Avoiding plagiarism when using AI tools

Be clear on where and how you use AI tools for academic work
Check the guidelines for AI use at your institution, if unclear, seek clarification and permission

'My own work'

Many universities require you to complete, for each marked assignment, a declaration stating that it is your own work.

It is expected that people understand the need to be honest in making such a declaration, and would not deliberately lie or cheat.

Be clear what is your own work.

If it is found that work is copied, plagiarised, purchased or partly the work of someone else, including a chatbot or other AI tool, that would be considered cheating. The penalties are severe, and can be long-lasting for your academic and professional records.

The principle is to make it clear to the examiner whose work they are assessing when reviewing any element of an assignment.

Always ensure that you stay in a position where you can honestly state that a piece of assessed work is your own work.

I am clear on my institution's policy on the use of AI tools for academic work.

Yes

No

You said yes.

Remember to declare your use of such tools in academic work, and check with an instructor if you are unsure about any new use-cases and scenarios that come up.

You said no.

Check with an instructor if you are unsure about any use-cases that you would like to try.

Remember to declare your use of such tools in academic work. Even before using the tools, if you feel uncomfortable with potentially needing to declare the use of such tools, then this might be a worthwhile discussion to have with your instructor.

And/or simply, don't use the AI tools.

Know what is and what is not allowed

It is usually clear that actions such as buying an essay or copying from a book or another person are cheating. If you ask a chatbot to write your assignment, you know it is not your own work.

However, some aspects of what is ‘allowed’ and what is not are less obvious. Students can be penalised for cheating when they thought they were acting ‘within the rules’.

That means it is important to:

Know what is meant by ‘plagiarism’
Check the rules from your institution
Avoid rationalising any kind of cheating
If in doubt, check with your tutor/staff at your institution
Discuss scenarios and examples with your tutor
Keep your work original even when using tools such as ChatGPT/Gemini

Your university/college will provide details of their rules and regulations. Make sure you know where to find these and check them carefully so you know what is expected
Check the requirements for each assignment, in case these have variations on the regulations for specific reasons
Make these checks for yourself – don’t rely on what other people tell you, in case they are wrong
If you are unclear about what the rules mean, or are unsure whether a particular action would be considered to be cheating, ask. Your tutors would rather you checked the rules than make a mistake that counts as cheating. This is especially important for group assignments and where some use of AI is permitted by your institution

If you draw on ChatGPT/Gemini or other tools for ideas or material that you use in your assignment, you should provide references for these just as you would when drawing on other sources.

If you didn’t do all the work yourself, don’t look for arguments to convince yourself that it is all right to submit it as your own.

Rationalisations won’t be convincing to those marking or examining your work.

Note down any concerns or questions that you still have, use the box alongside to record this as a journal entry.

If you want clarification on your institution's policy, speak to an instructor or subject librarian. Share these questions from your journal with them.