Plagiarism, Collusion and Cheating in Exams

This section draws on the University’s guidance to students on Plagiarism and Collusion which can be seen in full at:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/lets/design/unfair

Use of Unfair Means in the assessment process - an overview

Plagiarism and Collusion

The basic principle underlying the preparation of any piece of academic work is that the work submitted must be your own original work. Plagiarism and collusion are not allowed because they go against this principle. Please note that the rules about plagiarism and collusion apply to all assessed and non-assessed work, including essays, experimental results and computer code. Cutting and pasting from web sites would also be considered unacceptable.

Plagiarism is passing off others' work as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to your benefit. The work can include ideas, compositions, designs, images, computer code, and, of course, words. This list is not exhaustive. The benefit accrued could be, for example, an examination grade or the award of a research degree.

• If you submit a piece of work produced by others, or copied from another source, this is plagiarism.
• If you produce a piece of work which includes sections taken from other authors, this is plagiarism, unless the source has been properly attributed (see below) The length of the copied section is not relevant, since any act of plagiarism offends against the general principle set out above. When copying sections from other authors it is not sufficient simply to list the source in the bibliography.
• If you paraphrase from another source without the appropriate attribution, this is plagiarism. Paraphrasing should use your own words to demonstrate an understanding and accurately convey the meaning of the original work, and should not merely reorder or change a few words or phrases of the existing text.
• If you copy from or resubmit your own previous work for another assignment, this is self-plagiarism, and is not acceptable.

Collusion is a form of plagiarism 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.

• If you get someone else to compose the whole or part of any piece of work, this is collusion.
• If you copy the whole or part of someone else’s piece of work with the knowledge and consent of the latter, then this is collusion.
• If you allow another student to copy your material, knowing that it will subsequently be presented as that students' own work, then this is collusion.
• When group work is allowed for a piece of assessed work, you will be given very clear guidance on which elements of the work can be done in the group and which must be done individually. If you do not follow these guidelines eg you work on an assignment with one or more other students, produce an agreed piece of work and then copy it up for individual submission, then this would be collusion.

When preparing essays, projects or other work, you will read widely and become familiar with the work of others. However, anyone assessing your work is interested in your understanding of what you have read and you should use your own words to demonstrate this. The selective quoting of material from sources such as books, articles and web sites is permissible, but the material must always be attributed to its source and the quoted material must be clearly identified. You will be given instruction in the accepted way of making reference to material which you have read, and including direct quotations, in module GEO163, and you should ensure that you follow the rules which you will be taught in all your assessed work.

Cheating in examinations

During closed book examinations, candidates are expressly forbidden to copy from another candidate or from notes. They are also forbidden to communicate with anyone other than the invigilators. During open book examinations, students are allowed to use reference material such as notes but they must not communicate with anyone other than the invigilators.

Penalties

Plagiarism, collusion and cheating in examinations are all strictly forbidden and are viewed very seriously. Students are warned that any work affected by plagiarism, collusion or cheating will be subject to a mark penalty, which can extend to awarding a mark of zero. The penalty will, in some cases, entail failure in the examination for the relevant module or degree. The student may also be referred to the University´s Discipline Committee.