Plagiarism is the passing off of someone else’s work as one’s own. This is a serious academic offence. The School uses a software detection system to help in the prevention of plagiarism. In the last year or so several students have been found guilty of plagiarism with serious consequences for their degree. The University has defined plagiarism as follows:
It is an Academic Offence to commit an act whereby a person seeks to obtain for himself/herself, or for another, an un-permitted advantage with a view to achieving a higher mark or grade than his/her abilities would otherwise secure. The substantial use of other people’s work and the submission of it as though it were one’s own is regarded as plagiarism. Work which is not undertaken in an Examination Room under the supervision of an invigilator (such as dissertations, essays, project work, experiments, observations, specimen collecting and other similar work) but which is nevertheless required work forming part of the degree, diploma or certificate assessment, must be the candidate’s own, and must not contain any plagiarized material.
According to the University of Nottingham’s Academic Offences Policy and Procedure
1.1 The University regards such acts as cheating, plagiarism and the fabrication of results as serious academic offences, which are unacceptable in a scholarly community dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge.
1.2 The general principle underlying this policy is that any conduct whereby a student attempts to gain an unpermitted academic advantage is an academic offence. This may lead to the imposition of a disciplinary penalty. Where such conduct has taken place but it is not established that it is/was done with the requisite intent, the matter will, where appropriate, be dealt with as an academic matter. In appropriate cases proceedings may be taken in respect of students who have been awarded a degree, diploma or certificate.
Academic cheating, including plagiarism in