Doctoral College

Research training and skills

A woman wearing a lanyard and a light blue shirt engages in conversation with two other individuals at what appears to be an academic or professional event.

Your research degree includes some essential training that you are required to complete. A full list of mandatory training courses and guidance can be found on our Mandatory Training webpage.

For a wider range of training and professional development opportunities to support your studies and future career, please visit the dedicated Researcher Development webpage.

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. If you are found to have plagiarised work, you could be deregistered from the university.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own without giving them credit. This includes:

  • Copying text  directly from any source (like books, websites, or another student's work) without using quotation marks and a reference.
  • Using someone else's ideas  from a source and not acknowledging where they came from.
  • 'Patchwriting' – building your essay by copying large sections from other sources and only writing a few linking sentences yourself.

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

You are allowed to use AI tools in your research, but you  must  reference them properly. For full details on how to do this, please see the AI section 5.9 in the TQA at Chapter 11 - Presentation of theses/dissertations for Postgraduate Research degrees: statement of procedures - Teaching Quality Assurance Manual .

Where to find more information

If you are unsure

If you are ever unsure about what counts as plagiarism or how to avoid it, please speak to your supervisor or your Pastoral Tutor. It is always better to ask for help beforehand.

Sharing your research outputs openly increases the impact and value of your work. The primary benefits of Open Access include:

  • Enhancing the visibility and citation of your research.
  • Supporting the development of your research profile and career.
  • Creating further opportunities for funding and collaboration.
  • Meeting the broader research community's commitment to transparency.

The following outlines the key requirements for Postgraduate Research students as per the University's Open Access and Research Data Management Policy.

1. E-Theses submission

You are required to deposit an electronic copy of your final thesis to the University's institutional repository, Open Research Exeter (ORE), via the Symplectic system. This is a mandatory step before your degree can be awarded.

2. Research publications

You are expected to comply with the specific Open Access requirements of your research funder and the University's policy. All peer-reviewed research papers published during your registration should be made openly available in ORE as soon as possible.

  • Support for publishing: The University has established ‘Transformative Agreements’ with many publishers, which may allow you to publish open access at no direct cost. Funding may also be available for publishing in fully open access journals.
  • Guidance: The Open Research Team can provide detailed advice on complying with these requirements.

3. Management of research data

a) Student and supervisor responsibilities:

The primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of research data rests with you, the student. Your lead supervisor is responsible for guiding you in adopting good research data management practices. If your research is part of a larger project, the Principal Investigator (PI) will define the project-specific data policy, which you must follow.

b) Annual review:

You and your supervisor should discuss and formally review your research data management plan on an annual basis. This review should cover:

  • Data capture, integrity, confidentiality, and security.
  • Selection, preservation, and potential disposal of data.
  • Issues relating to commercialisation, costs, sharing, and publication.

A checklist is available to support this annual review.

c) Deposit and access after completion:

After the submission of your thesis, you must register a record of your selected research data in ORE, including a descriptive statement in the thesis record. Where it is legally, ethically, and commercially appropriate, the data itself should also be made openly accessible in a suitable repository.

  • Embargoes: You are entitled to apply an embargo to your research data, typically for an initial period of up to 18 months, to allow for privileged use.

Planning your data management

Effective planning from the outset will save considerable time and effort. As you begin your research, please consider the following:

  • Reference management: Using a dedicated tool (e.g. EndNote, Mendeley) is strongly recommended for organising literature and citations.
  • Secure storage: The University provides secure storage solutions, including 5TB of OneDrive for Business space. Confidential or sensitive data must not be stored on unauthorised cloud services (e.g. personal Dropbox accounts) or transferred via email; it must be encrypted and stored in accordance with your ethical approval.
  • Data back-up: Maintain a robust back-up routine for all your research data, particularly if using portable storage devices, to  avoid data loss.
  • File organisation: Develop a logical and consistent structure for your files and folders, and a clear version-control system for documents.
  • Documentation: Document the methodology and context of your data creation at the time of collection. This ensures the data remains understandable and reusable in the long term.
  • Funder policies: Familiarise yourself with your funder's specific policy on Open Access for both research data and publications. See the  Digital Curation Centre's page for an overview of funders' policies and the  University of Exeter PGR policy. 

Further information and support

For detailed guidance, please consult the following resources:

For specific queries, contact the Open Research Team:

Email: openaccess@exeter.ac.uk or rdm@exeter.ac.uk

Training sessions on Open Access and Research Data Management are also offered through the Researcher Development programme.

At the University of Exeter, we encourage all academic staff and research students to get an ORCID ID. This connects you to a global community of researchers. 

An ORCID ID is a unique, personal code that distinguishes you from every other researcher. It automatically links to your professional work, such as publications, to make sure you get proper credit for your research. 

How to register 

  1. You can create your ORCID ID through a simple registration process on the official ORCID website. 
  2. Once you have your ID, you must register it with the University using your MyPGR account. 

For more details on how this fits into your overall progress, please see the section on the Personal Development Plan (PDP). 

Further information 

You can find more about ORCID and why it is important on our University's Research Services web pages. You can also visit the official ORCID website. 

From 1 August 2024, all Postgraduate Researchers (PGR) must include a statement in their upgrade portfolio and final thesis. This statement must confirm if and how they have used Generative AI (GenAI) in their work.

If you do not include this statement, the University will assume you have not used any GenAI tools.

Where to put the statement

The statement must be placed at the end of the upgrade or thesis/dissertation documents, before the reference list.

What to include

You must include one of the following two statements. Copy and paste the one that applies to you at the end of your document, before your reference list.

Option 1: If you HAVE used GenAI

Use this statement and delete any of the bullet points that do not apply to your work.

I acknowledge the use of [insert name of GenAI tool(s) and link] to:

  • generate materials for background research and independent study
  • generate materials that I have adapted to include within my final assessment
  • refine writing / improve grammar within my final assessment

I confirm that no content from generative AI has been presented as my own work.

Option 2: If you have NOT used GenAI

Use this statement if no GenAI tools were used in preparing your work.

I have not used any generative AI tools in preparing this assessment.

Important rules and consequences

You will not be penalised for using GenAI tools, as long as you follow the latest University referencing guidance.

However, if you use GenAI and do not declare it, this will be treated as research misconduct. The procedures for this are in the TQA manual, Chapter 13.

Keeping records

If you use GenAI, you must keep a detailed record of how you used it. This should include:

  • The prompts you used
  • The outputs you received from the AI
  • How you adapted the AI output for your work

You do not need to include this record in your thesis, but you may be asked to provide it as evidence later, for example, during your viva exam.

Further guidance

More information can be found in the TQA PGR Student Handbook:

Background from the Dean of Postgraduate Research (November 2023)

The Doctoral College recognises that the use of generative AI tools by our PGRs is a sensitive area that is raising questions from students and supervisors alike. Late in the last academic year we reviewed the position adopted at Exeter for taught students. This recognises that AI tools have potential benefits for students but formulates a principle that any use of it must always be acknowledged by students. Since the Russell Group recently reached a similar position, it is likely that this will become standard across the sector. 

Please note that the definition of plagiarism, in the TQA manual section on research misconduct, has been revised to acknowledge the benefits and risks of AI. It now encompasses: 'Direct copying of text or illustrations from a webpage, book, article, thesis, handout, fellow student's work, web page, AI-generated content or other source without proper acknowledgement' (Ch. 13 2.3.3).

We appreciate that this is a rapidly changing field, and that students will welcome further guidance. Training materials are presently in development, for launch in the new year. Please note also that the University Library has published referencing guidance for the use of generative AI tools.

Training Needs Analysis Forms are located online and can be found here.