Charlotte Mills

What does Academic Integrity mean?

Academic Integrity refers to the University’s policy on suspected academic misconduct. The University takes academic misconduct very seriously, and if you are found to have given yourself an unfair advantage in your assessments, e.g. through plagiarising work, or potential use of AI, then you may be asked to attend a meeting, otherwise known as a Formal Discussion, with the University to discuss your work which can lead to penalties being applied.

If you have been asked to attend a meeting, you can email ussu.advice@surrey.ac.uk for advice. Please send us all the details including the invite letter and Turnitin report as soon as possible – we can then assign you an appropriate advisor and book you in for a meeting to help you prepare.

How can I Prepare for the Formal Discussion?

Read the University regulations for Academic Integrity which can be found on the OSCAR web pages 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, 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 the 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. Do you have the version history of the piece of work which you can share and can you account for all your references? 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 Happens in the Formal Discussion?

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, an advisor from the Students’ Union 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 collusion, 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 the Formal Discussion?

Following the 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.
• If 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.

 How does the Students’ Union help in the Formal Discussion?

We can help you to prepare for the meeting in advance and outline all the possible outcomes based on the allegation. If you would like us to attend, then we are also there to ensure that you are treated fairly, offered support and given the opportunity to represent yourself in the best way possible. We are not able to speak on your behalf or persuade the academics to give you a better outcome, but we will raise anything should we feel it necessary.

If you are experiencing this right now and you haven’t reached out to our team, then please do so via ussu.advice@surrey.ac.uk and we’ll book you in for a meeting.

You can also get further support from all the Wellbeing services offered by the University and your Students’ Union – find out more here.