Unfair means, cheating and plagiarism

Information about unfair means, cheating and plagiarism in University assessments and exams.

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What is unfair means?

In short, unfair means refers to cheating. It involves any attempt by a student to

  • gain unfair advantage over another student in the completion of an assessment or exam, or
  • assist someone else in gaining an unfair advantage

Consequences

The consequence of unfair means can be serious. You may face action by your academic department or formal disciplinary action. You can find the Regulations relating to the Discipline of Students in the University Calendar. 

There is lots of guidance and support available to help you to understand what different forms of unfair means are, and how you can prevent them from occurring.  If you are unsure, speak to your tutors or a member of staff in your department. 

How we detect it

We use a range of strategies to detect unfair means, including Turnitin, which helps detect plagiarism. 

You should only use University-approved software. If you use a non-University plagiarism checker it might collect, share, publish or sell your work without your knowledge or consent. Your work may then be used by other students to plagiarise, which may result in disciplinary action and sanctions in line with the Student Discipline Regulations.

You're required to declare that all work submitted is entirely your own. Your department may require you to attach a declaration form to work that you submit.

Unfair means and online assessment

Some of your assessments may take place online, but the rules around unfair means do not change. Make sure that you understand what is expected of you, and ask your tutors if you are unsure.

You can access further guidance on preparing for and undertaking different forms of online assessment within StudySkills@Sheffield.

Artificial Intelligence and unfair means 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the ability for machines to mimic cognitive functions that usually require human intelligence. 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and DALL-E can generate text, images, language translations and programming code.  

Google Gemini is the supported Gen AI tool at The University of Sheffield.

GenAI has the potential to enhance your learning, and support is available to develop this skill ethically and responsibly during your studies.

If the use of GenAI is permitted in your assessments, you must follow the Generative AI Principles for Students (student login required) and any school-specific requirements.

To prevent situations where the use of GenAI may be considered unfair means, we recommend that you:

  • Check your School’s guidance on the use of GenAI and ask your module tutor if you need clarification for an assessment.
  • Do not cite anything from GenAI as if it’s an author - it’s not a reliable source and the outputs generally can’t be retrieved or reproduced to check your source at a later date.
  • Do not copy and paste content from GenAI responses directly into your work, instead use any outputs to inform your ideas and thinking.
  • Fully disclose and acknowledge content in your work that is produced by GenAI.  Claiming GenAI outputs as your own work is counted as unfair means.

Our Generative AI hub provides a range of online resources, guidance, and links to workshops on the effective critical use of AI in your studies.

The next section provides examples of when the use of GenAI may be considered unfair means.

Types of unfair means and how you can prevent them

Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when you submit someone else's work or ideas - eg the work of an expert, lecturer or fellow/former student - without making it clear that it is not your own work. Plagiarism can be committed knowingly or accidentally.

If you use GenAI responses as if they’re your own work, you may also be plagiarising work and ideas that the GenAI software has copied without crediting the original author.

You can also self-plagiarise, if you submit your own previously assessed work as part of a new assignment without proper acknowledgement.

You can prevent plagiarism by applying some of the following good practice:

See the Library's tutorial on 'Understanding Plagiarism' to find out more. 

Essay or code buying

This is when you buy or commission part of, or the whole of a piece of work from another student, an essay-writing or coding website, or a GenAI tool, and submit it as your own. 

You may be encouraged to use, or be approached by these services claiming to help or support your studies at the University. Using these websites and submitting it as your own work is an extremely serious form of unfair means. This can result in disciplinary action and sanctions, including expulsion from the University, in line with the Student Discipline Regulations.

It is illegal to provide and advertise these services to students, and students who use these services are at risk of blackmail, including threats to report them to the University.

You can prevent any issues arising from these sites in a number of ways:

  • Be aware of social media posts offering support with essay or code writing. These organisations frequently use social media to target students.
  • Always consider if what a company or individual is offering you is in line with the University's unfair means policy. Speak to staff in your department (for example, your academic tutor) for advice if you are unsure.

Any email received in relation to these services should be reported to phishing@sheffield.ac.uk

If you're concerned about completing your assignments and/or meeting deadlines, do not use essay or code buying sites or GenAI software - speak to your department and access additional support from services such as:

  • The Library - The University Library provides a wide range of resources to help you improve your skills in research and critical thinking.
  • 301 Academic Skills Centre - The 301 Academic Skills Centre provides workshops, one-to-one appointments and online resources for study skills, maths and statistics.
  • English Language Teaching Centre - The ELTC offers a wide variety of services and resources to improve your academic literacy (language and skills) needed for success at university.
Coursework sites

These sites encourage students to share course materials such as lecture notes, essays, lab reports and exam questions.

The University does not support the use of these sites and may take disciplinary action in line with the Student Discipline Regulations.

Be mindful that GenAI tools may be taking content directly from these prohibited sites without you knowing.

You can access additional guidance and support in relation to coursework sites. This includes a number of ways in which you can avoid unfair means issues arising from these sites, including:

  • Recognise the differences between appropriate opportunities to learn with and from your peers and uploading teaching content and course material via file sharing digital network sites.
  • Be aware of social media posts offering these services. These organisations frequently use social media to target students.
  • Always consider if what a company or individual is offering you is in line with the University's unfair means policy. Speak to staff in your department (for example, your academic tutor) for advice if you are concerned.
  • Identify other, appropriate ways to work with other students - for example, forming a study group to help you to understand a particular topic.
  • Do not upload or share your notes or work beyond any platforms endorsed by your department

Any email received in relation to these services should be reported to phishing@sheffield.ac.uk

For more information on peer-to-peer learning, visit the 301 peer learning pages. This includes a guide on how to set up your own study group.

Collusion

Collusion can occur when you work with someone else, or a group of others, on a piece of assessed work that you are supposed to be completing by yourself. 

Collusion can occur with or without your knowledge: you may offer your assignment to a friend who is finding the assignment challenging, but if they then use your work, you may also be found to have used collusion.

If more than one student has been independently using GenAI responses within their work and these are similar, this could look like collusion.

Discussing course content with friends can be a useful way to improve your understanding and support your learning - however, there is a line between working collaboratively and collusion.

You can prevent collusion by following these principles:

  • Collaborative learning is something to be encouraged, however, it may not always be appropriate to work collaboratively on assignments. 
  • Follow the instructions provided for each assessment. If you are unsure, ask your tutor.
  • Don't share your answers for any assessment with others, even after the deadline, as some students may have extensions due to extenuating circumstances that you are unaware of.
  • Keep social media and other communication apps turned off during any online exams, and keep your mobile devices where they cannot distract you.
  • If anyone suggests sharing answers or messaging each other during an online assessment, do not do so. 
  • If you have formed a study group and created shared notes, do not copy and paste these into any part of your answer. Use your own words to articulate your thoughts and ideas 
Fabrication

Fabrication is when you submit made-up information (such as quotes, lab results or survey findings that are untrue).

GenAI doesn’t have the capacity to judge whether its sources are objectively true or accurate, and can give a convincing fabricated response to a question that it has found no answer for - this is sometimes called AI ‘hallucination’.

If you have any concerns about an assignment, do not make up any information. Contact the module leader and/or academic tutor to discuss your concerns as soon as possible - the sooner you make contact, the more likely it is you will be able to access the relevant guidance and support. 

You can also make use of the support offered by:

  • The Library - The University Library provides a wide range of resources to help you improve your skills in research and critical thinking.
  • 301 Academic Skills Centre - The 301 Academic Skills Centre provides workshops, one-to-one appointments and online resources for study skills, maths and statistics.
  • English Language Teaching Centre - The ELTC offers a wide variety of services and resources to improve your academic literacy (language and skills) needed for success at university.

What happens when unfair means are detected

If the University suspects unfair means, they will investigate and take action where appropriate. 

For postgraduate research students, if there are concerns that unfair means has been used in a thesis following submission, the viva examination will be postponed pending an investigation and any subsequent disciplinary action. 

Guidance for students where concerns are raised about their use of unfair means

How to appeal

If you feel that an unfair means decision was made incorrectly against you, refer to our complaints and appeals procedures.

Support to manage failure

If you have been found to have used unfair means, and have failed an assessment as a result of it, the University can support you with:

  • The process for resitting/resubmitting assessments
  • Preparing for resits
  • Support and resources to look after your mental health when things haven’t gone to plan

Our Managing failure web page has more information on the support and resources available to you.

Related information

Information on copyright

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