Fraud, plagiarism and free-riding

Cheating, plagiarism and fraud are actions or omissions on the part of a student that preclude an accurate assessment of his or her knowledge, understanding and aptitude.

In any case, cheating involves:

1. the use during a test or examination of (any form of) resource or device (electronic or technological) which, before the start of the study unit and/or examination or test, the examiner has prohibited, or which the student knew or should have known were prohibited;

2. conduct on the part of students which, before the start of the study unit and/or examination or test, the examiner has deemed to be academic misconduct, or which the student knew or should have known to be prohibited.

Specifically, this includes (but is not limited to):

a. procuring copies of a test or examination before that test or examination has taken place;

b. also cheating, whether or not by:

• using cheat sheets or crib sheets;
• copying the work of others during the test or examination;
• letting others copy your work during the test or examination;
• sending or receiving (text) messages;

c. communicating about the content of the exam with any party other than the invigilators during the test or examination while that test or examination is underway (including by means of electronic devices);

d. claiming to be another person during a test or examination, or having someone else impersonate you.

3. fraud, that includes, but is not limited to:

a. manipulating research data in (group) assignments;

b. falsifying data (for example, by filling in questionnaires or answering interview questions oneself);

c. ‘free-riding’; i.e. not contributing equally to a group assignment.*

4. plagiarism (using someone else’s work or your own work without a proper citation), that includes, but is not limited to:

a. using (parts of) other people's work (original terms, ideas, results or conclusions, illustrations, prototypes) and presenting this as one’s own work; if parts of another text (printed or digital) are used without attribution (and even if small changes are made), plagiarism has occurred;

b. using visual or audio material, test results, designs, software and program codes without attribution and thereby presenting this as one’s own original work;

c. using verbatim citations without attribution or a clear indication (by, for example, omitting quotation marks, indentation, leaving white space) and thereby creating the false impression that (part of) these citations are one’s own original work;

d. citing literature that one has not read oneself (for example, using references taken from somebody else’s work);

e. using texts that have been written in collaboration with others without explicitly mentioning this;

f. submitting work that has already been published in whole or in part elsewhere (e.g. work from other courses or educational programmes), without reference to the original work. The Examination Board of each educational programme drafts its own rules on academic misconduct, which may include additional provisions. It will also set out what action will be taken in cases of (suspected) academic misconduct. In all cases, the Examination Board will decide whether academic misconduct has occurred.

1. To prevent academic misconduct:

a. Students are informed about what is considered academic misconduct, rules for citation and procedural rules for written and exams (Appendix 2 of these R&Gs) by the programme management at the start of their studies;

b. Students are informed by the programme management at the start of their studies that plagiarism checkers can be used where applicable;

c. Students are informed which materials and devices are allowed for every specific test by the examiner at the start of teaching.

2. Appendix 4 Art. 4.1 of these R&Gs describes the general procedures to investigate suspicions of academic misconduct arising during assessments.

3. If academic misconduct is found to have occurred, the test/exam will in any event be declared invalid and the OXIE may deprive the student of the right to sit one or more tests, interim or other examinations to be specified by the OXIE. Forms of academic misconduct are described in Appendix 4, Art. 4.2 of these R&Gs.

4. If academic misconduct has occurred in group work, measures can be allocated equally to all group members whenever it is unclear who in the group is responsible for the misconduct.

5. In case a written test is taken remotely during a calamity, and an academic misconduct among a group of students is determined via, for instance, statistical analysis, and the examiner is not able to identify each and every individual student committing the academic misconduct, the written test can be declared invalid for all or a specific group of students after consulting the responsible OXIE.

6. Students who provenly committed academic misconduct can be excluded from a specification of excellence.

7. In cases of serious academic misconduct, the Executive Board may, on the OXIE’s recommendation, permanently terminate the enrolment of the student concerned in the degree programme.