Academic Integrity

Glossary

Term Definition

Sources written by experts in the discipline. They are usually written in a

Academic sources formal style, have been edited and reviewed by other disciplinary
experts. They usually have citations and a reference list.

The way you tell your readers that material in your work came from
another source. This can be in the original author’s words or summarised
Citation in your own words. There are a range of conventions used when citing
other sources. If author's work in mentioned frequently by other
authors, we call it 'highly cited'.

The legal right that grants the creator of an original work exclusive right
Copyright
for its use and distribution.

The author/creator has decided to allow copyright material to be

Creative Commons distributed freely to enable sharing, using and building upon the work as
long as the author/creator is appropriately

Small extracts of copyright material can be used without permission or

payment from the copyright holder under certain conditions. For
Fair use/fair dealings
example, the extract could be used for teaching, reporting or research
purposes.

Part of the accreditation requirements for many professions. Students

are required to demonstrate fitness to practise to be allowed to register
with the appropriate professional governing body. A fitness for practise
Fitness to practise
assessment will usually consider if a student has the skills and knowledge
required to operate safely and effectively and if they have demonstrated
the good character expected by members of the profession.

Many universities have learning advisors who can give advice on

Learning advisors
academic skills such as referencing.

Describes, summarises, compares and evaluates the literature (academic

Literature review
books, chapters, reports and journal articles) on a particular topic.

Non-academic sources Sources written by anyone, not just discipline experts. They are not
necessarily reviewed or edited and often do not include citations or

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Academic Integrity
references. They are often written in an informal style.

The process where researchers in a field evaluate the quality of other

Peer review researchers’ work. The aim of this is to ensure the work is accurate,
coherent, builds on past research and adds to what we already know.

Materials that are not protected by intellectual property. Anyone can

Public domain use a public domain work without obtaining permission and no one can
own it.

When a person presents work that they have previously completed or

published as if it is new. Sometimes, students can legitimately re-use
work if the first assignment is a draft for the next. In the same way, in
Self-plagiarism
publications, authors can sometimes republish on the same work with
the permission of the first publication. However, this needs to be
explicitly stated and acknowledged.

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© Oxford University Press, 2019