VIII. Academic Offences
NOTE: Consideration of a request to withdraw from a course or
courses involved in an academic offence will not be given until the case
is resolved.
Academic offences include, but are not limited to, the following:
A. PLAGIARISM
UNB defines plagiarism as presenting words, visuals, thoughts and/or
ideas that do not belong to/were not created by you, as your own without
proper acknowledgment of the original source. Plagiarism applies to any
work that is not properly acknowledged, regardless of the format of that
work. Different formats of work may include, but are not limited to,
materials that are published and unpublished, written or spoken,
scientific and mathematical concepts, algorithms, code, images and art,
and any of the above generated through automated production of text or
other media (such as artificial intelligence). When in doubt, review the
course syllabus or consult with your course instructor and ask if
appropriate.
Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty and can occur deliberately
or as a result of genuine misunderstanding. Genuine misunderstanding
occurs due to lack of knowledge and understanding of what constitutes
plagiarism and is unintentionally presenting work as your own without
proper acknowledgement. A formal finding of genuine misunderstanding can
only occur once, any subsequent incident(s) will be treated as an
allegation of deliberate plagiarism as outlined in the plagiarism
procedures, item 1.
Deliberate and genuine misunderstanding are both considered forms of
plagiarism.
Some examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to:
- Adopting someone else’s or an automated writing partner or editor’s
line of thought,argument, arrangement, programming code or
supporting evidence without proper acknowledgment.
- Copying from any source, without proper acknowledgement.
- Paraphrasing by using different words, programming code, and/or
phrasing to present the ideas of the original source/s without proper
acknowledgement. Examples include,but not limited to, copying text
verbatim but swapping words with synonyms.
- Unattributed patch writing by copying elements from different
sources, attempting to combine them to create new work and presenting
as original work.
- Not using quotation marks to identify exact borrowed wording while
also failing to properly acknowledge the source/s from which the
wording was obtained.
- Using charts, graphs, statistics, images programming code or other
illustrative media that is not your own without proper
acknowledgement.
- Programming code plagiarism by copying, adapting or reproducing
program code and presenting as your own.
Note: For all work that a student submits for any form of academic
credit, automated production may not be used in a way that would
constitute academic plagiarism if the automated produced text, code,
and/or media were a human author whose work wasused without attribution.
Acknowledgement
Proper acknowledgement involves giving credit to the original
author/creator of work or idea(s) you are using that are not your own.
This may take the form of citations, acknowledgement (or disclosure or
declaration) statements, or both.
The proper citation format will depend on the instructor’s preferred
style of citation, but generally include the author of the original
work, the title of the original work, the year of publication and the
name of the publisher.
Acknowledgement statements indicate how automated production of text or
other media (such as artificial intelligence) were utilized in your
coursework, and may include the tool name, the prompt(s) utilized, and a
statement of how the output(s) were adapted or adopted.
In all cases, refer to your course syllabus to determine the appropriate
citation style for your course.
Citation resources are available through the UNB Libraries Academic
Integrity Guide https://lib.unb.ca/guides/academic-integrityand the
Writing Centres https://unbcloud.sharepoint.com/sites/wss.
NOTE: In courses which include group work, a penalty may be imposed
on all members of the group unless an act of plagiarism is identified
clearly with an individual student or students.
Procedures
******In the case of plagiarism, the instructor must make every
reasonable effort to discuss the case with the student or group and
follow one of two courses of action:
- If the instructor is satisfied that the plagiarism was the result of
a genuine misunderstanding, the instructor shall complete an
academic offence incident report in a form approved by the
Registrar's Office, containing the student's name and the
particulars of the incident, and submit to the Registrar who shall
advise the appropriate Dean, and the Chair of the student's program
or Department where applicable. The Registrar shall notify the
student by registered letter and/or electronic mail of the
regulations governing plagiarism, the possible consequences, the
student's right to appeal, the right to appear before the
appropriate appeals committee (Student Standing and Promotions
Committee on the Fredericton campus and Senate Student Appeals
Committee on the Saint John campus), and the procedures involved.
The Registrar shall make available to the student a copy of the
academic offence incident report and supporting documentation. While
a case of plagiarism resulting from genuine misunderstanding will
not be considered a student's first offence, a second plea of
ignorance by the same student in response to a subsequent allegation
of plagiarism will not be accepted; similarly, a subsequent incident
report indicating that the alleged plagiarism is a result of genuine
misunderstanding responding will be treated as an allegation of
deliberate plagiarism. A student responding to the instructor's
allegation must do so in writing within three weeks of the date of
the Registrar's notification. The student is urged to submit to the
appropriate appeals committee a written statement regarding the
case.
In a first incident of plagiarism resulting from genuine
misunderstanding, the instructor may permit the student to submit a
genuine piece of work to be graded in place of the one plagiarized.
If the student does not appeal, the time allowed for submission of
work is three weeks from the date of the Registrar's letter of
notification. In the case of an appeal, where the instructor's
allegation is upheld, the period of time allowed for submission is
as determined by the appropriate appeals committee.
- If, in the view of the instructor the plagiarism was deliberate, the
instructor shall complete an incident report in a form approved by
the Office of the Registrar, containing the student’s name and the
particulars of the incident, and shall submit to the Registrar who
will advise the Dean of the Faculty concerned and the Chair of the
student's program or department where applicable. The Registrar
shall notify the student by registered letter and/or electronic mail
of the regulations governing plagiarism, the possible consequences,
the student’s right to appeal, the right to appear before the
appropriate appeals committee, and the procedures involved. A
student appealing the charge of an academic offence must do so in
writing within three weeks of the date of the Registrar's letter of
notification. On receiving an incident report alleging an act of
deliberate plagiarism, or on receiving an incident report alleging a
second commission of plagiarism by the student which is determined
viewed by the instructor to be as a result of genuine
misunderstanding, the Registrar shall refer the matter for a hearing
to the appropriate appeals committee. A student who wishes to
respond to this allegation is urged to submit to the appeals
committee a written statement regarding the case, within three weeks
of the date of the Registrar’s letter of notification. The Registrar
shall inform the student by registered letter or electronic mail of
the referral to the appeals committee, and the wish of the Committee
that the student be present when the case is heard.
- The appropriate appeals committee, upon the conclusion of a hearing
into the case, or following the review of the written materials if
the student does not appear, must make one or more of the following
findings prior to proceeding to an assessment of a penalty for
deliberate plagiarism.
i. On hearing a case involving a first incident report alleging
that a student has committed an act of deliberate plagiarism, the
appeals committee must first decide whether an act of plagiarism has
occurred. If the Committee so finds, the Committee must then
determine whether the plagiarism was deliberate, or an act of
genuine misunderstanding. If the former, the appeals committee will
proceed to assess penalties in accordance with this Regulation, if
the latter, the appeals committee will assess no penalty, but will
direct the Registrar to note in the student’s academic file that the
student has had one finding of genuine misunderstanding.
ii.If the case before the appeals committee (i) follows a prior
finding of plagiarism, or (ii) is a second allegation of plagiarism
as a result of genuine misunderstanding, the appeals committee may
not make a further finding of genuine misunderstanding in disposing
of the case. The appeals committee may only make a finding that the
alleged act of plagiarism was deliberate plagiarism or that the
alleged act of plagiarism was not an act of plagiarism.
Penalties for Deliberate Plagiarism
In case of deliberate plagiarism, the penalties are:
First Offence: If the student does not appeal or if, on appeal, the
Committee upholds the instructor's allegation:
- A notation will be placed on the student's transcript of academic
record concerning the academic offence. The length of time the
notation appears on the student's transcript of academic record is
to be decided when the penalty is imposed and will depend on the
severity of the offence.
- The student may be required to submit a satisfactory and genuine
piece of work to replace the one involving plagiarism. If the
assignment is not resubmitted or is unsatisfactory, the student will
receive a grade of F (zero) in the course. NOTE: If this penalty
is assessed, the period of time allowed for the submission of the
work will be determined by the Registrar in consultation with the
faculty member making the charge and, where appropriate, the
Committee.
- The student will receive a grade of F (zero) for the piece of work
and, depending on the severity of the offence, may receive a grade
of F for the course.
- Other penalties as outlined in penalties for Other Academic
Offences may be imposed.
Subsequent Offence: In cases where the Committee considers that the
student has plagiarized again:
- The student will receive a grade of F for the course, and a
notation of the academic offence will appear on the student's
transcript of record. The length of time the notation appears on the
student's transcript of academic record is to be decided when the
penalty is imposed.
- Other penalties as outlined in penalties for Other Academic
Offences may be imposed.
B. OTHER ACADEMIC OFFENCES
- Cheating on examination, tests, assignments or reports, including
but not limited to:
Impersonating a candidate at an examination or test or in connection
with any assignment in a course or availing oneself of the results
of impersonation.
Obtaining, through theft, bribery, collusion, purchase, or other
improper manner,
a. an examination or test paper prior to the date and time for
writing the examination or test;
b. academic materials belonging to another person, e.g. laboratory
reports, assignments, papers, computer materials, datasets.
- Falsifying or knowingly submitting false assignments or credentials,
records, transcripts, or other academic documents.
- Submitting a false health or other certificate.
- Submitting identical or substantially similar work for one course or
program of study, which has been or is being submitted for another
course or program of study, without the prior express knowledge and
approval of the instructors.
- Interfering with the right of other students to pursue their
studies.
- Knowingly aiding or abetting any of the above offences.
- Tampering with, or altering, in any deceptive way, work subsequently
presented for a review of the grade awarded.
Procedures
The instructor and, where applicable, the invigilator or other
appropriate person shall, where practical, discuss the matter with the
student concerned.
The instructor or the instructor's representative, if satisfied that an
academic offence has been committed, shall complete an academic offence
incident report and shall submit it, together with attached information,
to the Registrar. The Registrar shall report it to the Chair of the
Department (where applicable) and the Dean of the Faculty concerned.
Each case will be referred by the Registrar to the appropriate Committee
for review and appropriate action. The Registrar shall inform the
student by registered letter and/or electronic mail of the referral to
the Committee, the student's right to respond, the wish of the Committee
that the student be present when the case is heard, and the procedures
involved. A copy of the academic offence report and attached information
will be provided to the student in a timely manner. The student is urged
to submit to the Committee a written statement regarding the case. A
student responding to the decision, shall do so in writing within three
weeks of the date of the Registrar's letter of notification.
Penalties
A student who is found guilty of an academic offence will have two
penalties imposed:
- A notation on the student's transcript of academic record concerning
the academic offence. The length of time the notation appears on the
student's transcript of academic record is to be decided when the
penalty is imposed.
- A grade of F (zero) in an examination, test or course.
One of the following penalties may also be imposed.
- A recommendation to the President for suspension for a specified
period. The recommendation is to include the length of time the
notation is to appear on the student's transcript of academic
record.
- A recommendation to the President for expulsion from the University.
If the student is expelled, a permanent notation will appear on the
student's transcript of academic record.
C. GENERAL
- Consideration of a request to withdraw from a course or courses
involved in an academic offence will not be given until the case is
resolved.
- Students on the Fredericton Campus will submit appeals to the Senate
Student Standings and Promotions Committee; on the Saint John
Campus, appeals will be submitted to the Students Appeals
Committee.