Blog

Iskakov Yeldos

2021-03-03

What do I need to know about malpractice?

We expect you to maintain the integrity of the assessment and qualification by following the instructions for the open book examination. Failure to adhere to these requirements will be considered a breach of the Malpractice Policy, where the offences of plagiarism, collusion, impersonation/ commissioning are relevant. Please see the Policy and procedures for suspected malpractice in examinations and assessments for further information.

Suspected plagiarism and/or collusion will be thoroughly investigated, and the outcome of the investigation will determine the level of any sanction applied.

NEBOSH takes all forms of assessment malpractice seriously, and repeated attempts of plagiarism or collusion may lead to a learner being banned from taking future NEBOSH assessments.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is taking the work of another person or source and claiming it as your own. The following are examples of plagiarism:

• Including paragraphs, sentences, and the ideas (either published or unpublished) of others (including the work of other learners) without acknowledgement of the source through referencing
• Paraphrasing the work and ideas of others without acknowledgement through referencing, including material from computer files or downloaded from the internet.

The answers you submit will be accepted on the understanding that it is your own work and without wrongful appropriation of any kind. You are expected to offer your own analysis and presentation of information gained from your research.

Please be aware that highly plagiarised open book examination submissions will be subject to penalty and suspension.

How do I avoid plagiarism?

To avoid plagiarism, you must reference any third-party sources that you use in your open book examination answers. This means acknowledging where you have used sources, ideas, or work that is from someone else. You can do this simply by adding references to the end of your answer document.

What is collusion?

Collusion is when two or more learners collaborate to produce work which is submitted by each in an identical, or highly similar, open book examination submission with the claim that the work was completed independently.

Collusion is a form of plagiarism, involving unauthorised cooperation between at least two people, with the intent to deceive. It can take the following forms:

• two or more learners conspiring to produce a piece of work together with the intention that at least one passes it off as their own work.
• the submission by a learner of the work of another, in circumstances where the latter has willingly lent the former the work and where it should be evident to the learner lending the work that by so doing an advantage is conferred on the other learner. In this case, both learners are guilty of collusion.
• unauthorised co-operation between a learner and another person in the preparation and production of work which is presented as the learner’s own.
• the commissioning and submission of work as the learner’s own, where the learner has purchased work, or solicited another individual to produce work on the learner’s behalf.

What is impersonation?

Impersonation is when a learner asks someone else to complete all, or part, of their open book examination submission and then claims the work as their own. You will be asked about your answers in the closing interview process.

Tags: NEBOSH Open Book Examinations, OBE, NEBOSH,