As a student, you are responsible for becoming thoroughly acquainted with the rules that apply when it comes to examinations, projects, master's theses, etc. Not all students are fully aware of what qualifies as cheating at an exam.

Examples of exam cheating can be:

• If you before or during an examination get help answering an assignment when you are not entitled to help, or when you use other kinds of unallowed aids during an examination. It could be the use of a mobile phone, talking to fellow students in the lavatory, or using a calculator.
• If you during an examination try to influence or change the grounds for assessment. This could be continuing your assignment after the examination has finished, letting the person sitting next to you look after your assignment during a written exam, or using the lavatory to talk to fellow students about the assignment.
• If your assignment includes an identical or almost identical reproduction of other persons' writing or work without proper reference. This constitutes plagiarism, and is one of the most common examples of cheating.
• If you reuse texts/ideas from your own assignments which you have previously handed in for assessment or publication without proper reference (self-plagiarism).
• If you copy text from shared notes into your assignment without noting that the notes are composed with others.
• If you use ChatGPT or any other forms of artificial intelligence or AI-chatbots during exams (even if all aids are permitted), unless it is specifically listed as a permitted aid for the exam. 

Exam cheating or attempts at cheating is processed according to AAU's rules regarding disciplinary measures.

Suspicion of exam cheating will lead to a concrete evaluation where any mitigating or aggravating circumstances will be taken into consideration.

According to the rules regarding disciplinary measures, there are three different sanctions that can be imposed, depending on the severity of the violation:

• A warning against repeated violation of the rules
• Expulsion from an examination
• Expulsion from the university

If you have been issued a warning, and you later violate the rules again, there will be aggravating circumstances, and you will therefore risk a more severe sanction than if you had not previously been involved in any case regarding exam cheating.

You can be expelled from an examination both before, during and after the examination, if is established that you have cheated or otherwise violated the rules of the exam. Expulsion from an examination means that you use an examination attempt and that your assignment will not be graded. If you already received a grade for your assignment, the grade will be cancelled.

If you do something categorised as a severe violation of the exam rules, you risk expulsion from the university. The expulsion can be limited to a certain period of time, or it can be permanent. If you get expelled from the university, you will not be able to participate in any activities at the university during the expulsion period. Consequently, you will not be able to participate in classes or examinations.

Upon receipt of a report, the administrator in charge (i.e. the study director) carries out preliminary investigations of the incident by collecting the necessary documentation and summoning the student to a personal interview to shed light on the incident. The student is entitled to bring an observer. If it is not possible to summon the student for an interview, written communication may be used instead.

Based on the report, documentation, and interview, the administrator in charge makes a decision concerning the case. Depending on the severity of the violation, the administrator may issue a warning against repeated violation of the rules or expel the student from the examination.  If the administrator in charge finds that the gravity of the incident ought to cause the student to be expelled from the university, the case is forwarded to Rector, who then imposes the sanction.

Read more about the university's exam policies and procedures.

Plagiarism implies using someone else’s work and passing it off as your own, i.e., not using source references.

You also risk plagiarism if you share notes with fellow students. This may be result in plagiarism if you and your fellow students copy or paraphrase the exact same shared notes in your exam papers. Thus, we recommend that you are mindful when using shared notes in your exam papers.

Self-plagiarism involves submitting your own material for assessment more than once.

Please be aware that special rules may apply to the individual exam. Some examinations may allow you to "reuse" work or parts of work that you have previously submitted for assessment. However, it is important that you familiarise yourself thoroughly with the rules for the specific examination before you reuse any of your previous work in an exam paper. If you are unsure whether or not you are allowed to reuse your own material for an examination, we recommend that you get confirmation from your examinator or study programme.  Remember to refer to yourself and your previous work if you choose to reuse your own work. If you fail to make adequate references to your own work, it may be considered self-plagiarism.

Do you know how to use quotations correctly and provide sufficient documentation in your assignments?

Read about plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Acquaint yourself with important information regarding those elements of copyright law that you — as an affiliate of AAU — should know about before using texts, pictures, film, or any other type of media .