Academic Misconduct
The University of York identifies six main types of academic misconduct: plagiarism, collusion, cheating, fabrication, personation and deception. Definitions of these terms and student examples can be found in Academic Integrity: Your Guide.
Absolute Liability: In general the notion of intention will not be considered where academic misconduct is suspected. The only circumstance where the principle of absolute liability is not applied is when the source in question is outside of the public domain and it is unclear who the author is.
The University takes academic misconduct seriously and where academic misconduct is suspected a set of policies and procedures are followed. If you are suspected of academic misconduct there are three types of action that a department could take: pedagogical approach: formative work, formal warning and full investigation. Integrity at York provides further details on the University’s regulations on academic misconduct.
What will happen if you are suspected of academic misconduct?
The Chair of Board of Examiners will write to you explaining that they suspect academic misconduct has occurred and evidence of the affected work will be provided. The letter will also ask you to provide the department with a response. The GSA Representation, Advice and Welfare Coordinator can offer you advice regarding the process.
You will be asked to attend a meeting with your department to discuss the situation. During this meeting you can be accompanied by a student, member of staff or a GSA Officer. The GSA Representation, Advice and Welfare Coordinator is experienced in supporting students at these meetings and strongly advised to contact them.
The nature of the meeting will depend on whether the department considers the incident of academic misconduct to require a formal warning or a full misconduct investigation. If the summative work affected contributes to less than 0.5% of the award and this is your first case of academic misconduct then a formal warning can be issued. In this instance you will be given a written warning and a record will placed on your file. You will also be informed of training opportunities.
However, if the affected work contributes to more than 0.5% of the award a full investigation will be carried out. Where an investigation is taking place, the purpose of student meeting is to discuss the nature, extent and reasons for the academic misconduct. You will be given the opportunity to respond to evidence and submit any mitigating circumstances that you may have. The investigating sub-committee will make a decision after you have been interviewed.
If it is deemed that academic misconduct has taken place a penalty will be awarded. The penalty will be deducted from your final mark and the assessment affected by the misconduct will still be awarded an academic mark. The penalty is determined by a calculation that considers the proportional contribution of the misconduct to the entire award, how severe the academic misconduct is.
After you have been informed of the decision made by the investigating committee, you will have the right to appeal this decision if you so wish chose to do so. This appeal will be taken to Special Cases Committee. If you do appeal and are still dissatisfied with the outcome, you could make a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.
