Plagiarism awareness for PhD students

Official College information for students is available from Registry, see Examinations and assessment. Advice and department policies are informed by the College's Cheating Offences Policy and Procedures including procedures for handling alleged cases of student plagiarism in examinations and coursework. This includes the PhD dissertation and viva.

There will also be information available at department websites; please check your local student handbook, department intranet, or ask your supervisor for more guidance. Please pay attention to any local guidance you are given, for example, the accepted use of computer code. It is important to familiarise yourself with ‘common knowledge' within your subject or field, as the misunderstanding of what is and is not common knowledge can lead to plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct and you should ensure that you are familiar with the College's policy on academic conduct. If you train to be a Graduate Teaching Assistant you will be expected to support undergraduate and/or Master's students. You are strongly recommended to consult Plagiarism awareness for researchers before engaging with students so that you are fully aware of the common types of plagiarism, and the ‘traps' students can unintentionally fall into. They may ask for your advice on how to avoid plagiarism; interpreting information they've found as part of research projects; on how to communicate information; or how to reference. These are all areas where poor advice or lack of assistance could lead to plagiarism.

Be aware of further sources of advice if you cannot confidently answer any questions you receive. 

Please see the College’s advice on Examinations and academic integrity (pdf).

The Graduate School Plagiarism Awareness for Doctoral Students course is compulsory for all 1st year Doctoral students and MUST be completed before the 9 month Early Stage Assessment (ESA).