Understanding Academic Misconduct
Every student at UBC is responsible for informing themselves about UBC’s standards of academic integrity. If a student is ever in doubt about expectations of academic integrity or what “counts” as academic misconduct, they must ask their instructor for clarification as soon as possible, and should not submit work for evaluation if unclear as to the relevant standard of academic integrity.
Instructors should familiarize themselves with what constitutes academic misconduct at UBC to help students avoid issues and be able to detect problems when they arise.
UBC’s expectations of academic integrity can be found in the Academic Calendar (Vancouver and Okanagan).
If you are suspected of academic misconduct, learn more about the misconduct process and available supports.
What is Academic Misconduct?
Academic misconduct includes certain prohibited conduct, including any conduct by which a student gains or attempts to gain an unfair academic advantage or benefit thereby compromising the integrity of the academic process, or helping or attempting to help another person commit an act of academic misconduct or gain, or attempt to gain, an unfair academic advantage.
Academic misconduct can take many forms. The Academic Calendars (Vancouver and Okanagan) provide examples of different forms of academic misconduct, and it is important that everyone understands these. Note that these examples are not an exhaustive list, and there may be other behaviours that meet the definition of academic misconduct.
Submitting false or incomplete information
Providing false or incomplete records or information to UBC, or failing to provide relevant information when requested, can be considered a form of academic misconduct. Students are expected to provide true and complete information in their academic work and in any applications to UBC programs, including requests for academic concessions.
Some examples of submitting false information may include:
- Lying to an instructor about being sick or providing a falsified doctor’s note to miss an exam or receive an extension
- Falsifying grades on co-op applications
- Misrepresenting academic credentials to gain admission to a UBC program
Cheating
Cheating includes a wide variety of behaviours where students gain (or attempt to gain) an unfair academic advantage in their academic work. It generally involves using or facilitating an unauthorized means to complete an examination or coursework.
Some examples of cheating may include:
- Falsifying any part of an academic assessment
- Tampering with or misrepresenting research data.
- Changing answers on a previously graded exam and submitting for a regrade.
- Participating in unauthorized collaboration
- Using answers or receiving assistance from others on an individual assignment.
- Using or facilitating an unauthorized means to complete an examination or coursework
- Using an unauthorized memory aid or electronic device during a test or exam.
- Using GenAI tools to help you complete your assignment without permission.
- Looking at someone else’s answers during a test or exam, with or without their knowledge.
- Using another person or commercial service (with or without payment) to complete your academic work (“contract cheating”)
Failure to follow examination rules or policies
It is important to follow any rules or directions given to you by an instructor or examiner, or any other policy relating to examinations. This includes only bringing materials or devices to the exam that have been specifically permitted by your instructor or examiner.
These rules are in place to help make sure examinations are fair and secure. Failure to follow them may be considered academic misconduct.
Some examples of exam policy violations may include:
- Speaking to others during the exam
- Looking at your neighbour’s answers
- Exposing your exam materials to other students
- Using or being in possession of any material, device or resource other than those authorized by the examiner(s)
- Taking examination material out of the exam room without permission
- Taking photos of the exam without permission
Be sure to familiarize yourself with the Student Conduct During Examinations policy (Vancouver and Okanagan).
Plagiarism
Plagiarism means presenting someone else’s ideas and work as your own without giving them proper credit. Scholarship involves examining and referring to the thoughts and writings of other people. It is critical to properly cite and acknowledge whenever you are using another person’s words, ideas, or work.
Some examples of plagiarism may include:
- Copy and pasting a quote or passage from a source into your essay without citing the original author.
- Rewriting an excerpt or passage into your own words (“paraphrasing”) without acknowledging the original source.
- Partially rewriting a passage and citing the source but relying too heavily on the language and structure of the original work, so that the result is overly similar (“patchwriting”).
- Submitting draft work without proper referencing.
If you need guidance on how to properly cite others’ work, the UBC Library has guides to help you out. You might also wish to meet with a UBC writing consultant (Vancouver and Okanagan), or explore our self-guided Canvas courses about writing and plagiarism.
Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism involves reusing your previous academic work, whether in whole or parts of it, without appropriate referencing and without authorization from your instructor. Self-plagiarism is also known as dove-tailing or double-dipping.
This form of academic misconduct often catches many students by surprise. If you did the work, shouldn’t you be able to use it for more than one class? The answer is no, not unless you have special permission from your instructor and you cite yourself. Once you have submitted your work the first time, it is no longer considered new and original work. Reusing it without permission and acknowledgement can be considered self-plagiarism, which is a form of academic misconduct.
Some examples of self-plagiarism may include:
- Resubmitting an essay used for credit in a previous course.
- Reusing part of a previous assignment for credit in another course.
- Making minor changes to a previous assignment and submitting it for credit in another course.
Impersonation
Pretending that you are someone else in order to do the work of another student, or allowing someone else to impersonate you during an exam or any other academic assessment, is a very serious form of academic misconduct.
Some examples of impersonation may include:
- Sharing your campus-wide login information with someone else so that they can complete and submit your assignments.
- Having someone else record your oral language exam on your behalf.
- Falsely identifying yourself as another student during an examination.
This is an educative website intended to support understanding of the topics and associated processes and does not constitute legal advice nor impose legal obligations on the University. The content of this site may be updated. The Academic Calendar is the official governing document, and where there is any inconsistency or contradiction between this educative website and the Academic Calendar provisions governing academic integrity and academic misconduct, the Academic Calendar governs.
