The most common kinds of Academic Misconduct are:

• Plagiarism: Including copying from authors, not using quotation marks or taking sections from other people's work and altering it to make it look like your own.
• Self-Plagiarism: using parts of an assignment or other piece of work that you have previously submitted for assessment.
• Collusion: unauthorised collaboration with another student(s), including copying from other students or allowing your work to be copied.
• Attempting to gain unfair advantage: for example, paying someone to do your work, falsifying data and taking unauthorised material into an exam.

Accusations of Academic Misconduct may also be of ghosting, duplication, unethical behaviour, impersonation and falsification or fabrication of results.

It can be hard to understand all the rules, especially if you're new to higher education or new to the UK education system.

If you are ever unsure, ask a University staff member such as your Personal Tutor or Course Leader.

You can check your similarity report on Turnitin before the deadline. This is a good way to avoid making mistakes relating to poor paraphrasing or referencing issues. It is a good idea to leave some time before the deadline to upload your work and check this so you can make any changed if necessary.

There is no such thing as a ‘good’ similarity report, but look out for things like a high similarity to one source, blocks of highlighted text or an overall high similarity.

You can also seek support from Library services, such as with referencing and essay writing.

If are accused of Academic Misconduct this means that the University suspects that there may have been poor academic practice or academic misconduct involved in a piece of your work.

At Brighton, there are two types of meetings to investigate allegations of Academic Misconduct, an Academic Practice Review (APR) and an Academic Misconduct Panel (AMP).

If you have been accused of Academic Misconduct, you will be invited to one of these meetings, usually by receiving a letter or email telling you which kind of meeting you have been invited to, when and where this will take place. You should receive this at least 5 working days before the meeting is due to take place. You should also be provided with evidence of the allegation, such as a TurnitIn report.

When you receive your invitation, you will need to respond to let your school know if you can attend the meeting. You should always try to attend the meeting, if you really can’t attend then you should let the University know your reasons and ask if it can be rescheduled. You will need a valid reason for not being able to attend. If there is no opportunity to attend you should submit a statement in advance of the meeting, a decision will be made in your absence.

If you do not attend an Academic Practice Review without reasonable explanation, you will most likely be referred to a more serious Academic Misconduct Panel. If you do not attend an Academic Misconduct Panel without reasonable explanation then the meeting will go ahead without you, if you do not submit a statement then the panel will have limited information on which to base their decision and your voice won’t be heard.

We advise getting in touch if you receive an invitation to a meeting. You can find out how to access the service on this page. We advise sending us a copy of your invitation letter and all attachments you have received as soon as you can. This will help us to know more about your situation and tailor our advice to you.

You should receive some evidence of the allegation with your invitation email, for example your piece of work with the TurnitIn report attached. We advise spending some time familiarising yourself with the piece of work in question and why you may have been accused. You should receive an Academic Misconduct Report which gives some insight into the allegation, if you do not receive this then let us know and we can request this for you.

Ahead of the scheduled meeting with your School you can prepare a personal statement addressed to the panel. Whilst this is not compulsory, it is a good way to explain what has happened, what has potentially led to the allegation and whether you have any additional circumstances that have impacted on you. You can share this with the panel prior to the meeting. If you are feeling worried or concerned about being able to speak clearly or cover everything you wish to convey in the meeting, then this is a good option for you. You can send your statement to us to read over if you would like some advice or guidance on what to include, and then you can email it to the person who first invited you to the meeting.

Typically this meeting is for students facing their first charge of misconduct and in their first year of study at the University. An APR relates to allegations of poor practice such as a lack of understanding of academic protocols and referencing.

Your Head of School (or a nominee) will meet with you to ensure that appropriate guidance is given on how to avoid the problem in the future. You will normally be given a copy of or allowed to view any work or evidence to be considered at the meeting.

The possible outcomes of an Academic Practice Review are:

• The allegation is dismissed, and there is no further action taken, no record is placed on your file.
• The allegation is upheld. This can mean:
  • Your work will receive a mark based on the valid parts of your work.
  • The allegation will remain on your file for the rest of your course and will be taken into consideration if there are any future allegations.
  • The allegation is referred up to an Academic Misconduct Panel.

An AMP is for more serious allegations and in most instances, students will not be new to higher education. This meeting will normally be attended by a panel of three academic staff (Chair of the meeting and two panel members who have not taught you). The staff member who raised the allegation will also be there to present their concerns to the panel. Typically, a member of staff will also be there to take minutes.

During the meeting the marker will present their concerns and will outline the facts and evidence which has led them to make the allegation. You will then be able to present your response, you can also read out any statement you have prepared if you have not sent it before the meeting. The panel will also ask you some questions about the allegation to get a better understanding of what may have happened.

The outcome will be given to you either after the panel has made a decision in the meeting, or by email. The possible outcomes of an AMP are:

• The allegation is dismissed, and no further action is taken.
• The allegation is upheld, and a penalty will be applied. Penalties can be:
  • Your work will receive a mark based on the merits of the non-plagiarised parts of your work. You are awarded a mark of zero for the piece of work in question and either your work will be referred (i.e. failed and no cap placed on any further submission) or deferred (i.e. failed and a cap placed on any further submission).
  • You are failed for the module. The implications of this vary depending on the module. Check your course handbook for more information.
  • No opportunity to resubmit. In some cases this could affect your progression for the award you are eligible to receive.
  • In extreme cases, the denial of an award. You will not receive any qualification from the University.

You can appeal against the decision of an Academic Misconduct Panel (AMP), but only on these grounds:

• There is new evidence that you were unable to share before.
• That the facts laid out in your panel did not warrant the outcome that there was academic misconduct.
• That the penalty you received was unreasonable or too harsh.

You have 10 working days from the date you received your AMP outcome to appeal, you can do this by writing to the Registrar and Secretary (registrar@brighton.ac.uk) and explaining what grounds you have.

If your appeal is upheld, then you will be given a fresh panel and another opportunity to present your case.

The BSU Support service is independent from the University and we can:

• Explain the academic misconduct regulations and process.
• Advise you on responding to the allegations.
• Advise on how to put together a statement to respond to the allegations.
• Accompany you to your Academic Practice Review or Panel.
• Provide ongoing advice throughout the process.

We advise you get in touch with us as soon as you are notified about your meeting. You can find out how to access the service on this page.

It is important you send us your invitation email so that we can advise you more specifically about your case.

Skills Hub – The Skills Hub has a range of study skills guides and online resources such as, understanding and avoiding plagiarising and referencing.

Library – Each campus has a library and library staff that you can book one to one support with to help you get the most out of the library resources.

Make the most of your studies – Information about personal tutors, accessing information and Hardware and Software.

You can find out how to access our service on this page.