Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity means honesty in your studies, acknowledging the work of others and giving credit where you have used other people's ideas. Plagiarism means presenting someone else's work as your own, even with their consent.

Plagiarism is wholly unacceptable and is treated by the University of Nottingham as an academic offence, comparable to cheating in exams.

If plagiarism is discovered, it not only makes the student concerned liable to serious penalties, but raises questions about personal integrity. However, sometimes what appears to be intentional plagiarism can be the result of failing to follow standard methods of acknowledging the source of words, ideas and diagrams in your work.

You may be asked to sign your submitted work to show you have read and understood the University regulations on plagiarism as outlined in the Quality Manual and the School Course Handbook.

Why cite sources of information?

• to acknowledge your dependence on another person's ideas or words, and to distinguish clearly your own work from that of your sources.
• to receive credit for the research you have done on a project, whether or not you directly quote or borrow from your sources.
• to establish the credibility and authority of your knowledge and ideas.
• to place your own ideas in context, locating your work in the larger intellectual conversation about your topic.
• to permit your reader to pursue your topic further by reading more about it.
• to permit your reader to check on your use of the source material.

It's reasonable for you to be expected to:

• identify analyse and interpret sources
• cite and reference your sources
• learn citation and referencing conventions
• ask a lecturer to clarify when uncertain.

It's reasonable for you to expect from your lecturer:

• help in learning how to use citation and referencing skills
• feedback indicating problems (warnings when you have not adhered to codes)
• topics that are clear and researchable
• requests to see documented evidence of writing process.