What happens when I overstep the mark?

A student suspected of plagiarism must be informed in writing by the marker and given a chance to deny the allegation in person. 

If the student admits the plagiarism, the marker must suggest a penalty in line with the Plagiarism Penalty Scale, and a note of the incident must be made on the student’s record. 

If the student does not admit the plagiarism, or disputes the degree of seriousness he/she must go the disciplinary hearing route.

Important information:

• The Penalty Scale applies to all work submitted for assessment.
• An important criterion for judging seriousness is “quantity”; however, the general principle is that the penalty should be appropriate to the seriousness of the incident.
• The quantity is the independent professional judgement of the lecturer and not the Turnitin percentage.
• When investigating an incident, the following is important:
  • the significance of the plagiarised content on the assessment of the submitted work
  • the extent or amount of the plagiarism in the submitted work
  • the year and level of the student
  • the background of the student
  • whether the student has taken up any of the opportunities provided by the University to enhance students’ understanding of plagiarism
  • whether the student has previous incidents of plagiarism (see information about the Plagiarism Register below)
  • any apparent intention by the student to deceive

The Plagiarism Register

• Lecturers complete the Form for the Reporting of Plagiarism Incidents.
• The information provided by the student will be checked by the Legal Office after the form has been submitted by the lecturer concerned.
• If the Legal Office is satisfied that the information provided by the student regarding previous incidents is truthful, it will confirm the incident as well as the penalty in a letter to the student.
• If the Legal Office is not satisfied with the information provided by the student, it will proceed with disciplinary steps against the student.
• A note of all allegations, the outcome and the penalty of all cases of plagiarism will be made on the student’s record.
• This information may be used by the University when it is asked to provide a reference for the student.