Aarhus University has revised its rules concerning cheating at exams.

2015.09.25 | Signe Opstrup

At the beginning of the 2015 autumn semester, AU introduced a number of amendments to the rules regarding cheating at exams and plagiarism at AU.

The amendments were the result of an evaluation by an interdisciplinary working group. In its final report, the working group headed by Peter Østergaard, vice-dean for education at Aarhus BSS concluded that the failure to clearly indicate quotations in exam papers should be considered cheating. Another amendment to the rules is that the director of studies must now be informed when a case regarding cheating is reported to the Educational Law unit.

The number of cases of cheating at exams has been on the increase over the last few years.

"It appears that this trend will continue. This is why it’s vitally important that we as a university provide our students with sufficient information on what is permitted so that they don’t unintentionally end up involved in a disciplinary case about cheating. At the same time, we also have to make it absolutely clear to the students that cheating will not be tolerated, and that any infractions of the rules will be reported and will lead to sanctions,” explains Vice-dean for Education Peder Østergaard.

Another change resulting from the working group’s evaluation is that templates regarding cheating at exams have been developed for use by examiners. These templates are to be used by examiners when reporting cases of suspected cheating at exams as well as for the statement students receive from the examiner or studies administration office when a case is submitted to Educational Law.

Vice-dean for Education Peder Østergaard encourages academic staff to put the issue on the agenda in their research and teaching programmes and to discuss how teaching staff can contribute to preventing cheating at exams. Educational Law can provide slides that can serve as a basis for discussion (in Danish). These slides can also be used in teaching. Please write to Educational Law at ujs@au.dk to receive an e-mail with slides.

Information campaign in the autumn

An information campaign is carried out in the autumn, which focuses on what cheating is and how it is avoided.

The campaign will include a quiz that lets students test their knowledge about cheating at exams, the leaflet Avoid pitfalls at exams and a video.

We recommend that you read the following materials:

• Leaflet for AU's lecturers and administrative staff: Cheating at exams - procedures and sanctions The leaflet describes how a case of suspected cheating at exams is handled from start to finish.
• Leaflet for AU's students: Avoid pitfalls at exams: A guide for students on how to avoid cheating at examsThe leaflet explains what is considered cheating at exams and how to avoid it.
• AU’s rules regarding disciplinary measures for students.

You are also encouraged to take some classroom time to explain to your students how cheating at exams is defined at AU, and to refer your students to the website au.dk/cheating-at-exams / (Danish version: snyd.au.dk) as well as the leaflet.

Further information                                  

• If you have questions or if you would like copies of the slides about cheating at exams, please contact Educational Law at ujs@au.dk.
• You can also find more information on AU’s website, where there are links to all the materials referred to above. 
• AU’s rules on disciplinary measures for students