Academic integrity, authorship and plagiarism
The University expects students to complete all assessment with honesty and integrity and to follow our conventions for academic writing (including appropriate referencing of sources) and ethical considerations.
Plagiarism detection software, Turnitin, is in use across the University to detect suspected academic offences. If you don’t meet these expectations, then you may be charged with having committed an academic offence, a matter the University takes very seriously.
Your responsibility
It is your responsibility to make yourself aware of the regulations governing examinations and how to correctly prepare your coursework. An academic offence can take place even if you didn’t mean to commit one, and examples include plagiarism, falsifying data or evidence, and communicating with another candidate in an examination.
If you aren’t sure what the conventions are, particularly in relation to referencing, you should complete the academic integrity course below, read through our guidance and see the information on referencing skills.
Academic integrity course
Course
Academic integrity is about fairness, honesty, and the determination to maintain high academic standards in all the work we do at the University.
This Moodle course is designed to develop your understanding of academic integrity, authorship and plagiarism. If you approach all your coursework with academic integrity, the chances that you will commit an academic offence are greatly reduced.
Please work through this course carefully before you submit any work for assessment. To complete this course, you'll need to read all of the lessons through to the end and complete the final quiz.
Course 2
This course introduces the concept of academic integrity as the values and practices which underpin the academic life of a university. It also looks at the relationships between plagiarism, referencing and academic integrity.
The content was prepared by Maurice Abbott, a lecturer at the University of Essex. Maurice leads the IA199 module, which develops the research and academic skills of students on the Life Sciences Pathways in the Essex Pathways Department.
Guides
Referencing guides
Correct referencing is essential in your assignments at Essex. We provide referencing guides for the main styles used by departments at our University.
Academic offences guidance
You should also make sure you understand our University's policy and advice on academic offences.
If you need any further help and advice, please contact or visit the Student Services Hub who will be happy to assist you.