Academic Honesty Policy

1. Introduction
2. Responsibility of University
3. Responsibilities of Faculties
4. Responsibilities of Schools
5. Responsibilities of Academic Staff
6. Rights of Students
7. Responsibilities of Students

1. Introduction

This Code of Practice sets out the general responsibilities of the University, Faculties, Schools, individual academic staff and students to ensure that academic honesty is fostered as a core value of the University.

[Back to Top]

2. Responsibility of University

The University will:

1. ensure that its policies and procedures on academic honesty are publicised and accessible to academic staff and students;
2. ensure that its policies and procedures on academic honesty are implemented, and applied consistently across all Faculties, and their implementation monitored via Academic Board annual reports;
3. promote best practice in the detection of academic dishonesty, including possible use of plagiarism detection tools; and
4. ensure equity of all processes pertaining to academic honesty.

[Back to Top]

3. Responsibilities of Faculties

25.1 Each Faculty will:

1. develop strategies to ensure the implementation of the Academic Honesty Policy, Procedures for Dealing with Alleged Breaches of Academic Honesty and this Code of Practice for Academic Honesty;
2. establish and maintain appropriate procedures to oversee and monitor School and Faculty implementation of University policy, and Faculty and School procedures on academic honesty.

25.2 Once per year, each Faculty will prepare a report to the Faculty Board on:

1. School strategies for promoting academic honesty;
2. the number of cases of academic dishonesty which have been handled in the relevant reporting period; and
3. the manner in which breaches of academic honesty have been dealt with by Schools within the Faculty.

25.3 A report from each Faculty Board will be submitted to Academic Board annually.

[Back to Top]

4. Responsibilities of Schools

Each School will:

1. inform students of their requirements by providing or directing students to style guides for the presentation of assignments and other assessment tasks. These must specify the styles of writing appropriate for different tasks and the form/s of referencing required for each task;
2. ensure that all academic staff are aware of the need to introduce and reinforce student understanding of the professional and academic skills required at all course levels;
3. ensure that all academic staff are aware of, and provide advice to students regarding, the available sources of assistance for students seeking to develop their skills in academic writing and, in particular, preparation and presentation of assignments and other assessment tasks;
4. incorporate material into first year courses that will assist students to understand the meaning and practical application of academic honesty;
5. ensure that relevant School publications (printed and electronic) include statements which:
   1. make it clear that plagiarism, collusion, recycling and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable;
   2. provide clear guidelines outlining what constitutes legitimate co-operation and collaboration, where it is encouraged and where it is prohibited;
   3. provide clear guidelines on groupwork, especially concerning assessment and division of tasks among group members and monitoring of groupwork by academic staff, to ensure fair assessment;
6. implement appropriate security practices for submission and return of assessment tasks; and
7. maintain a register of warnings issued regarding academic dishonesty.

[Back to Top]

5. Responsibilities of Academic Staff

Academic staff will:

1. ensure that they are familiar with current University, Faculty and School policies and procedures with respect to academic honesty, and apply them consistently;
2. design a realistic assessment regime, preferably one which is coordinated across the course to prevent undue workload pressure on students at key times of the academic year;
3. clearly explain in Unit Outlines academic expectations, writing protocols and referencing styles appropriate to the particular academic discipline and to required assessment tasks;
4. provide appropriate conditions for groupwork and make clear to students the distinction between groupwork, levels of legitimate co-operation and collaboration, and requirements for individual work;
5. be aware of and responsive to different cultural backgrounds of students, especially in relation to the use of the work of others and to academic writing skills; and
6. provide students with early notification and fair warning if they believe any individual or group may be at risk of breaching academic honesty standards.

[Back to Top]

6. Rights of Students

Students have a right to:

1. have access to University, Faculty and School policies and procedures with regard to academic honesty;
2. be provided with clear guidelines on academic writing and referencing styles required in each School/discipline;
3. be provided with clear information on assessment requirements in each Unit Outline, especially concerning aspects involving individual and/or collective assessment;
4. be provided with clear guidelines relating to all aspects of groupwork, its operation, monitoring and assessment;
5. be provided with clear guidelines on the level of co-operation and collaboration permitted within each assessment component;
6. expect consistent application of academic honesty policies, procedures and practices at University, Faculty and School levels;
7. receive feedback which assists them to review their work;
8. receive early notification or fair warning in any case in which an academic believes a student or group of students may be at risk of breaching the University’s standards of academic honesty; and
9. participate in appropriate learning experiences which are offered in order to improve their competency in writing and study skills, understanding of the requirements of group work, and development of personal attributes, in particular, ethical behaviour.

[Back to Top]

7. Responsibilities of Students

Students have a responsibility to:

1. become familiar with University regulations, course rules and associated written procedures, which govern the status and conduct of students within the University and to conduct themselves in a manner which is consistent with those documents;
2. understand and act in accordance with the University’s published principles of academic honesty in the preparation, conduct and submission of assessment tasks;
3. seek clarification, if necessary, to ensure they clearly understand assessment conditions and requirements, and appropriate writing, referencing and assessment practice in their units and course(s);
4. submit only work which is their own, or which properly acknowledges the thoughts, ideas, findings and/or work of others; for example:
   1. state clearly in the appropriate form where they found any material on which they have based their work, using the referencing system described in the Unit Outline;
   2. acknowledge the people whose thoughts, ideas, experimental works, conclusions, drawings, designs, data, computer programs or other creative work they have extracted, developed or summarised, even if they put these into their own words, data or designs;
   3. avoid excessive copying of passages or works of another author, even where the source is acknowledged. The student should use another form of words to show that the student has thought about the material and understood it, but state clearly where they found the ideas;
5. seek assistance from appropriate sources to remedy any identified deficiencies in their academic skills;
6. avoid lending to or sharing original work with others for any reason; and
7. retain materials which would demonstrate evidence of their authorship of assessable work (eg record of library borrowings, addresses of internet sites accessed, notes compiled, drafts of an assessment task).

[Back to Top]