This page is currently under construction. If you require immediate guidance take a look at our Guide to Academic Misconduct, and speak with us at the Advice Service by sending us an email to: advice@brunel.ac.uk or leave a voicemail on 01895 269169
What is academic misconduct?
Academic Misconduct is where the University thinks you have breached Senate Regulation 6, and it is likely there will be an investigation into your conduct following the Academic Misconduct Procedure.
This applies to all students, irrespective of your mode or place of study and course.
The information on this page is largely drawn from the Academic Misconduct Procedure. If you would like to find out more about the processes take a look at the document linked above.
Types of Academic Misconduct
The complete list of offences is available in Senate Regulation 6. Below, are the most common and their definitions:
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Plagiarism = Knowing or unknowing presentation of work or ideas without acknowledging the source, including your own work from a previous assignment .
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Cheating = Attempting to or acting dishonestly or unfairly to gain an academic advantage.
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Contract cheating = Obtaining or purchasing work from another person or organisation and submitting it as one’s own for assessment.
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Collusion = Helping another student gain an unfair academic advantage through unauthorised collaboration or allowing your work to be copied may result in penalties for all involved.
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Falsification = Submitting false extenuating circumstances or fake evidence, including for academic appeals.
Notification of Misconduct
A concern may arise when your work is being marked, when you are monitored in an examination or when you submit evidence for an academic process, and it can take several weeks before you are notified.
Raising conerns
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A marker, module lead or invigilator may raise a concern and forward it to the Deputy Dean (Academic Affairs)
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The Deputy Dean will decide whether the concern falls within the scope of the Academic Misconduct Procedure (and SR6).
URKUND is an automatic system used by the University that detects and prevents plagiarism in any language. It compares your work with other sources and creates an originality report, highlighting matching text and sources which are color-coded to show the percentage similarity.
If you receive a URKUND report for plagiarism allegations, contact your personal tutor or speak to us if you’re unsure about the report's meaning.
Notice of Investigation
An investigating officer will be appointed to your case. To avoid prejudice and bias, they will not be someone from your department.
At the start of the investigation, you will receive an email usually titled "Notice of Investigation Letter" it will:
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Inform you a concern has been raised, state the purpose of investigation, and if you do not engage in the process, e.g., attending meetings when requested, the investigation may continue in your absence.
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Request the written, oral and other information from relevant sources.
You will have at least 5 working days’ notice of any meetings, and you can be accompanied to and/or represented at the meeting(s).
Investigation Process
To understand what has happened there will usually be an investigation process which will allow the University make an informed evaluation of your circumstances, academic knowledge and evidence presented.
Depending on your case's complexity, it can take 30 – 90 days to receive an outcome. If your case is considered serious, it may be referred to a Misconduct Panel Hearing which can lead to a lengthier investigation process.
Investigation Meeting
The Investigating Officer will ask to meet with you to understand what has happened in your case. Their role is to gather information from you to produce a report for your College to review. They do not make the final decision on your academic misconduct investigation.
During the meeting, you will be:
After the meeting, the investigating officer will:
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Provide you with a copy of the notes taken. If you are not satisfied, you should email back any amendments you will like them to apply.
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Write a final report which will then be sent off to your College for consideration.
They may invite you to provide a written response and present any supporting information or evidence. You will normally get 5 working days from the date of the letter/email to submit your response.
If you would like some support writing your statement - get in touch with us at the Advice Service and email advice@brunel.ac.uk
Next Steps
Once the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs has received the Investigating Officer’s report, they will, normally within 5 working days, decide on the next steps in your case.
If they choose to dismiss your case, there will be no further action. Otherwise, they can:
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Determine an outcome – see ‘Receiving an Outcome’ below
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Refer your case back to the Investigating Officer for further investigation.
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Refer your case to the Clerk to the MPS board
Clerk to the Misconduct Board
At this stage, the Clerk to the Misconduct Board will evaluate how serious your case is.
Less serious e.g., a first offence, they will refer the concern for consideration by the Vice-Chancellor’s Representative (VCR).
More serious e.g., second offence, they will refer the concern for consideration at an Academic Misconduct Panel hearing or back to the Deputy Dean (Academic Affairs) for further investigation.
Vice-Chancellor's Representative
If it is a less serious offence, your case will be referred to the VCR for review at University level.You will have 5 working days to respond in writing to any requests for final statements and supporting evidence.
If you present new information or evidence, you will need to explain why you did not present this earlier in the investigation. If not, you should ask the VCR to consider all previous statements as your final statement.
They may choose to dismiss your case and there will be no further action. Otherwise, they can:
Receiving an Outcome
After your case has been considered by the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs, VCR or Academic Misconduct Panel, the relevant parties will decide an outcome.
If the decision is to dismiss your case, there will be no further action and your work will be marked as normal. If not, they may decide one of the following:
One or more of the allegations has been proven, and a penalty may be applied – see drop downs below.
It is a case of poor academic practice*
The case should be referred to an earlier stage of the procedure
The case should be considered under another University regulation or procedure.
*Poor academic practice = Unintentional and inadequate academic practice rather than plagiarism; if this is the decision, your work should be marked or graded in the normal way.
Penalties
Penalties depend on the severity of offences and whether you have a history of academic misconduct. The deciding parties will take extenuating circumstances into account to apply an appropriate penalty.
Generally, if it is your first offence you may receive:
“A mark of zero/grade F is assigned to the piece of work and to the associated assessment block; reassessment will be permitted (or further attempt in the case of an offence during reassessment), for a maximum grade of D- in the assessment block.”
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Your College decides if you can re-sit and you should contact them to find out when they may occur
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If you are re-sitting, you must earn the required number of credits to achieve your registered award.
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The affected assessment block will not contribute to your GPA for your degree classification.
More serious cases like contract cheating or a second offence may receive the following:
“The student will be expelled from the University and barred from re-entry. A mark of zero/grade of F will be assigned to the piece of work in question and to the associated assessment block.”
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The Panel will decide if you can retain previously gained credits
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If credits are retained, you may be awarded an intermediate award.
This means you are temporarily/permanently suspended from your studies, including placement, exams, results, progression, and re-enrolment; including the use of University services, facilities, entering campus, and restricting access to your Brunel computer account.
If you need to come on to campus, you will need to ask for permission from the Secretary to the Misconduct and Professional Suitability Board. Note, if you breach the suspension or exclusion rules, there will be further disciplinary action.
See Appendix A - Academic Misconduct Procedure for all possible penalties.
Appealing your Outcome
If you are dissatisfied with your case outcome you can appeal, but you will need valid grounds such as:
there is new evidence important to the case which the student can demonstrate was for good reason not previously available
there is evidence of a procedural irregularity, i.e. that some rules or procedures were not applied correctly;
there is evidence of prejudice or bias on part of the decision- maker or decision-making body;
the decision is unreasonable and/or the sanction or outcome disproportionate
If you’re unsure whether you have grounds to appeal; contact the Advice Service and we can help you decide whether appealing is a realistic option.
How to appeal
Complete the Academic Misconduct Appeal Form and send it to conduct@brunel.ac.uk within 10 working days of receiving your outcome. We can proofread your draft before submission, but make sure you do not miss the appeal deadline.
It is best to include evidence in your appeal. If there were extenuating circumstances that affected your ability to complete your work, try to obtain an official letter from a third party, e.g., a doctor or counsellor; including a diagnosis, affected time, severity, and impact.
Once submitted, the Head of Student Affairs and Casework will inform you of their decision within 10 working days. If they decide:
To dismiss the appeal, then the original outcome will hold
You have valid grounds, then a Review Panel will be arranged within 10 working days to review your appeal. It will be two senior University officers independent from the original case, and a secretary from the OSCAA team, who will decide whether to dismiss or uphold the appeal in whole or in part.
OIA
If your appeal has been rejected, and/or all internal procedures have been completed, you will receive a Completion of Procedures (COP) Letter. At this stage, if you are still dissatisfied with the outcome, you can request the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE) to review your case.
The OIA is an independent body set up to review student complaints about higher education providers for free. You have 12 months from the date you receive your COP letter to submit your case to the OIA.
To find out more, take a look at OIA - Complaints, or get in touch with us at the Advice Service.
Our role
The Advice Service can help you navigate through the Academic Misconduct process. We can talk you through the next steps, answer any questions you may have, attend meetings with you and provide feedback on letters, statements and evidence before you submit them.
However, we cannot:
Write or submit your statement for you.
Make any decisions about your academic misconduct case.
Ask for updates on your behalf, unless you have already contacted the relevant team
Our advice is offerred in good faith and on the basis of the information you provide us.
As such, you are responsible for:
Communicating with us clearly, in a timely-manner and with accurate information
Taking ownership of your actions and decisions
Engaging with the misconduct process, Conduct team and your college
Exercising patience and avoid sending duplicate emails to different members of staff as this can cause delays.