Plagiarism

In recent years a small, but growing, number of students have found themselves in difficulties as a result of submitting coursework which has been copied, in whole or in part, from the work of fellow students. On occasion this has been done innocently, the student not realising they were doing anything wrong. However, whether innocent or not, the presentation of another's work as your own (plagiarism) is against the rules of the University and is not acceptable. It is likely to result in penalties for both the student using the copied material and, where such copying has been carried out with the second student's knowledge, also for the student providing the source of material. It is in your own interests, therefore, that you clearly understand that any work submitted for assessment must be your own work alone. Remember you are learning for your own benefit and you will not learn simply by copying another's work. The only exceptions to the above will be cases where the academic staff have explicitly stated that joint work is acceptable.

The above statement is in no way intended to discourage you from discussing your work with your colleagues. Indeed it is essential to your education that you do so. Much of professional engineering is concerned with group activity and the refining of ideas through discussion. It is important that you develop skills in this area. Such peer group discussions should relate not only to laboratory and tutorial work but also to lecture material. It is not unusual to find that, in trying to explain to a fellow student what it is you do not understand you realise that you do understand after all. Nevertheless work submitted for assessment must be your own work.

It goes without saying that any attempt to bring contraband material into formal, written examinations or attempts at communication during examinations is cheating. Such cases will be reported to the Registrar who will institute the University's disciplinary procedures.

For further help and support in avoiding plagiarism and collusion please go to the following:

www.ncl.ac.uk/right-cite/ this website gives help and guidance on collusion, code of practice and how to avoid potential plagiarism. There is also an excellent online tutorial guide at mbbs-tutorials.ncl.ac.uk/plag which helps students understand how to avoid plagiarism and the correct way to reference your sources.