Academic Misconduct Guide - University of Wolverhampton

PlagiarismWhy shouldn’tI plagiarise4Some students fail to see what all thefuss is about and are tempted to take theirchances. Many wish they hadn’t done soafter they’ve been through the academicmisconduct disciplinary process. This involvesyou and your work being scrutinised byan academic misconduct panel.Tutors have many ways of confirmingwhether a piece of work has beenplagiarised – for example, the Universitynow has software that can detectplagiarism. Just don’t risk it.PenaltiesThe penalties for plagiarism at the Universityof Wolverhampton range from failing thepiece of work in question through toexclusion from the University (dependingon your level of study, the nature of theplagiarism and whether you’ve committedprevious offences).You may also have your degreedowngraded or you may fail the wholemodule that the plagiarised assessmentrelates to. See Appendix 1 for further detailsof the penalties for plagiarism.Other Reasons notto Plagiarise• It’s essential to maintain the academicintegrity of degrees awarded by theUniversity. By allowing students whoplagiarise to get away with it, theUniversity would be doing an injusticeto the majority of hardworking studentswho haven’t plagiarised.• Referencing correctly shows that you’veresearched the topic well. If the referencingis poor, it’s likely that the content of thework will also be poor.• Students must get used to referencing theirwork so that other researchers can quicklyaccess the ideas used. This aids the wholeresearch and learning process.• Plagiarism is morally wrong. Students whoplagiarise effectively steal other people’shard work and ideas and try to pass themoff as their own. At best it’s laziness, at worstit’s deliberate academic theft.