Copying policy

Passing the work of others off as your own is a gross breach of academic ethics and also of the University's disciplinary rules.

Students who copy in exams or quizzes, from others or from material brought into the exam room will always be referred to the University's disciplinary procedure.

Any student who voluntarily allows their work to be copied will be subject to the same sanctions the student who did the copying. This applies for all forms of assessed work.

If a submitted project, assignment or homework is determined in whole or in a part which may be as small as a single line of code, to be a copy or to have been the source of a copy submitted by another student, the student will automatically fail the course, and may be referred to the University disciplinary procedure. A second offence will always result in referral to the disciplinary procedures of the University. A student who disputes an assessment of a project, assignment or homework as copied may raise the matter with the lecturer for the course. The lecturer's decision will be final on grades. The University's disciplinary procedure will apply to disciplinary offences.

It is inevitable that students will use fragments of code or methods and procedures that have been showed in lectures or in classes. This is, of course, acceptable, where the lecturer or assistant has indicated that this code may be reused and provided that the student acknowledges the source in comments in the code or written answer and. The comments should mark he beginning and end points of any copied material clearly.

All students are warned that, starting this term, software for the detection of copies in submitted assignments will be in use. If the program says you copied, then the provisions below will automatically apply to you. Take this warning seriously!

If a submitted project, assignment or homework is determined to be a copy or to have been the source of a copy submitted by another student, the student will receive a zero mark for that project and the project will be treated as not having been submitted. A second offence, in any course given in the department will result in automatic failure for that course, a third offence will result in referral to the disciplinary procedures of the University.

If a student has deliberately attempted to disguise a copied project, by, for example, systematically changing variable or procedure names in a file copied from someone else's work, this will be treated as deliberate cheating, and may result in immediate referral to the university's disciplinary procedure.

A student who disputes an assessment of a project, assignment or homework as copied may raise the matter with the lecturer for the course. The lecturer may choose to give the student a verbal examination on the disputed work. In any case, the lecturer's decision will be final.

Clarification

It is inevitable that students will use fragments of code or methods and procedures that have been showed in lectures or in classes. This is, of course, acceptable, provided that the student acknowledges the source in comments in the code or written answer and also in the report.

Working together and helping one another to overcome problems is encouraged. There is a clear and readily understandable difference between this and a group of students producing a single answer to a problem. The latter will be penalised as copying.

If you ever have the slightest doubt whether your work is sufficiently original, or might risk being assessed as a copy, you should consult the assistant or lecturer for the course, showing them your work and any sources you have used, before submitting the work.