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CAW LibGuides: Glossary Terms for Types of Academic Misconduct

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Glossary Terms for Types of Academic Misconduct

This resource contains definitions of different types of academic misconduct. These need to be avoided in order to succeed in your studies at university.  

Collusion​

When two or more students work together in preparation and production of work which is submitted individually. ​

  • Avoid sharing your work with other students or asking others to share their work with you. If you are struggling with an assignment, the University has many services that can help you. ​

Contract cheating​

Where a student employs a third party to complete any assessed work and submits it as if it were completed by them​​​. ​

  • Under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, operating or advertising contract cheating is illegal in England. These companies operate outside of the law, so don't be tempted to make contact or engage in any way with them.
  • Contract cheating companies (aka essay mills) have been known to use blackmail against students who have used their services. If you are contacted by someone offering to complete your assignment in exchange for payment, report them to: integritythreats@coventry.ac.uk ​

Copyright breach

Using or sharing copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright owner.

  • Don't be tempted to share any materials you are given as part of your studies or your own work with anyone else, especially a website that shares materials, even/especially if they offer money. These materials are not your copyright, they belong to the University, and so you are not free to upload or share with anyone.​

Data fabrication​

Inventing, changing or borrowing data such as statistics and lab results. ​

  • You may need to collect data (e.g. statistics, experiment results, survey responses) for a project. Avoid changing, hiding or faking data as this is considered misconduct. 

Plagiarism ​

The act of using other people’s words, ideas, or images as if they are your own​.

  • Intentional and unintentional plagiarism are both considered to be misconduct at Coventry University, and you can be penalised for both.
  • Keeping good notes and following your referencing guide carefully can help you avoid this.

Self-plagiarism ​

Reusing significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of your own work without acknowledging that you are doing so or without citing the original work, and without the written authorisation of the module leader.​

This includes:​

  • portions of undergraduate work reused for a later module on the same course, or for a new postgraduate course​
  • parts of a failed assignment resubmitted for a later attempt​

​There are exceptions – you must have written permission from a module leader to be able to use work you have already had graded.​

References

To cite this resource 

Coventry University. (2023). Glossary terms for types of academic misconduct.  [Resource]. Centre for Academic Writing. 

Further Support

If you feel that you are struggling with understanding how to avoid academic misconduct, or would like additional guidance, look into further support as soon as you can. 

CAW offers writing development workshops across all genres of academic writing, including workshops on: Academic Integrity: A Fundamental Introduction; Using Sources Effectively: Avoiding plagiarism; and  Proof-reading: Strategies too to improve the quality of your writing.