Taught Student Policy Guidance Note for Proofreading Written Work
Guidance for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students about the proofreading of work submitted for assessment.
1. What is proofreading?
Proofreading is a standard practice designed to improve the presentation of a piece of written work. This can occur during the drafting of the work in a developmental manner, or during the final stages of producing that work. It is the systematic checking for and identification of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence construction, formatting and layout.
2. Self-proofreading and third-party proofreading
Students are encouraged to proofread their own work as the primary means of identifying and addressing the kinds of errors mentioned above. Resources on self-proofreading can be found on the Academic Integrity webpages.
The University also acknowledges that students may wish to engage in proofreading of their work by third parties. "Third parties" may be fellow-students, friends and family, professional proofreading services or digital proofreading tools. This guidance note applies equally to use of digital tools, proofreading as a commercial service for which a fee is charged, and to proofreading on an informal basis by fellow-students, friends and family without payment.
3. Use of digital tools
Digital tools may be used to support proofreading where permitted in the guidance on use of GenAI for the specific assessment. If not mentioned, students should assume use is not permitted. Use for proofreading should be limited to identifying and correcting errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence construction, formatting and layout, without changing the substance, argument or intended meaning of the student’s work.
Some tools, such as Microsoft Word and Grammarly, include both proofreading features and features that can paraphrase, rewrite, restructure or generate text. Students should therefore consider what the feature does, and whether its capability goes beyond proofreading as defined above.
Using generative AI to substantially rewrite or rephrase sentences or paragraphs, even where the original meaning is retained, or to substantially restructure or generate content, goes beyond proofreading. Students must follow the specific requirements for their assessment, including whether the use of AI is limited to proofreading or whether use of other AI-assisted features are permitted.
Students should also refer to the guidance for students on the Use of Generative AI, noting the importance of retaining drafts of their work and any prompts used so they are able to demonstrate the process they have undertaken.
Electronic translation tools or third parties, which take work written in a first language and convert some or all of the work into English may not be used as part of proofreading practice.
4. Student authorship
The University expects students to take full responsibility for the originality and ownership of their work. It is therefore the sole responsibility of students to ensure that any proofreading done by third parties does not compromise the intellectual contribution of the student’s work. The integrity of the degrees and other academic awards made by the University rests upon the principle that work submitted for assessment represents the student’s own effort and understanding, with the intellectual contributions not attributable to the student(s) submitting the work, clearly identified, as appropriate to the academic discipline.
5. Risks of third-party proofreading and academic misconduct
Students should be aware of the potential consequences of submitting work which they cannot claim solely as their own, due to proofreading by third parties (including digital tools) or any other contribution. This includes the risk of being charged with academic misconduct. In such cases, students who find themselves subject to investigation for academic misconduct are not able to claim in defence that their work has been subject to third party proofreading. Such assistance from a third party proofreader may be considered to constitute the offence of misuse of GenAI or contract cheating, as defined in Regulation XVIII as:
Extract from Regulation XVIII - Academic Misconduct, paragraph 2
- Unauthorised or unacknowledged use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), paraphrasing/translation software, or other computer assistance such that the work submitted, including referencing cannot be considered wholly the student’s own. The University has guidance on the appropriate use of GenAI in assessed work and students should also refer to the relevant assessment brief for the requirements of how GenAI may or may not be used in a particular context.
- Contract cheating – engaging a third party to complete assessed work for a student who then submits it as their own. This can be where a student uses generative AI extensively, or uses an online “essay mill” or writing service to purchase work, but it is not necessary for money to be exchanged for contract cheating to occur – e.g. it may involve a student swapping papers with another student, or a student asking a friend, colleague, or family member to write an assignment for them as a favour. Contract cheating may also occur where a student arranges to have their work copy-edited or proof-read, either commercially or by a friend, colleague, or family member, and the amendments made are so substantial that the work can no longer be considered to be the student’s own.
6. Demonstration of authorship
Where it is suspected that a student is not the sole author of the work, the University will expect a student to demonstrate authorship through the presentation of earlier drafts of the work and, where appropriate, discussion with staff. Where concerns remain, action will be taken through the University academic misconduct procedures.
