Academic integrity means producing work honestly and acknowledging the ideas, words or research of others appropriately. It reflects the values of honesty, fairness and responsibility in your academic work as a student. You can read the University’s Academic Integrity Regulations (2025/26) here.
The most common breaches of academic integrity come from misuse or overuse of generative AI. You can read the University’s guidance on using generative AI here: Artificial intelligence tools. When completing assessments, your lecturers should make you aware of what is acceptable or unacceptable use of generative AI in the assessment brief. If you are unsure, or have any questions, make sure you speak to your lecturer in advance of starting your work. When completing the declaration for your assessment, you must disclose how you used generative AI in the assessment if you did. Please use the text box on the cover sheet to provide details..
There are rules and guidelines around plagiarism and collusion that you should be aware of. It is extremely important that students take care to properly reference their work when using quotes from other sources such as journals, websites, news articles, AI and reports. Credit must be given to the original authors of any sections of text referenced and the reader should be able to find a copy of these sources.
Check out this video by our 2021/22 Co-President for Education & Employability for a summary:
Another issue to be aware of is the danger of using Essay Mills and content writers. You may have seen websites or people on social media offering "essay writing" services. It is really important that you do not engage with these services - not only are they illegal, but they could lead to you being blackmailed and facing permanent exclusion from your course, and removal of credit.
These services are often advertised via email. Sometimes they even appear to have been endorsed by the University. If you receive such an email, please use the “report message” button to report as spam, and then delete the email. Do not click on any links, as they may be a security risk. Please report it to the University’s Information Services team so they can block further emails.
Matthew explains more in the video below:
You can find more information about Academic Integrity on MyNapier.
The University's Academic Skills Team have a range of resources available to help with your approaches to writing and studying. You can book tutorials with a study skills team member to help you academically or help you further develop your academic skills: One to ones.
If you are under investigation for academic misconduct or have been accused of breaching any of the University's academic integrity regulations we would advise speaking to the ENSA Advice service. You can book an appointment with an ENSA adviser here: ENSA ADVICE | Scheduling and Booking Website. If you cannot book an appointment email