Official view from the Student Handbook

The following text is taken from the University Calendar (Section IV) http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-statement.html

1. A key element of academic integrity is understanding good academic practice in written work and creative practice. Understanding how to use the work of other scholars, including your peers, to develop your own insights into a subject and spark new ideas is an important professional skill. The skills you need to succeed in higher education in the United Kingdom may be different to those you have learned at School or College, or in your workplace, as you will be expected to follow professional academic conventions. Within the professional international academic community it is never acceptable to use the words of others or their creative output (whether published or unpublished, including material from the internet) without explicit acknowledgement. To do so would not be seen as a mark of respect but rather as plagiarism.
2. When you take notes from sources, make sure you do so in ways which identify where you are recording your own observations based on the document you are reading, where you are paraphrasing and where you are recording direct quotations. This will be particularly important if you are taking notes over a longer period and then reviewing them later.
3. Learn to plan your study time effectively, be aware of deadlines and leave plenty of time for writing, to avoid the need to take ‘short-cuts’ which could lead to bad academic practice.
4. To demonstrate your knowledge and ability effectively in assignments you need to ensure that you address the question you are asked. Including large amounts of acknowledged pasted material, or overquotation from external sources is likely to detract from the quality and originality of the work and is therefore unlikely to secure good marks.
5. The purpose of assessment is to enable you to develop and demonstrate your own knowledge and understanding of the learning outcomes of a unit or programme, or particular professional skills or competencies. It is entirely appropriate that your work should be informed by, and refer to, the work of others in the field, or to discussions with your peers, tutor or supervisor. However, such contributions must always be acknowledged in accordance with conventions appropriate to the discipline. This requires more than a mention of a source in a bibliography, which may be a practice you are used to at School or College. You should acknowledge each instance of another person’s ideas, artworks or words using the appropriate referencing conventions. It is important to make clear which are your words, ideas, or artworks and which have been taken from others.
6. It is often helpful to discuss ideas and approaches to your work with your peers, and this is a good way to help you think through your own views. However work submitted for assessment should always be entirely your own, except where clearly specified otherwise in the instructions for the assignment. In some instances working in groups will be required, and there may be occasions when work is submitted from the whole group rather than individuals. In these instances the instructions will make it clear how individual contributions to the joint work should be identified and will be assessed. If you are in any doubt, check with the person setting the assignment. If you have worked with others you should make sure that you acknowledge this in any declaration you make (see below).
7. When you submit a piece of coursework you will be asked to declare (eg through use of a signed declaration or ticked box for electronic submission) that you are aware of the requirements of good academic practice, and the potential penalties for any breaches.