What is considered cheating or attempted cheating?
Below you’ll find the sections of UiA’s regulations that concern academic cheating and attempted cheating:
- having illegal assistance available during exams
- presenting other people's work as one’s own
- citing sources or otherwise using sources in written works without sufficient source references
- naming fictitious sources
- presenting a work generated by chatbots (AI-based text generation functions) as one’s own work
- to cite or otherwise use one’s own previously passed compulsory activities or examination work without sufficient source references
- having obtained admission to the examination by cheating on compulsory activities that are a condition for taking the examination, or by having received approval for attendance at the compulsory teaching on incorrect grounds
- irregular collaboration between exam candidates, groups or with other people
- to act in contravention of the university’s regulations or the guidelines for the individual examination
Below are detailed explanations and examples of how the regulation should be understood.
Illegal assistance
It's cheating to use or have access to aids or resources that are not allowed during the exam. The aids or resources which are allowed should be stated in writing in the instructions pertaining to the assignment or in the exam information.
Examples
Illegal assistance or aids can be things such as hidden notes, unauthorised notes in allowed resources, or using AI tools when it’s not allowed.
Source references
Presenting someone else's work as your own is cheating.
Citing sources or otherwise using sources in written works without sufficient source references and providing fictitious sources is considered cheating. See more information in Kildekompasset.
Examples
For example, you cannot make direct transcriptions or light rewrites of other people's texts without referencing the original texts. Transcriptions or paraphrases must be marked as quotations with quotation marks. Source references must be included either as footnotes, within parentheses in the running text, or the source is stated directly in running text.
Citing yourself through the reuse of text – text which you have previously received credit for - is in violation of the regulations if it is done without a clear source reference. It can be considered self-citation if you use all or parts of previously passed compulsory activities or exam work without clearly stating this.
Submission under full name
In an article or assignment you are going to submit under your full name, you use a regular reference. Choose a source type that fits in the style overview, for example "Doctoral thesis, master's or bachelor's thesis" if you are using a previously submitted thesis.
Anonymous submission
Individual: If you are going to submit a text for anonymous assessment, APA recommends that you remove the entry in the reference list. Instead of in-text citations, write "citation omitted" or similar.
Group: Follow the same procedure as above.
Write "Own work" instead of your name.
Example: Own work. (year). Title of the thesis [Unpublished term paper – or what is suitable]. Name of the educational institution.
If you want to use these proposed solutions, you should clarify this with the course coordinator/supervisor.
Cheating with compulsory activities and compulsory teaching
It is cheating if you have obtained admission to take an exam by obtaining approval on the wrong basis, for example by having cheated on compulsory activities or by having been approved for participation in compulsory teaching on an incorrect basis.
Examples
This could be, for example, that you register participation without being present, get others to register participation for you, or submit work that is not your own as a mandatory activity.
What is irregular cooperation?
Irregular cooperation between exam candidates, groups or with other people is considered cheating.
Examples
If you share your own answers, or the group's answers, with another student to help them with their submission, this may be considered cheating. Be careful with discussions that can result in similarities between answers. You may be suspected of cheating even if you did not intend to cheat.
Acting in violation of UiA's regulations or guidelines
Violation of the regulations or guidelines for the individual exam is considered cheating.
Examples
UiA's guidelines for the use of AI apply to all exams. Violation of these guidelines will therefore be considered cheating, unless otherwise stipulated.
Use of artificial intelligence
The use of chatbots is an accepted legal aid for exams and written assignments where all support materials are permitted, unless special guidelines have been issued for the course, exam or assignment.
Examples
For example, an exam or assignment may state that you will use AI tools to process data or design an analytical framework. Other times, an exam or assignment may state that you are not allowed to use AI tools at all, or only for certain purposes. Such requirements or limitations must always be stated in writing in the assignment text or exam information.
It is considered cheating to present a work generated by chatbots (AI-based text generation functions) as one’s own work. It is also cheating to provide fictitious sources.
Examples
Chatbots should not write the text for you, and you must be critical of sources when using such AI tools. In Oria, you will find quality-assured sources, unlike what you can find in a regular search engine or chatbot. You must use AI tools in a critical way, which is compatible with academic standards.
What happens if you are caught cheating?
UiA takes cheating seriously. If you cheat, it may result in
- annulment of the exam
- you will be banned from the university. In particularly serious cases, the ban can last for up to two years
- you lose the right to take exams at all Norwegian universities and university colleges during the exclusion period
Handling of cheating cases
It is UiA's Board for Student Affairs that deals with cheating cases. Normally, this board has decided to annul the exam/test and exclude the student for a semester in cases where there is gross negligence. In cases where there has been intentional cheating, UiA's Board for Student Affairs has normally decided to annul the exam/test and exclude the student for two semesters. In particularly serious cases, the student can be excluded for up to two years. Decisions in cheating cases are made pursuant to Section 12-4 of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges. The Act also provides for the possibility of sanctioning complicity in cheating, cf. Section 12-4