Academic Integrity

This meeting is the first stage in the Academic Integrity process. This discussion is an opportunity for the University to raise the areas of concern with you, and equally, for you to explain how you put your piece of work together. You can be accompanied by a friend or member of the Students’ Union Advice team if you wish.

They may ask you questions such as your understanding of academic misconduct, how you put your work together, and if you have any drafts of your work that you can show to the panel.

If your work has been suspected of including material from a generative AI, such as Chat GPT, then the University may wish to ask you questions on the work, your understanding on the work and perhaps your understanding of the module material to test your understanding, in a viva-style meeting.

How can I prepare for the interview?

Read the University Regulations for Academic Integrity which can be found on the OSCAR webpages of the University website here. These Regulations explain the different stages of the process and what the outcomes of the interview can be.

You may wish to consider the following, in order to prepare you:

• Read through your TurnitIn report and try to identify where the problem might be
• Look at the other evidence that you have been given. For example, you might have another students’ work to compare yours to, or you might have Chat GPT evidence to compare your work to, for specific phrases or concerns.
• Look at the Academic Skills and Development webpage to help you understand more about plagiarism and how to avoid it – https://www.surrey.ac.uk/academic-skills-and-development ​We would strongly advise that you make an appointment with them before your interview to see where you have gone wrong, this will help you explain your work in the interview.

• Look back at sources you used and gather any notes/draft versions you have for the piece of work to be discussed as you may be asked to explain how you produced your work. Having evidence of how you put the work together will help you
• If you have had ‘special circumstances’ at the time of your submission, you will need to submit evidence for this. The evidence needed is defined in the Regulations. If you are unsure if you have ‘special circumstances’ then our advisors are happy to discuss this with you.

Remember that you have to be honest with the University. Dishonesty could lead to further action such as a disciplinary with the University.

What are ‘Special Circumstances’?

Special Circumstances are proven circumstances which indicate that at the time of submission you were unable to make a rational decision in relation to completing or submitting the work. You must have evidence to demonstrate your special circumstances, usually from a medical professional and this evidence should be submitted to the faculty before your meeting. The evidence must say the dates that you were impacted and, indicate that you were impacted at the time of submission or when producing the work.

If you do not have the evidence for your meeting, you may submit evidence up to 5 University working days after your meeting. Or, you can ask for a postponement if needed however, a postponement may mean that you don’t meet the board of examiners which can impact on your progression in some situations.

If your special circumstances are upheld, then your assessment will be void and you will be given a new attempt. You will find out if your special circumstances are upheld when you get your outcome letter.

What happens in the interview?

The interview is an informal chat, via teams, with someone from the module team and Academic Integrity Officers from the University. You may also have a secretary taking notes, but sometimes the AIO will take the notes themselves. You can bring a friend, someone from the SU or someone you trust to the meeting.  

The academics will ask you a series of questions relating to your work including your understanding of plagiarism and how you put the work together. If you have drafts or notes, make electronic copies and send to the interviewers so they can see the work. This helps explain how you put the work together. You may be asked the following questions:

• Do you accept or deny the allegations?
• What is your understanding of plagiarism/paraphrasing/collusion?
• How did you produce this work? How did you put this work together?
• Do you know how the errors in your work might have happened?
• If your allegation is collousion, you might be asked how you worked with other students, or how your work came to be so similar
• If your allegation is regarding AI or use of Chat GPT, then you might be asked knowledge based questions on your work, your understanding of the work and learning outcomes of the module.

Once all the questions have been answered, the University will ask you to leave the Teams chat. This gives them time to decide on the outcome.

Normally, you will receive the outcome straight away and be invited back into the chat where they will give you the outcome. In complex collusion cases, it might take longer but they will let you know this. 

What is the outcome of an interview?

Following the interview/discussion, academics can reach one of these outcomes. Normally, students will find that they are either given ‘poor academic practise’ or ‘academic misconduct’. Very few cases will be referred to the second stage of the process.

• There is no case of misconduct and so your work is marked as normal
• Your work contains areas of poor academic practice but can be marked as normal – it is likely that you will receive recommendations to seek support with your academic writing alongside this. There will be no penalty applied with this outcome.
• That the academics decide that your work is a result of academic misconduct and if there is no evidence of special circumstances you will be given a penalty. If this was the first time you have been found to have committed academic misconduct, there are two potential outcomes: 
  – in most cases, the assessment will be marked at 0 and the module overall will be capped at the pass mark. 
  – In exceptional cases, where the volume of academic misconduct is proven to be low, the assessment will be marked at 0 and the module mark is not capped. Either way, if this means that you fail the module overall, you will be given the chance to retake the assessment.

• That the academics decide that your work is a result of academic misconduct and there is valid evidence of special circumstances you will not be given a penalty. Instead your attempt will be void and you will be given a new attempt in the next assessment window (usually August)
• A referral to an Academic Misconduct Panel (AMP). Cases will only go to an Academic Misconduct Panel if they are of the highest severity cases (such as impersonation or purchasing an essay), if this is your third offense of academic misconduct, or if the case is particularly complex. If you are being asked to attend an interview, and this is your second or third allegation of academic misconduct, we would strongly advise that you get in touch with our team for more guidance and advice.

That the academics decide that your work is a result of academic misconduct and there is valid evidence of special circumstances you will not be given a penalty. Instead your attempt will be void and you will be given a new attempt in the next assessment window (usually August)

The AIOs (Academic integrity officers) in your meeting are unable to make a decision on special circumstances. If your outcome is academic misconduct, and you have presented special circumstances, then the AIOs will instruct your assessments team to look at your evidence. If the University confirms that you have evidence of valid special circumstances then you will find out in your outcome letter. If you have valid special circumstances, then this attempt will be voided and you will be give another opportunity to submit this work with no penalty.

As mentioned, cases will only go to an Academic Misconduct Panel if they are of the highest severity cases (such as impersonation or purchasing an essay), if the case is particularly complex or if this is a third offense. If you have been invited to an Academic Misconduct Panel (AMP), then you should have already been to your interview and know what the issues within your work might be. When you receive your invitation letter, they will also send you the interview notes. You should check that these are an accurate reflection of the interview discussion. 

The panel is the second stage of the Academic Misconduct process within the University. You will be emailed a formal invitation to your panel with at least 5 days notice. This will say the time, date, and teams link to the panel and who will be sitting on your panel. 

If you are presenting evidence of special circumstances, or any drafts/notes as evidence, these should be submitted to the secretary at least two days before the panel.

What can I expect in the panel?

The panel is made up of three AIOs (Academic Integrity Officers) and there will also be a secretary to the panel to take notes. The AIOs will ask you similar questions to the interview.

If you have any concerns about the panel membership or see a potential conflict of interest or bias, you should raise this now.

You can be accompanied by a friend or member of the Students’ Union Advice team if you wish.

Below is an outline of what you can expect at your panel, it is very similar to the interview but they may ask you some more in-depth questions about your work:

• The panel will introduce themselves to you, including the secretary to the panel
• The panel will ask you questions similar to those you were asked in your interview and will be looking to understand how you put your work together or what happened in your examination
• When the panel has no further questions, you will be asked to wait outside whilst they discuss your case
• You will be asked if you have any special circumstances to present to the panel
• You will then be asked to return to the room once a decision has been made – you will be informed of the outcome verbally on the day
• Following the panel, you will receive written confirmation of the outcome via your University email address

How can I prepare for the panel?

You can prepare in a very similar way to the interview – begin by reading the Regulations if you have not already. These can be found here.

You may wish to consider the following, in order to prepare you:

• Read through your TurnitIn report and try to think of where the problem might be
• Look at the Academic Skills and Development webpage to help you understand more about plagiarism and how to avoid it – https://www.surrey.ac.uk/academic-skills-and-development ​You may wish to make an appointment with them before your interview to see where you have gone wrong
• Look back at sources you used and gather any notes/draft versions you have for the piece of work to be discussed as you may be asked to explain how you produced your work. Having evidence of how you put the work together will help you. 
• If you have had ‘special circumstances’ at the time of your submission, you will need to gather evidence for this. The evidence needed is defined in the regulation
• If it helps you feel more confident, you can prepare a statement to read to the panel

Remember that you have to be honest with the University. Dishonesty could lead to further action such as a disciplinary with the University.

What are the outcomes of a panel?

The panel can reach the following conclusions:

• There is no case of academic misconduct and so your work is marked as normal.
• Your work contains areas of poor academic practice but can be marked as normal – it is likely that you will receive recommendations to seek support with your academic writing alongside this.
• That the academics decide that your work is a result of academic misconduct and there is no evidence of special circumstances you will be given a penalty. First offense minor cases will usually be awarded zero for the work and module capped at the pass mark, however the system is incremental so if this is a serious offense or a second offense the penalties are more severe. If the case is seen to be of the highest severity, this can include termination of your studies. 
• That the academics decide that your work is a result of academic misconduct and there is valid evidence of special circumstances you will not be given a penalty. Instead your attempt will be void and you will be given a new attempt in the next assessment window (usually August).