns raised.

Information about the principles and procedures which will be observed by the University when considering concerns about academic integrity can be found in Chapter 12 of the Teaching Quality Assurance Manual:

Chapter 12 - Academic Conduct and Practice.

The University has developed three levels of severity for academic offences.  These are:

1. Poor academic practice.  This may arise from a lack of understanding of academic protocols or a misunderstanding of expected academic conventions of the department.  In these cases there is no evidence that a student has set out to decieve a marker.
2. Academic misconduct.  This would involve behaviour and practices which, if undetected, would have deceived the marker and could lead the student to obtain an unfair advantage over another student.
3. Severe academic misconduct.  This would involve extensive evidence of plagiarism or cheating or clear evidence of behaviour which is designed to deceive the marker and/or to gain an advantage by the student who submitted the work.

The University’s definition of academic conduct and the procedures surrounding it are set out in Chapter 12 of the Assessment Progression and Awarding Handbook ‘Academic Conduct and Practice’ and you can read that here.

A flowchart of the Academic Misconduct process can be found here.

Definition of Offences

An academic offence is defined as an act or failure to act that if undetected gives, or aims to give, an advantage over other students, or any behaviour which may deceive those setting, administering and marking a piece of work. Academic offences can take a number of forms including but not limited to:

• Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism:  Plagiarism is the act of representing words, ideas, or work obtained from another source, without proper attribution or permission and presenting it as one's own original work. This can include copying and pasting text from a source without citation or attribution; paraphrasing source material without giving credit or by only changing a few words; using a concerpt or ideas obtained from another source without acknowldgement; or submitting another's work as your own.  Self-plagiarism is the act of reusing your own previosuly submitted work without citation.
• Collusion:  Collusion occurs where two or more students collaborate to produce work that is submitted as the individual work of one or more of the students. 
• Coercion: Coercion occurs when a student puts pressure on (or attempts to put pressure on) another student or member of staff to act in a particular way, with the intention of gaining an academic advantage. 
• Fabrication: Creation of false data, research or references with the intention of deceiving the marker.
• Falsification: Inappropriate manipulation or selection of data, images or consents with the intention of deceiving the marker. 
• Misrepresentation: Misrepresenting data, or the work of someone else as your own, in whole or in part. Note, evidence of an attempt to disguise any of the forms of plagiarism listed above (which might involve the use of paraphrasing systems or translation systems, or a translator or third party who acts as more than a proof-reader under the University’s regulations) will normally be treated more severely than plagiarism alone. 
• Contract Cheating: Contract cheating involves a student requesting a third-party to complete an assessment, or part of an assessment, on their behalf, which may or may not involve a commercial transaction.  
• Use or possession of unauthorised material in an assessment:  For example taking notes or electronic devices into an examination or assessment without expression to do so.
• Obtaining or sharing an examination paper ahead of its authorised release or obtaining/sharing another student's answer to an examination paper.
• Impersonation of another individual due to be sitting an assessment.

Examination Misconduct

There are important rules concerning exam conduct that all students, regardless of Faculty or level of study, are expected to follow. These are available online her: Guidance to Candidates.

Students who are caught breaking this guidance will be treated in accordance with the University's Assessment, Progression and Awarding Handbook, Chapter 12 - academic conduct and practice, which lists the following offences specifically relevant to exams:

1. The use or possession of unauthorised books, notes, software, electronic devices or other materials in an examination (unless specifically permitted).
2. Obtaining an examination paper ahead of its authorised release.
3. Attempting to impersonate or impersonation of another individual, due to be sitting a specific assessment.

Specific offences that the University has a zero tolerance approach to are:

• The possession of any form of electronic device, which includes mobile phones, iPods or MP3 players and any form of smart watch on or near your person during an exam whether it be switched on or off and;
• Being in possession of unauthorised material. This may be notes about the topic, or formula written on a hand or arm or other materials found on or near your person.

Please remember electronic devices and/or unauthorised material and exams don't mix!

Each Discipline appoints an Academic Conduct Officer and each College appoints a Senior Academic Conduct Officer who provide information and guidance on the academic conduct process and good academic practice, as well as conducting any academic conduct investigation. Please note that for matters relating to in person invigilated exam conduct you will need to contact [email protected] instead of your departmental Conduct Officers.

Please find a list below of Senior Academic Conduct Officers and Academic Conduct Officers below: