Academic integrity
Information about academic misconduct (unfair means), cheating and plagiarism in University assessments and exams and how to avoid them in order to uphold academic integrity.
What is academic integrity?
Academic integrity Is a positive commitment to approaching academic work in a way that is honest, fair, respectful and responsible, and is a fundamental value in higher education. Academic integrity is a component of academic rigour.
Academic misconduct is any act that compromises the integrity of the academic process, and/or has the potential to gain an unfair advantage for a student or group of students in a formal university assessment.
Academic misconduct was previously referred to as ‘unfair means’.
Upholding academic integrity
Academic integrity is a key principle that informs all research, study and assessment at university. There is plenty of guidance and support available to help you to understand the principles of academic integrity, and how you can apply them to guide your work.
The consequences of academic misconduct can be serious. You may face informal action within your school or formal disciplinary action.
However, you will be provided with opportunities on your course to practise the skills necessary to uphold academic integrity and you will receive feedback on your work and be supported to help you address any issues in future assignments.
If you have any questions or concerns about academic integrity or academic misconduct, you should speak to your tutors or a member of staff in your School.
For more information about academic misconduct, visit the Academic Misconduct Policy:
Visit the Academic misconduct policy
How academic misconduct is detected
We use a range of strategies to detect academic misconduct, including Turnitin, which helps detect plagiarism.
Turnitin provides you with an overall ‘similarity’ score. On some assessments, you will be able to view the report prior to submission but on others you won’t be able to see it until after you have submitted the assessment. The score can help to identify possible cases of academic misconduct, but it is always used contextually by the marker to aid their judgement, as some elements of your work such as quotations and references will influence the score without being considered as academic misconduct.
Do not use non-University-approved software to check your work for plagiarism before submission. If you use a non-University plagiarism checker it could collect, share, publish or sell your work without your knowledge or consent. This could lead to a case of academic misconduct.
For more information about Turnitin, visit the Digital Learning Pages:
Visit Digital learning for students: Using Turnitin
Content that you submit for assessment must be your own work. Your School may require you to attach a declaration form to work that you submit.
Should a potential issue in your work be identified, you will be invited to discuss this with your tutor and be provided with the appropriate support to help resolve the issue in future assignments.
Academic integrity and online assessment
Some of your assessments may take place online, but the rules around academic integrity remain the same. Make sure that you understand what is expected of you, and ask your tutors if you are unsure.
You can find advice and guidance to support you in preparing for and undertaking online assessments on StudySkills@Sheffield:
Visit StudySkills@Sheffield How to prepare for an online exam
Generative AI and academic misconduct
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the ability for machines to mimic cognitive functions that usually require human intelligence.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and DALL-E can generate text, images, language translations and programming code.
Google Gemini is the supported GenAI tool at The University of Sheffield.
GenAI can be a powerful tool to support your learning, but it is important to understand the boundaries of fair and ethical use.
To avoid situations where the use of GenAI may be considered academic misconduct, we recommend that you:
- Check your School’s guidance on the use of GenAI and ask your module tutor if you need clarification for an assessment.
- Do not cite anything from GenAI as if it’s an author as it lacks the originality of human thought and scholarship. It's also not a reliable source and the outputs generally can’t be retrieved or reproduced to check your source at a later date.
- Do not copy and paste content from GenAI responses directly into your work, instead use any outputs to inform your ideas and thinking.
- Do not use GenAI to generate or provide data. If AI fabricates data this will be treated in the same way as if you have fabricated data yourself.
- Fully disclose and acknowledge content in your work that is produced by GenAI. Claiming GenAI outputs as your own work is counted as academic misconduct.
You can find examples of types of academic misconduct and how they might relate to the use of GenAI in the section on Types of academic misconduct and how to avoid them [anchor link to following section] below.
If the use of GenAI is permitted in your assessments, you must follow the Generative AI Principles for Students (student login required) and any school-specific requirements.
Visit the Generative AI principles for students
The StudySkills@Sheffield Generative AI hub provides a range of online resources, guidance, and links to workshops on the effective critical use of AI in your studies.
Visit the StudySkills@Sheffield Generative AI Hub
Types of academic misconduct and how to avoid them
- Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when you submit someone else's work or ideas—for example, the work of an expert, lecturer or fellow/former student—without making it clear that it is not your own work. It is sometimes referred to as false authorship.
Plagiarism can be either intentional or unintentional. Intentional plagiarism may involve deliberately copying sections of text from other sources into your work, or purchasing an essay online. Unintentional plagiarism may include forgetting to include references to sources, inappropriate use of Generative AI or misrepresentation of the sources that you have referred to.
You can also self-plagiarise, if you submit your own previously assessed work as part of a new assignment without proper acknowledgement.
For a full list of the different forms of plagiarism and how they relate to academic misconduct, please refer to the Academic Misconduct Policy.
Visit the Academic misconduct policy
To find out more, visit the StudySkills@Sheffield How to avoid plagiarism page.
- Essay or code buying
Essay or code buying is the act of buying or commissioning part, or the whole of a piece of work from another student, an essay-writing or coding website or a GenAI tool, and submitting it as your own. It is sometimes referred to as contract cheating.
You may be encouraged to use, or be approached by, services claiming to help or support your studies at university. Using external websites and submitting third-party content as your own is an extremely serious form of academic misconduct. This can result in disciplinary action and sanctions, including expulsion from the University.
It is illegal to provide and advertise these services to students, and students who use these services are at risk of blackmail, including threats to report them to the University.
You can prevent any issues arising from these sites in a number of ways:
- Be aware of social media posts offering support with essay or code writing. These organisations frequently use social media to target students.
- Always consider if what a company or individual is offering you is in line with the University's academic misconduct policy.
- Ask for advice from staff in your school (for example, your academic tutor) if you are unsure.
Any emails received in relation to these services should be reported to phishing@sheffield.ac.uk
- Coursework sites
Coursework sites encourage students to share course materials such as lecture notes, essays, lab reports and exam questions.
You should avoid the use of Coursework sites as you have no control over how your work or the intellectual property of the University will be used by them.
Be aware that GenAI tools may scrape content directly from prohibited sites without your knowledge.
You can avoid academic misconduct issues arising from coursework sites by taking the following steps:
- Recognise the differences between appropriate opportunities to learn with and from your peers and uploading teaching content and course material via file sharing digital network sites.
- Be wary of social media posts offering these services. These organisations frequently use social media to target students.
- Always consider if what a company or individual is offering you is in line with the University's academic misconduct policy. Speak to staff in your department (for example, your academic tutor) for advice if you are concerned.
- Identify other, appropriate ways to work with other students - for example, forming a study group to help you to understand a particular topic.
- Do not upload or share your notes or work beyond any platforms endorsed by your school.
Any emails received in relation to these services should be reported to phishing@sheffield.ac.uk
For more information, visit the StudySkills@Sheffield coursework sites page.
- Collusion
Collusion can occur when you work with someone else, or a group of others, on a piece of assessed work that you are supposed to be completing by yourself.
Collusion can be a grey area. Discussing course content and debating ideas with friends can be a useful way to improve your understanding and support your learning. However, taking those ideas and using them uncritically yourself is not in keeping with the principles of academic integrity.
Collusion can occur intentionally or unintentionally. For example, if you show or share your assignment to a friend who is finding the assignment challenging, but they then use your work without your knowledge, you may face an accusation of collusion.
If more than one student has independently used similar GenAI outputs within their work then the resulting assignments may appear to be the product of collusion.
You can prevent collusion by following these principles:
- Collaborative learning is something to be encouraged, however, it may not always be appropriate to work collaboratively on assignments.
- Follow the instructions provided for each assessment. If you are unsure, ask your tutor.
- Don't share your answers for any assessment with others, even after the deadline, as some students may have extensions due to extenuating circumstances that you are unaware of.
- Keep social media and other communication apps turned off during any online exams, and keep your mobile devices where they cannot distract you.
- If anyone suggests sharing answers or messaging each other during an online assessment, do not do so.
- If you have formed a study group and created shared notes, do not copy and paste these into any part of your answer. Use your own words to articulate your thoughts and ideas
For more on the benefits of working together and getting the most out of group work, visit the StudySkill@Sheffield How to avoid collusion page.
- Fabrication
Fabrication is when you submit made-up information (such as quotations, lab results, references, or survey findings) as if they are realIf you have any concerns about an assignment, do not make up any information. Contact the module leader and/or academic tutor to discuss the issue as early as possible. Academic work does not always go perfectly and it is often possible to draw meaningful conclusions from limited data, poor-quality data or negative data. Your tutor will be able to advise you on how to adapt your approach accordingly.
GenAI tools are unable to evaluate whether its sources are objectively true or factually accurate, and can give a convincing fabricated response to a question that it has found no answer for. False or misleading outputs are sometimes called ‘hallucinations’.
GenAI should not be used to generate or provide data. If AI fabricates data this will be treated in the same way as if you have fabricated the data yourself.
For more information on research methods, visit the StudySkills@Sheffield Research methods hub.
- Misconduct in exams
Exams are a controlled environment that will include strict rules about what you are and are not allowed to have with you. In an exam context, you will be expected to work alone without any third party assistance, without the use of any notes, books or devices without explicit permission.
The following principles will help you to avoid academic misconduct in an exam:
- Familiarise yourself with any specific regulations that are in place for your exams. You should not have unauthorised materials with you, but equally you don’t want to forget to bring the things that you are allowed to have with you.
- Your work must be your own, so avoid communicating with others in any way during an exam.
- Taking an exam on behalf of someone else is strictly prohibited.
For more information on preparing for your exams, visit the StudySkills@Sheffield Exam revision and exam technique hub:
Visit the StudySkills@Sheffield Exam revision and exam technique hub
What happens when academic misconduct is detected
If the University suspects academic misconduct, they will investigate and take action where appropriate. This is a key principle to help uphold the University’s reputation for academic excellence. The consequences of academic misconduct can be serious. You may face informal action within your school or formal disciplinary action.
However, for minor or first-time mistakes, the focus will be on providing support and guidance to students to help ensure that the key skills are learned to uphold academic integrity in future assignments.
For postgraduate research students, if there are concerns of academic misconduct in a thesis following submission, the viva examination will be postponed pending an investigation and any subsequent disciplinary action.
How to appeal
If you feel that an academic misconduct decision was made incorrectly against you, refer to the appeals and complaints procedures:
Visit Appeals and complaints (for current students)
Support to manage failure
If you have been found to have engaged in academic misconduct, and have failed an assessment as a result of it, the University can support you with:
- The process for resitting/resubmitting assessments
- Preparing for resits
- Support and resources to look after your mental health when things haven’t gone to plan
Visit the StudySkills@Sheffield Managing failure page for more information on the support and resources available to you:
Visit StudySkills@Sheffield Managing failure
Next steps
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