Academic Misconduct Guide - Exeter

The SU Advice Team is here to support you through the process of dealing with academic misconduct. We can help you understand what will happen and the possible outcomes.

The information set out in our Academic Misconduct Page is general guidance for Exeter University students. It should not be seen as a definitive statement of the University's Academic Misconduct policy and procedure. A copy of the University's Academic Misconduct policy and procedure is available here.

What is Academic Misconduct?

Academic misconduct is when you do something unfair or dishonest in your exams or assignments that gives you or someone else an advantage. It includes things like copying someone else's work, pretending someone else did your exam for you, or making up data or results.

Examples of academic misconduct are

Plagiarism: Using someone else's work or ideas as if they were your own
Self-plagiarism/duplication: Submitting the same work you already submitted for another assignment without permission.
Taking someone else's work without asking
Changing or making up data or results
Collusion: Working with someone else on an assignment that should be your own work.
Contract cheating: Paying someone to do your work and then submitting it as if you did it.
Getting someone else to pretend to be you in an exam.
Cheating in exams, like having unauthorized material or trying to see the exam questions beforehand.
Making false claims about personal difficulties or using fake evidence to get special treatment.
Not following rules for research and ethics when doing studies.

What should you know about plagiarism?

Your university should have taught you about plagiarism, which is a big part of academic misconduct.

They should have covered things like how to reference correctly, when it's considered plagiarism even if you didn't mean to do it, and how to use quotation marks and indentation when quoting text.

They should have also explained that buying essays or using other people's work without giving credit is plagiarism.

Remember, there are consequences if you're found guilty of plagiarism.

How can the SU Advice Team help you?

The SU Advice Team is here to support you through the process of dealing with academic misconduct. We can help you understand what will happen and the possible outcomes.

We can direct you to other support services like study skills sessions and wellbeing support: click the links for ASK sessions & Wellbeing Support.

We can also attend panel meetings with you as silent supporters, taking notes but not speaking on your behalf.

After the meetings, we can help you understand what happened and the next steps.

How does the Academic Misconduct Procedure work?

If someone raises a concern about your work, an investigation may be initiated. Here's what you can expect:

1. You'll receive an "Investigation Letter," which doesn't imply any judgment yet. It just means there's a concern about your work. The Academic Misconduct Officer (AMO) may determine there's no evidence of an offense.

2. You'll then receive a second letter updating you on the AMO's initial decision. This letter should provide information such as:

The issues at hand and the supporting evidence.
Which assignments are affected.
Details about the next steps.
The potential impact of the decision.
The type of meeting that will be best suited for discussing the issues.

Here are the possible updates you might receive in the second letter:

a) The investigation is dismissed, and no further action will be taken. Your work will be returned for marking, and you'll receive feedback and grades as soon as possible.

b) The AMO decides that attending an academic honesty workshop is necessary. This is for less serious concerns and won't result in a penalty for the work in question.

c) The AMO determines that the issues are serious and warrant further discussion. You'll be invited to attend a meeting. There are three types of meetings, depending on the nature of the suspected offense, where you will have the opportunity to explain your side and receive advice on addressing the issues:

Discipline Level Meeting: This meeting is for concerns related to poor academic practice, with potential penalties ranging from Tariff A to B.
College Level Meeting: This meeting covers concerns related to both poor academic practice and academic misconduct, with potential penalties ranging from Tariff A to D.
University Level Meeting: This meeting deals with severe academic misconduct offenses and is referred to the University Student Cases Team. These cases are rare but more serious. The university provides additional support in these cases, and you can also seek support from us at the SU as well as FX Plus Wellbeing Services.

More information on the different types of meetings and how they work can be found here.

Please see our ‘SU Guide on Writing a Response to your Academic Misconduct Allegation’ here.

See Academic Misconduct Flow-Chart

Review of your other work

Your other work may be reviewed too if the university believes it's necessary. They will let you know if this is going to happen

What is a Viva?

Before your case goes through the formal stages of the Academic Misconduct Procedure, you might be asked to attend a viva with your course team. A viva is a way for them to assess your knowledge and understanding of the work you submitted. They will ask you questions about your work to determine if you're the author of the work and if it should be referred to the formal academic misconduct procedure.

Penalties

The severity of the offense determines the severity of the penalty. Admitting the allegation can speed up the process and may result in a lesser penalty. At the University of Exeter, there are three categories of Academic Misconduct that you should be aware of. Let's take a look at each category and what they involve:

1.Poor academic practice: This category refers to cases where there's a lack of understanding of academic protocols or a misunderstanding of expected academic conventions. When a case falls into this category, it's usually handled at the Faculty or Department level. It may result in a formal meeting with the student or the student attending a workshop to address the issues.

2.Academic misconduct: Academic misconduct involves behaviours that would deceive those who set, administer, and grade the coursework. It also includes behaviours that could give the student or someone else an unfair advantage. Cases falling under this category are typically dealt with at the Faculty level.

3.Severe academic misconduct:

This is the most serious category and may involve:

A second offense of academic misconduct.
Evidence of extensive plagiarism or cheating.
Clear evidence of behaviour intended to deceive those involved in assessing the work.
Behaviour designed to gain an advantage for the student.

Examples of severe academic misconduct include:

Taking unauthorized notes or using unapproved devices during exams.
Impersonating someone else or arranging for another person to impersonate someone during an exam.
Submitting an assignment with a significant amount of unattributed or incorrectly attributed copying.
Cases where a student has previously been penalized for academic misconduct
Using essay sites that involve commercial transactions, with or without the author's consent.
Misconduct in a dissertation or thesis for a postgraduate program.
Suspected falsification or fabrication of underlying data.
When severe academic misconduct is suspected, the Faculty (or delegated School) will initiate an investigation and, if necessary, refer the case to the University level for further action at the Senior Academic Conduct Officer's discretion.

For more detail on the definitions of offenses, please see here.

Remember, academic misconduct is taken seriously because it undermines the integrity of your education. It's essential to understand and follow the rules to maintain academic honesty. Academic integrity is crucial in higher education as it ensures the value of degrees.

Appealing an Outcome

If you're not satisfied with the outcome, you have the right to appeal within 10 working days of receiving the formal outcome letter. Remember, working days exclude weekends and bank holidays.

You'll need to submit the Academic Misconduct Appeal Form and any supporting evidence to the University Cases Office at studentcases@exeter.ac.uk

Your appeal will be considered only if it meets certain criteria:

If there's evidence of an error in the procedure.
If there's evidence of bias.
If the decision reached is one that no reasonable body could have arrived at, considering all relevant factors.
If you provide evidence of new material circumstances and explain why this evidence couldn't reasonably have been submitted earlier when the original decision was made.

Resources from the University of Exeter

Overview of Student Academic Misconduct:This resource gives you an overall understanding of academic misconduct and its implications - see the link for 'Chapter 12 Academic Conduct and Practice' for more detail.
HUB/INFO POINT Contact the Hub for any questions you have about your study program. They can assist you with issues like coursework marks, exam queries, submission problems, or general course-related concerns.
Academic Skills Team: They offer free academic advice to help you develop the necessary skills for university. They can assist you with topics like referencing techniques.Check the Academic Skills website here for more information or to book an ASK session.
Exeter Welfare Team (Cornwall).
FX Plus offers a range of Wellbeing Support and resources on their website here.
Remember, it's important to familiarize yourself with the university processes and utilise the available resources to ensure a fair outcome.

Reached the end of the process and still not happy with the result?

If you're not satisfied with the outcome, you have the right to appeal within 10 working days of receiving the formal outcome letter. Remember, working days exclude weekends and bank holidays.

OIA – The Office of Independent Adjudicators for Higher Education.

The University of Exeter subscribes to an independent scheme for the review of student complaints provided by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). You will need to raise any complaint with the OIA within 12 months of receipt of your Completion of Procedures letter. The OIA will normally only consider cases that have been through the University’s own procedures first.

Academic Misconduct Guide - Exeter

What is Academic Misconduct?

How can the SU Advice Team help you?

Guide to writing an Academic Misconduct Allegation Response/Statement.

Guide to writing an effective appeal