Academic Integrity

What is academic misconduct?

Academic misconduct is any action taken by a student (or group of students):

• that could give him/her/them an unfair academic advantage
• and/or could result in a false evaluation of the student(s)’ academic performance

 Note that any behaviour that meets these two criteria is counted as academic misconduct even if:

The student(s) did not know that the action taken counted as academic misconduct. At the start of the academic year, all students are required to complete a QMPlus module on Academic Integrity, so it is reasonable that students should know what does and does not constitute academic misconduct. If you are still not sure, ask a member of staff (e.g. module organiser, TA, your academic advisor) before taking the action.

The student(s) did not intend to commit academic misconduct. When completing assignments in a hurry, it can be tempting to submit your work without checking that it does not violate the academic misconduct policy. However, time pressure is not considered a valid excuse for committing academic misconduct. If you need an extension on your assignment or are having trouble meeting deadlines, please discuss your situation with a member of staff (either the Senior Tutor or your module organiser) as early as possible.

Examples of academic misconduct 

The most common types of academic misconduct are listed below. Remember that this list is not comprehensive – any behaviour that satisfies the two criteria defined above is considered as academic misconduct. 

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is “literary theft”: the act of passing off someone else’s work as your own (Oxford English Dictionary, 2022). Plagiarism includes:

Directly quoting any existing material (articles, books, websites, module material, another student’s work) without acknowledging where you got it from. There are various guidelines on the Internet on correct referencing styles, and you can also ask your module organiser for advice if you are unsure.

Close paraphrasing – failing to express the ideas of other people in your own words, for example, changing the order of words or sentences, or changing only a few words of each sentence. Some examples are given at the end of this document. 

Examination offences 

Examples include: 

• bringing a mobile phone, unauthorised electronic device, or any unauthorised material into an invigilated exam (including notes written on your body)
• Copying the work of another student
• Communicating with another student during an invigilated exam
• Taking an exam or assessment on behalf of another student
• Before taking an exam or submitting an assessment, make sure to familiarize yourself with SEF’s regulations (for example, what you are/are not allowed to bring into the exam room) and ask a member of staff if anything is unclear.

Contract cheating and generative AI 

Asking a someone else (whether you paid them or not) to provide work that you then submit as your own. 

Submitting work written by generative AI (such as ChatGPT) as your own counts as "use of a ghost-writing service”, which is an assessment offence. While you may be allowed to use generative AI to help you with your work, you must rephrase the output in your own words and reference it in the same way as any other written source.

Please see our guidance for SEF undergraduate students on the use of  generative AI (such as ChatGPT)  

Queen Mary Library Services also has a useful guide to help you with appropriate referencing styles for generative AI output.

If you are unsure about whether you are allowed to use generative AI or how to use it appropriately, clarify with your module organiser before submitting your work. 

Self-plagiarism 

Submitting the same piece of work for more than one module, without first receiving permission from the module organiser. The reason is that you are not allowed to receive credit more than once for each piece of assessed work. If your module organiser has given an assessment that is very similar to work you have done for a previous module, ask them for advice on what you should do. 

Fraudulent reporting/Falsification

This action includes producing or submitting work that is not, to the best of your knowledge, a true and accurate representation of the original source or existing scholarly knowledge. For example: 

Manipulating or fabricating data or results for a research project

Citing a source that does not actually exist in order to support your argument

Submitting fabricated or falsified documents as part of your assessment

Collusion 

Producing and submitting work that you have done in collaboration with other students as if it were your own work, without permission from the module organiser and without acknowledging their contribution to your work.

What is close paraphrasing and how can I avoid it?

Close paraphrasing is when you use words or phrases that are “too similar” to those used in the original source.  

Example (taken from Section 2.12 of the SEF 2023-24 UG Student Handbook)

Original text:

“Queen Mary is a diverse community of over 25,000 students and staff. With a variety of faiths and beliefs represented on campus, we are committed to tolerance, understanding and co-operation, as well as to ensuring as far as possible that our policies are consistent across all needs. Many religions and beliefs require their members to pray at specific times during the day, or have special festivals or spiritual observance days. We recognise therefore that students at Queen Mary often strike a balance between their educational and religious commitments.”

Close paraphrasing example #1:

“Queen Mary is a diverse community with a variety of faiths and beliefs represented on campus, and is committed to tolerance, understanding and co-operation. Queen Mary aims to ensure as far as possible that our policies are consistent across all needs, in recognition that our students often strike a balance between their educational and religious commitments.”

Here we have simply removed parts of the original text and added some connecting phrases, leaving most of the original text unchanged.

Close paraphrasing example #2:

“Queen Mary is a disparate community of more than 25,000 learners and staff. With an assortment of doctrines and religions portrayed on our grounds, we are devoted to open-mindedness, acceptance, and synergy, and to making sure as far as possible that our guidelines are uniform across all requirements.”

Here we have simply replaced some words with their synonyms, without changing the sentence structure.

Good paraphrasing example: 

“Queen Mary recognises that members of its community follow different faiths and beliefs, and understands that some practices, such as prayer or religious observance days, may require students to make some adjustments to their term-time schedule. Queen Mary therefore aims to respect and accommodate the faith-related needs of its students and staff as much as possible while maintaining consistent policies for everyone.”

Here we avoided using the original sentence structure, not just the words and phrases, and summarized the ideas in “our own words” as much as possible, rather than just rearranging or replacing words.

A very useful resource to help you understand academic integrity

As part of a programme to support students to develop their understanding of academic integrity issues and reduce incidences of misconduct, Queen Mary has purchased an Academic Integrity course which can provide guidance for students taking exams or submitting assignments in the coming months. 

Learners can self-enrol on the course, which is hosted on QMPlus - search for "Academic Integrity".

Allegations of academic misconduct are dealt with by the Academic Misconduct Policy. Queen Mary will take all necessary steps to maintain the academic integrity of its programmes of study, and every allegation of academic misconduct will be dealt with in accordance with this policy.