Plagiarism

What happens if you're accused of plagiarism

Plagiarism is the taking of other people's work, ideas or words and including them in your work without making it clear what the source is. This can be taking information from any source, including another student, a website, lecture notes, books and journals, or even your own past work.

Why Have I Been Accused of Plagiarism? //

I know my referencing isn't right but I need to meet the deadline

Plagiarism is taken very seriously by the University - it can lead to a mark of zero for the work or even the module and it will go on your record so it's better to get your referencing right before you submit. If you've had personal problems that affected your work, you can ask for a 7 day extension or make a more formal Exceptional Circumstances request for another assessment opportunity.

If you are having time management issues speak to your tutor or the Write Direction service for expert advice. Taking the time to get support before handing essays in will make things much easier in the long term.

I included references but I've still been accused of plagiarism

Anything you take from sources needs to be either completely rewritten into your own words or put in quotation marks, in addition to the reference, otherwise you would be claiming those words as your own. When you include just a reference you're saying you got the information or idea from that source but claiming the words are your own.

Using quotation marks will help you avoid plagiarising but overusing this method could lower your mark. Try to use your own words as much as possible, rather than using quotation marks, as this will show your understanding of the subject and can give you higher marks.

I've been accused of plagiarism but I would never cheat

Unfortunately, you can still commit a plagiarism offence by accident and this will not affect the outcome.

The majority of cases we see happen because the student didn't understand what they needed to do, forgot to reword a section, or missed out some references. Your School will be aware of this and if you engage with the process you may leave the meeting with a better understanding of how to properly reference and adjust your study habits to minimise the risk of accidental copying.

Are there any study methods that can increase/decrease the risk of plagiarism?

We have seen that copying and pasting text from a source directly into an essay, with the intention of rewording it, will raise the risk of plagiarising. You may forget which sections were copied and which were in your own words, and if you use a method to highlight those words (such as a different colour) you could forget to apply it. It will also be much harder to find your own words if you have an expert's words already written into your essay.

Writing directly into your essay while looking at the source will also make it harder to find your own words. When you already have the ideal wording in front of you, it can be very difficult to come up with a completely different way of saying it! Some tutors have advised reading a few sentences, then putting the source to one side and making notes on what you've just learned.

I've been accused of plagiarising my own work, is this possible?

A lot of students are surprised to hear about self-plagiarism. Unfortunately, reusing your own work is still classed as academic misconduct, even if you weren't aware of it, because the university considers it would be unfair to benefit twice from one piece of work.

If you're repeating a module and you are set the same assessment, this would not normally be counted as self-plagiarism.

5.1(b) of the Student Academic Misconduct Code of Practice states:

'Self-plagiarism - the student submits the same or almost identical work for more than one assessment without proper acknowledgement. (N.B. Students will not be guilty of self-plagiarism if they are repeating a module and are given the same assignment. Schools/Research Institutes should ensure that, where a suitable alternative exists, students who are repeating are given different assignments where possible.)'

Academic Misconduct Meetings //

I have been called to a meeting with an Academic Conduct Officer, how can I prepare for this meeting?

The School will want to know where you have gone wrong so that they can advise you on how to avoid problems in the future. Think about how you approached the assignment - for example, did you make notes then write it, or did you write directly into the assignment, or copy and paste from the source? Read through your essay and think about whether you have referenced effectively. Are there are places where you forgot to reference or used the wrong reference? Did you forget to rewrite any parts?

Get in touch with ASK if you are struggling to understand what might be wrong and we can work through this with you.

If your work was affected by any exceptional circumstances, you can send in a statement before the meeting, explaining your ECs and how they led to the plagiarism. Gather any evidence that could support your case.

What will happen in the meeting?

The meeting will usually be with the Academic Conduct Officer (ACO), the marker and a note taker. The ACO will tell you what they think the problems are with the work and give you the opportunity to have your say and ask any questions you have. If you have exceptional circumstances, make sure to talk about them as they could impact the decision.

The ACO meeting is a learning opportunity so prepare questions on things you are not sure about and take the opportunity to talk through these in the meeting.

Remember that the purpose of the meeting is to make sure you have all the support you need.

What are the possible penalties?

The penalties for plagiarism vary depending on the type of case and the number of cases you have had in the past. A full table of penalties are in the table on the University website.

IMPORTANT: If you had exceptional circumstances that affected your work, make sure you tell the Academic Conduct Officer and provide evidence. You will also need to explain why you didn't make an Exceptional Circumstances claim at the time. The ACO will consider your circumstances and may decide to lower the penalty so your resubmission or reassessment is uncapped.

Penalties for coursework assessments

First Offence

Warning - this is for very low level plagiarism. No action is required.
Minor offence - you would need to correct the work so it's acceptable and then resubmit it. The mark will be capped at the pass mark.
Major offence - a zero for this attempt, with normal reassessment consequences i.e. if you have an attempt remaining, you can take the reassessment and it will be capped at the pass mark. Please note that if you have no attempt remaining and this penalty would lead to you failing your degree, the ACO could exceptionally allow a further reassessment opportunity.

Second Offence

Minor offence - this has the same penalty as a major first offence.
Major offence - a zero for the module. This means that all the assessments for the module will be set to zero and, if reassessment is allowed, you will have to take all the assessments again for a capped mark. For modules of 30 credits or more, where this would be disproportionate or it is not feasible to redo some of the assessment components (e.g. lab work), an appropriate alternative penalty will be given.

If this is your third offence or if the ACO decides the case is too serious to apply one of the standard penalties, your case will be referred to the Academic Misconduct Committee.

Open book assessment, class test or flexible class test

First offence: a mark of zero for this attempt, with normal reassessment consequences i.e. if you have an attempt remaining, you can take the reassessment and it will be capped at the pass mark.

Subsequent offences are referred to committee, and the standard penalties are:

Second offence: a mark of zero for the entire module. If you have a reassessment attempt remaining, you are permitted to take it but you can only get the credits; your mark will stay at 0. This means you could still have the credits to graduate but your transcript and your degree classification calculation would include the 0 from that module.

Third offence: termination of studies.

I am unhappy with the outcome of an academic misconduct case, what can I do?

In some circumstances, you may be able to appeal the decision. You will only be able to do this if you can satisfy one, or both, of the following grounds:

procedural irregularity in the conduct of the original investigations of the Academic Conduct Officer;
exceptional circumstances, providing that these circumstances can be substantiated.

More information on appealing can be found on the University website. Remember that there is a deadline of 10 days to appeal.

If you would like to appeal or need some more information contact us at ASK and we will guide you through the process.

I am on a professional course, what impact will this have on me?

If you are studying a professional course, a record of academic misconduct may have further implications. You should check your School handbook for further details if this applies to you.

Support //

How can ASK help?

ASK can help you to prepare your case and attend the meeting with you, if necessary. You should be provided with a TurnItIn report from your school that highlights the areas of concern. We can go through the report and help you to understand where you have gone wrong. We can signpost you to the appropriate support services to help you to improve your study skills and to make sure that you fully understand how to reference properly.

If there have been reasons why you have plagiarised, either intentionally or accidentally, we can explore these and help you to put your case forward to your school Academic Conduct Officer or an Academic Misconduct Committee.

What support is available to help me improve my study skills and avoid plagiarism?

There are lots of places you can go to improve your study skills at Keele, including:

Academic Skills - this free university service offers one-to-one advice, workshops on and online resources.

English Language Unit (International Students) - The English Language Unit offers free 1:1 tutorials all year-round for international students on how to avoid plagiarism.

Interactive Study Write - The StudyWrite Plagiarism module explains the concept of plagiarism, why it is important and how it can be avoided. It also provides a series of activities to check your understanding as the module progresses

Learning about Turnitin - Turnitin is a text matching system that the University uses to identify text within submitted assignments to other sources; this can highlight work which is not properly referenced and non-original content in the work submitted by students.

Proofreading Guide - The proofreading guide is useful for students to better understand what is acceptable as proofreading and what may become academic misconduct.

Academic Mentors and Module Leaders - Email your school if you are unsure who this is to make an appointment.