How is Quoting my Own Essay Plagiarism? A Guide to Academic Misconduct in the UK for International Students

If you’re an international student headed to the UK for your Masters, it’s important to familiarise yourself with how your university will formally assess your work. Academic misconduct (which is essentially university jargon for ‘cheating’) is an important aspect of this.

We know that you won’t be going into your Masters or with the purpose of cheating or misleading anyone, but it can sometimes be as simple as incorrect footnotes, reusing parts of a previously submitted essay or skewing data to fit your theory.

In this guide, we’ll cover what counts as academic misconduct, its possible consequences, and how to avoid it.

What is academic misconduct?

In short, academic misconduct is any attempt to gain an unfair advantage over other students. Different universities will have varying policies on what exactly constitutes academic misconduct, so be sure to read up on them, but it will generally fall into the following categories:

#1 Plagarism

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as your own. This could be words, ideas, data or media such as illustrations. Of course, you will often reference material produced by others in your own work – but it’s important to properly acknowledge them.

It’s obvious that copying a chunk of someone else’s text verbatim (without quotation marks or a proper reference!) would constitute plagiarism. Most universities have software to detect this. However, plagiarism can also be more subtle. For example, paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without due acknowledgement could create the impression that the argument is entirely your own.

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. A student may accidentally plagiarise simply by forgetting to include a reference, or by referencing incorrectly. This is why it’s important to have a firm grasp of the referencing system used by your university. In some instances, you’ll be able to run your essays through the software before submitting them so you can get an idea of if there’s anything you need to address or have missed.

#2 Self-plagarism

‘Self-plagiarism’ may sound like an oxymoron – but plagiarising yourself can be just as serious as plagiarising someone else! This means that you recycle a substantial portion of a previous assignment when formally submitting a new piece of work.

For example, if you received a high mark for a particular essay, you might think it’s a safe bet to copy and paste a couple of winning paragraphs into your final dissertation. Not so fast – this would almost definitely count as self-plagiarism. You can also self-plagiarise work that you have published independently or submitted for a previous degree.

The rules around self-plagiarism can be complicated and will differ between universities, departments and even assignments. You may sometimes be expressly permitted to reuse earlier work, or you may be assigned a piece of work that is ‘based’ on a previous one. If you’re not sure, consult your tutor.

#3 Collusion

This means that you work with another student on an assignment that was supposed to be completed independently. Obviously, you’re encouraged to talk to friends and fellow course mates about your degree – but there is a difference between this (seen as collaboration) and collusion.

For example, creating a study group to help understand a particular topic is working collaboratively. But if the purpose of the study group is to work together on an independent assignment by sharing answers, this could be seen as collusion.

Collusion could also be using used another student’s work or allowing someone else to use yours.

#4 Examination misconduct

Probably the most obvious form of academic misconduct is cheating in an examination. This should be fairly self-explanatory (and will be clearly communicated by your university) but could include impersonating another student, bringing unauthorised materials into the exam hall, or simply sneaking a look at your neighbour’s paper.

#5 Contract cheating

Contract cheating is one of the most serious forms of academic misconduct. This means that you pay a third party to complete all or part of an assignment for you. Unscrupulous ‘essay mills’, which offer to complete school or university assignments in exchange for money, were made illegal by the UK Government in 2021. Even if you see an advert or website where they claim to provide “legitimate academic writing support for students”, do not use them.

#6 Fabrication or falsification of data

Making up or manipulating data and reporting it in a formal assessment is a form of academic misconduct. This could mean that you simply invent results of an experiment you’ve not carried out, or that you skew data you have collected – for example by omitting results that do not support your hypothesis.

What are the consequences of academic misconduct?

If you’re suspected of academic misconduct, your university will usually carry out an investigation. Most universities have a committee in charge of investigating and penalising academic misconduct.

You may be called into a meeting with the committee or asked to prepare a written statement of events. Occasionally, you may be suspended from your programme while the case is investigated. Depending on the severity of the misconduct, you could face a range of penalties including:

• Having your mark for the individual assignment reduced
• Being asked to resubmit the assignment
• Failing the entire module
• In very serious instances, being asked to leave the university

If you are receiving funding from an external organisation such as a UK Research Council, your university may inform them. This could result in your funding being withdrawn.

It’s worth noting that even if the misconduct you’ve committed is found to be unintentional, this won’t necessarily result in a less severe penalty – hence why it’s so important to familiarise yourself with your university’s academic code of conduct.

How can you avoid academic misconduct?

Of course, the easiest way to ensure you’ll never have to face penalties for academic misconduct is avoiding it in the first place! Here are some tips to help you steer clear of unintentional wrongdoing:

• Get familiar with your university’s referencing system: Referencing can be complicated, especially if you’re not used to the conventions used by your university. There are several different styles used in the UK, including the Modern Languages Association (MLA) system, the Harvard system and the American Psychological Association (APA) system. Your department will specify which one they want you to use. You should be able to get hold of a style guide for each of these systems from your library or university bookshop. It’s worth doing some practice to build your confidence before you start your assignments.
• Keep track of sources as you go: Nothing is more stressful (or puts you at more risk of unintentional plagiarism) than scrambling to find references for your work after completing an assignment. Make sure you write down where you found pieces of information or quotations as and when you find them. This way, there is less chance you’ll reference something incorrectly (or forget entirely!).
• Read your assessment brief carefully: Make sure you completely understand what is expected from you before you start working on an assignment. Should you be working completely independently, or in a group? Does the assignment link back to a previous one? If you’re clear in the beginning, it’s less likely you’ll fall prey to unintentional issues.
• Don’t leave everything to the last minute: It may seem obvious, but you’ll feel far less tempted to take shortcuts if you allow yourself plenty of time to complete an assignment properly. If you do find yourself cut short, it’s much better to submit what you can manage independently than to risk being penalised for academic misconduct. If there are extenuating circumstances that are putting you in danger of missing a deadline, reach out to a tutor or university support service for advice. You may be able to apply for an extension.
• Get support if you need it: There’s usually someone in the library who can help you if you’re struggling with getting the formatting of your references right such as an Academic Liaison Librarian. They’ll be able to help you write references in the correct format as well as how to find any missing information for a source.