Among students, the most frequent case of academic fraud is "cheating", i.e. behaving in a dishonest way to boost one’s performance. This is particularly the case when students resort to unauthorized aids or behaviors during courses and exams. Examples include:  

• copying someone else’s work

• copying a seminar paper or a homework assignment

• using cheat sheets, cell phones, smartwatches, earphones

• pretending to be someone else

• using unauthorized calculators with memory function

• failing to cite sources properly in a seminar paper

• submitting the same written assignment (or parts thereof) in different courses without a reference to this in the assignment

• during online exams: speaking, using headphones, having other people in the same room

• violating other requirements or rules of conduct set by examiners or the course instructors

• free riding during group projects, e.g,. letting others do all the work and benefiting from it in the grading process

If a student is found to be cheating or to have cheated during an exam, a procedure for invalidating the exam in question will be initiated. Exams are declared void because of cheating and will count as a lost examination attempt. All people involved will be barred from registering for the respective exam for four months.

If the cheating attempt concerns a performance component of a course, the entire course will be invalid. It will count as a lost examination attempt. All people involved will be barred from registering for/taking the respective course (or parallel courses) for four months. 

After a detected cheating attempt, WU will not issue you a certification of good student conduct. Please note that you will need one for applying for numerous Master's degree programs, starting your court practice, or for potential employers.

Do you think a hold (barring you from registering for a course or exam) was unfairly imposed?

Write an email to studienrecht@wu.ac.at and describe your view. In doing so, you must show credible evidence that you did not use any unauthorized aids or that you did not violate the respective requirements. However, a mere contradiction is not enough. You must present your claim in a comprehensible manner and provide all available evidence or name witnesses

What rules apply to final theses?

For final theses (Bachelor's/Master's/doctoral and PhD theses) - especially with regard to plagiarism and ghostwriting - the rules laid down in WU's Directive on Plagiarism apply.