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 are 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 and keeping 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 using 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 is important to carefully review the instructions given to you by your lecturers and follow these accurately as there might be different guidelines to follow depending on whether the exam is in person, online, open or closed book.

You must not bring anything into the exam which is not permitted, and must work by yourself unless explicitly told to work together. It is not ok to copy and paste directly from a website into your answers for an open book exam. You should always put things 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

Is it important you note citation and referencing details as you are studying. 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 keep and 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 help your learning. However, there are times when it is 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 done individually.

Accurate representation of data

When presenting research, lab, or practical work data, it is important that you express these honestly and accurately, and do not modify or falsify data to fit your hypothesis. It is never ok to invent data or survey results. If your research is not giving 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, tips and tricks to support you in developing these key skills, including