Policies on academic honesty at the University of Liverpool

Your instructors will not only grade your work on academic merit, but will also be checking that everything you write is your own work. They do this using a number of tools but will specifically review all Turnitin reports for similarities with work already published either on the internet, in journals, books or even previous work submitted by other students. They will decide if there is sufficient similarity between your work and the sources mentioned in the TurnItIn report to need further investigation. If further action is required, your Instructor, the Director of Online Studies for your degree programme, or a University of Liverpool academic Monitor will contact you using your ecampus email and ask you to provide a written explanation for this. You must respond to this request by the deadline given. If you are unsure of what action to take, please contact your SSM as he or she will be able to provide you with appropriate advice. It is very important that you do not ignore any correspondence regarding plagiarism. If you do not respond to any emails about this, you will not have an opportunity to do so later and the investigation will go ahead with potentially serious consequences for you. In addition to the immediate official processes, your work will continue to be subject to formal review under the Plagiarism policy at any time. In other words, just because the module has finished or you have completed your degree does not mean that the University cannot investigate your work for plagiarism at any point in the future and, if it is found that you have failed to comply with the policy, change the grades you have been awarded or even invalidate your degree. Laureate Online Education and the University of Liverpool view plagiarism (i.e.any unattributed use of others work) as a serious action, which will result in sanctions being applied even if you did not intend to cheat. These sanctions will be in proportion to the perceived seriousness of what you have done, and this is determined according to the two classifications below. Definitions for both of these can be found at http://www.uol.ohecampus.com/handbook/hb/docs/plagiarism_November.html. Minor plagiarism Minor plagiarism also includes embellishment of data. In simple words, you are likely to be accused of a minor breach of the plagiarism rules if you include in work you submit for assessment any sentences or parts of a sentence which can be directly attributed to someone else, without correctly citing and referencing them. If you include data in your submitted work, it must not have been enhanced to fit a particular idea or theory you are trying to prove. Minor plagiarism cases are always dealt with by the Instructor. If, after investigation, the Instructor believes that a minor breach of the rules has taken place, they will place a warning on your record and will remind you that you need to comply with the plagiarism policy for all work that you submit for grading. If you fail to do so a second time (whether in the same module or in subsequent modules later in your programme) you will receive a further warning. These warnings stay on your record throughout your studies with the University. Any third minor warning will automatically trigger the process for a Major case of plagiarism, and will be subject to academic penalties being applied to your work. Major plagiarism Anything other than a minor case will be treated as Major plagiarism, as will all cases of collusion and fabrication of data. The Director of Online Studies will investigate any incidence of suspected plagiarism that is brought to his or her attention. Ordinarily, this will be whilst you

Page 1 of 3

are active in class, but occasionally this may be after you have completed a module or the programme of study. The Director of Online Studies will initiate investigations and, should plagiarism be discovered, will recommend to the Board of Examiners that the grading results be modified to reflect the seriousness of the offence. If a Major breach of the policy is reported for a student or it is confirmed that he or she has colluded in the submission of assessed work, or fabricated data used in an assessment, it will automatically result in a Fail grade being recorded for that piece of work. If the Board of Examiners feels that the case is of a very serious nature, then it may also decide that the student has not met the requirements of the programme and their studies will be terminated. The Board of Examiners has the discretion to award the grades (if any), which it deems appropriate in light of the gravity and extent of the offence. In extreme cases they may decide to withhold any award that the student may have been eligible for up to that point.

Page 2 of 3

The Student Response to Academic Dishonesty Charges In the event that an Instructor, the Director of Online Studies, or a University of Liverpool academic Monitor should contact you regarding Academic Dishonesty, you must respond. It is imperative that you carefully and thoroughly explain your understanding of the circumstances, admit your mistake if you find you have made one, and explain how you intend to avoid making the same mistake in the future. If you feel that you do not sufficiently understand the system and logic of citation and referencing, it is important that you communicate this and request support prior to undertaking your next module. Ignoring requests for a defence against charges of Academic Dishonesty could seriously impact your student status, so please do take every request with all due seriousness and respond as quickly and completely as possible. If you do not understand the allegations, you are encouraged to contact your Student Support Manager prior to making your official response.

Tips for preventing plagiarism violations: Recognize that our policy relates to the reputation and quality of the University of Liverpools programs. It is NOT negotiable. Check and double check your work for accurate citation and referencing every time! Ask for help before you enter your first module if you feel that you are at risk. Avoid any circumstance that could potentially lead to collusion. (i.e. you and another student submitting the same or very similar work.)

Page 3 of 3