Plagiarism

ARB operates a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism and cheating. 

2.1.3 of the Examination Procedures states:

“An applicant who is suspected to have plagiarised at any point in the examination process will be subject to investigation and potential sanction under ARB’s Plagiarism Policy.”

ARB’s definition of plagiarism

The representation of someone else’s work or ideas as your own without proper citation or acknowledgement that could provide an advantage over others. Competence or sufficient knowledge to join the Register has not been demonstrated in the areas that were plagiarised and that plagiarism may have also shown dishonesty and a lack of integrity in presenting someone else’s work as your own. Both accidental and intentional plagiarism are an offence under the policy. This means it is plagiarism if it is either:

• Accidental, meaning, for example, the individual did not consider that they were committing plagiarism by not including proper citations in their work.
• Intentional, meaning the individual knew they were committing plagiarism in their submitted work. This also includes colluding with other individuals to submit work that is not the applicant’s own.

As examples, ARB considers all of the following to be plagiarism:

• Accidentally or intentionally submitting or using someone else’s work as your own in an accredited examination.
• Accidentally or intentionally failing to properly credit someone else’s work in your own submission.
• Intentionally copying someone else’s work but changing the wording slightly to make it appear as your own.
• Fabrication, wherein you provide false quotations, figures or information about a source or individual.
• Collusion, wherein you conspire with one of more individuals to gain an advantage over others in examinations.

ARB considers any of the above plagiarism offences cause to call into question the character and fitness to practise of the individual found to have committed them.

Please note that using the internet or seeking the assistance from anyone during your exam to answer questions posed by the examiners is also unacceptable and will lead to the termination of your exam, and you may be prohibited from sitting further ARB exams.

If any of your work is found to be plagiarised, you will not be allowed to proceed with your examination and it may also prohibit any further application to sit the examination. Your fee will not be refunded.

If you have any concerns or questions about compliance, please contact ARB, +44 (0) 20 7580 5861 or email: exams@arb.org.uk.

Process

Examiners will check that references are correct and all material that is not the individual’s own is correctly cited in the submission. Examiners will highlight to ARB staff any submission that they suspect includes the following:

• improper referencing of sources;
• no references at all, but the Examiner has identified it includes the work of others;
• fabricated material.

ARB will then deliberate the extent of the offence and any penalties to impose upon the applicant at ARB’s discretion. As part of their deliberation, the ARB decision maker will contact the applicant to give them the opportunity to provide an explanation.*

* ‘Decision maker’ would normally be the ARB registration team processing the application, with the Registrar as appropriate.

Declaration

All applicants to an exam or application covered by this policy must confirm that they have read and understood the guidance on plagiarism and cheating and are aware of ARB’s policy.

Applicants should be cautious that, while there may be legitimate uses of software to aid writing and translation, users of this should be particularly vigilant that they do not invertedly plagiarise.

Guidance for ARB

Outcome:

Potential penalties for plagiarism are at ARB’s discretion and are separated into two categories:

1) The effect on the applicant’s current application and whether it is rejected

2) The impact on their eligibility to reapply should their current application be rejected

Reapplication:

Impacts on the applicant’s eligibility to reapply can include:

• None, whereby the applicant will automatically be able to reapply at the next opportunity, or
• The applicant will automatically be able to reapply after 1 year, or
• The applicant will not automatically be able to reapply. Instead, reapplication will be at the discretion of the Registrar and after at least 2 years. The Registrar will take into account the severity of the offence and any reflection or steps taken by the applicant.

Considerations for the ARB decision maker:

When deciding on the most appropriate penalty, the ARB decision maker should give reasons, taking into account the following examples of mitigating circumstances:

• Plagiarism is limited to an isolated or small number of mistakes that appear to be incompetence rather than intentional dishonesty.
• The applicant has voluntarily contacted ARB to correct mistakes after submitting their application.
• Any explanation provided by the applicant after being contacted by ARB.
• Any other mitigation that they consider to be relevant in determining the applicant’s level of dishonesty.

The table below indicates the type of offences that might occur and potential outcomes. These examples are a guide for decision makers to aid their deliberation and not a definite and prescriptive set of outcomes.

In all circumstances where plagiarism has been identified, applicants will be informed and should reflect on how they can improve in the future based on the feedback.

In any circumstance where the applicant is only able to reapply at the Registrar’s discretion, when seeking reapplication, they will be expected to demonstrate substantial reflection and professional development in order to be able to do so.