CAES Rules

3. Academic Honesty

HKU expects all students to display a high level of integrity when completing course assignments. Any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and failure to observe the rules and conduct of academic integrity will result in negative consequences. As such, you should complete your course assessments honestly at all times. Examples of basic principles of academic honesty include: (i) completing the entire assessments yourself; (ii) NOT submitting the same assessment more than once unless specified otherwise by the course teachers concerned, and (iii) not colluding (i.e. cooperating with others secretly with an intention to deceive) with anyone when producing your work.

 

We would like to draw your attention to sections 3.1 and 3.2 for details of two common forms of academic misconduct which result in severe consequences.

 

3.1 Plagiarism and self-plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as “the use of another person’s work (including but not limited to any materials, creations, ideas and data) as if one’s own without due acknowledgement, whether or not such work has been published and regardless of the intent to deceive” in the Policy on Student Plagiarism in Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Curricular (116/1080). Some common types of plagiarism include:

• paraphrasing and/or quoting without acknowledgement;
• inappropriate paraphrasing and/or quotation of sourced content

 

This is not an exhaustive list but it gives you an idea of some common types of plagiarism cases in students’ work.

Self-plagiarism is defined as “the reuse of one’s own work without acknowledging that such work has been submitted elsewhere” in the Policy on Student Plagiarism in Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Curricula (116/1080). Students should not submit the same piece of work for different courses (except for adjunct English-in-the-Discipline courses and with teachers’ permission). They should always check with the teacher if they are unsure.

Examples of plagiarism:

You are strongly advised to visit the following links about the University’s Policy on Plagiarism:

https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism/how-to-avoid-plagiarism/

Learning resources to help you avoid plagiarism:

https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism/learning-resources/

 

Consequences of Plagiarism

In the University of Hong Kong, plagiarism is a disciplinary offence. If a submission contains plagiarism, only the unplagiarised parts will be marked. This may result in the work being considered as incomplete, unstructured, lacking content and organization.

The link below contains information about consequences and disciplinary procedures concerning students who have committed plagiarism:

https://tl.hku.hk/plagiarism/consequences-of-plagiarism/

 

3.2 Ghostwriting and its consequences

Ghostwriting, also known as ‘contract cheating’, is when a student gets someone (paid or unpaid) to complete part of OR all of an assignment.  It is serious academic misconduct. CAES takes ghostwriting very seriously and when such cases are confirmed, severe penalty will apply. The assignment concerned will be treated as a non-submission (i.e. 0 mark). Such cases will also be reported to students’ Home Faculty for disciplinary action. If such cases are further reported to the University Disciplinary Committee, the student who is found guilty is subject to various forms of punishment, details of which can be found in section 4 of Statute XXXI of the University’s Statutes and the Disciplinary Committee Regulation: https://calendar.hku.hk/disciplinary-committee-regulations/

4. The use of generative artificial intelligence in CAES assignments

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is technology that generates text, images, or other types of content in response to prompts given by the user. If used appropriately, it can help students to develop their thinking, language, and communication skills, and may enhance the quality of their work. Using GenAI inappropriately can result in learning loss, generic assignments, inaccurate and biased content, reduced self-efficacy, academic misconduct, and disciplinary action.

• Appropriate use involves employing GenAI to support learning while actively and critically engaging with assignment tasks, taking full control and ownership.
• Inappropriate use occurs when GenAI is relied upon to perform tasks that should be done personally, and when it is used in ways that compromise academic integrity.

Examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of GenAI use for CAES assignments:

Appropriate use	–          exploring ideas and perspectives related to the assignment topic –          assisting in understanding texts and technical vocabulary –          advising on genre conventions and common structures for the assignment type –          providing feedback on your ideas, language, and writing
Inappropriate use	–          generating fake references –          using GenAI output as academic or professional knowledge –          citing GenAI output (it does not create knowledge) –          generating part or all of your assignment, including paraphrases, sentences and paragraphs –          copying and pasting CAES learning materials and assessment guidelines into GenAI applications

Your assignments should reflect your learning, genuine voice, and stance. Always critically reflect on GenAI assistance and make sure that you are confident that the language use and arguments you make in your assignment are your own and appropriate for an academic or professional text.

You should read the course information carefully and speak with your teacher before assignment deadlines if you are unsure about the appropriate use of GenAI.