Maintaining integrity

Learn about academic integrity, the difference between collaboration and collusion, why you need to reference, and what to know before each exam.

Referencing and citation

Whenever you're referring to someone else's ideas, images, code, audio, text, or other work, you need to acknowledge this through referencing. There are lots of different styles of referencing and it is important to use the right one. Check with your lecturer or tutor on what kind of referencing system you need to use. For more help on formatting references, see the library guide.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing allows you to integrate the ideas of others into your writing, without relying too much on quotes. It also shows that you have really understood what the original author was saying.

Paraphrasing involves rewriting text into your own words through synonyms, changing the word order, voice, or the grammatical structure of sentences while keeping the meaning the same, and citing the author to show who the idea belongs to.

Find out more about paraphrasing support (PDF).

Exam work

It's important to carefully review the instructions given to you by your lecturers and follow them accurately, as guidelines may differ depending on whether your exam is in person, online, open or closed book.

You must not bring any prohibited items into the exam room, and you must work independently unless you have been explicitly instructed to work with others. It's not okay to copy and paste directly from a website into your answers for an open book exam. You should always put answers into your own words, or show you are quoting a source.

If you're sitting an in-person exam, make sure you also familiarize yourself with the exam rules.

Note taking

It's important to note your citation and referencing details as you study. This makes it clear where an idea or quote has come from so you won’t have to look for it later. There are a number of tools available to help you organise your references. The University provides free access to Endnote through Digital Solutions.

Understanding collaboration and collusion

Sharing ideas with your classmates and working together to understand course material can be useful, and can also help your learning. However, there are times when it's not appropriate to work with other students, and it is important to know the difference between collaboration and collusion.

Collaboration means working together to understand course materials. Collusion happens when you work with someone else on a piece of work which is meant to be completed individually.

Accurate representation of data

When presenting research, lab, or practical work data, it's important that you express these honestly and accurately, and do not modify or falsify data to fit your hypothesis. It's never okay to invent data or survey results. If your research is not providing you the results you wanted, take the opportunity to explain why instead.

Study skills

Developing and maintaining good study skills and habits will help keep you on top of your studies. Student Learning has a number of workshops, resources, and tips and tricks to support you in developing these key skills, including: