PLAGIARISM
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WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES?
Plagiarism basically means passing someone else’s work off as your own.
It depends on what year you are in and if anything like this has happened
before. However the general rules are as follows;
Bad referencing is also considered as plagiarism and usually receives a
penalty. If you are struggling with referencing please see your Faculty Student
Support Officer immediately.
Level 3/4 - If this is your first offence and your work is less than 20%
plagiarised, it will be marked as it is and you will get a warning.
All work submitted to the University is checked for plagiarism. A computer
system called Turn It In is commonly used to check work and some
departments encourage you to put your work through Turn It In before
submission.
If it is more than 20% plagiarised, you will receive a mark of 0%
and you may have to repeat the assignment over the summer re-sit
period. The re-submitted assignment will be capped at 40%.
Level 5/6 - If this is your first offence and your work is less than 20%
plagiarised, it will be capped at 40%.
YOU CAN BE PENALISED FOR:
PLAGIARISM
Copying from authors, not using quotation marks or taking sections from other
people’s work and changing bits to make it look like your own.
COLLUSION
Copying from other students, allowing your work to be copied or not taking
reasonable steps to protect your work from being copied. Be especially careful
when completing group work as many students are found to have ‘colluded or
plagiarised’ each year.
ATTEMPTING TO GAIN AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Paying someone to do your work or falsifying data.
CHEATING
Taking unauthorised material into an exam.
I HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER ACCUSING ME OF PLAGIARISM AND
INVITING ME TO A MEETING, WHAT SHALL I DO?
Attend the meeting. It will be with your Programme Leader or Head of
Department and we may be able to attend this with you if you give us enough
notice. In busier periods this may not be possible. If you do not attend the
meeting it will happen without you and a decision will be made based on the
evidence.
I DIDN’T MEAN TO DO IT
Unfortunately bad referencing or submitting the wrong assignment is not an
excuse and you will still be penalised. However if you have Exceptional Factors
please come and see us.
If your work is more than 20% plagiarised you will receive a mark of
0% and may have to repeat the assignment over the summer re-sit
period. The re-submitted assignment will be capped at 40%. If you
are a final year student, you may not be able to graduate when you
expected to.
Where there are multiple assignments involved that were submitted at around
the same time they should be treated as a single occurrence.
If this is your second offence or if you are a Postgraduate student or if you
have been accused of cheating in your exam, the penalties are more serious.
In exceptional cases your case may be forwarded to an Assessment
Disciplinary Committee - this is more serious and the outcomes are more
severe.
If you are on a professional course, such as Law, Nursing, Physiotherapy,
Social Work or Teaching, the department may want to consider whether you
are professionally suitable and may have other requirements set by the
Professional Standards Requirements Body.
You have a right to appeal a decision – visit us to discuss this further
WHO CAN HELP ME?
The advisers at Your Advice Centre can - come and visit us.
We suggest that you draft a statement of events and come to an appointment
at Your Advice Centre, which can be booked by calling us on 0161 247 6533.
Bring the letter and evidence with you. If the letter did not include evidence,
contact your Local HUB for a copy.
For more detailed information on plagiarism please review Assessment
Regulations for Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Programmes of Study
www.mmu.ac.uk/academic/casqe/regulations/assessment.php Appendix 5.
MMU’S STUDENT SUPPORT OFFICERS CAN HELP WITH
REFERENCING YOUR WORK:
Manchester School of Art
Hollings Faculty
Student Hub
Tel: 0161 247 1751
Email: [email protected]
www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk/studentsupport/
Juliette Underwood
Tel: 0161 247 2500
Email: [email protected]
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Katie Naish
Tel: 0161 247 3857
Email: [email protected]
Lisa McDonagh
Tel: 0161 247 6481
Email: [email protected]
www.business.mmu.ac.uk/
studentsupport/officer.php
Rochelle Morris
Tel: 0161 247 1513
Email: [email protected]
www.sci-eng.mmu.ac.uk/student_
support/
Faculty of Health, Psychology
and Social Care and Faculty of
Education
Birley
Amy Berry (Education)
Tel: 0161 247 2040
Email: [email protected]
Kate Haley
Tel: 0161 247 2535
Email: [email protected]
www.hpsc.mmu.ac.uk/students/
support_officer.php
Faculty of Business and Law
MMU Cheshire
Mike McGarry
Tel: 0161 247 5237
Email: [email protected]
www.cheshire.mmu.ac.uk/students/
ssofficer.php
Faculty of Humanities, Languages
and Social Science
David Peters
Tel: 0161 247 6459
Email: [email protected]
www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/student-support/
The Union, Manchester Metropolitan University Publication 2014
Disclaimer: Your Advice Centre has made every effort to ensure that the information in this
leaflet is accurate. The Union cannot be held responsible for the consequences of any action
taken as a result of reading this leaflet. Before taking any action you are advised to visit Your
Advice Centre.
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