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Academic Integrity Policy

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Section 1 - Purpose of Policy

(1) This Policy sets out the University’s expectations for maintaining high standards of academic integrity. It defines behaviours that constitute breaches of academic integrity and therefore academic misconduct.

(2) The Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures set out the processes for dealing with breaches of academic integrity.

(3) This policy also identifies responsibilities and accountabilities for decisions and processes.

(4) This policy should be read in conjunction with the Student Conduct Rules, the Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures and Academic Misconduct Outcome Guidelines.

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Section 2 - Application and Scope

(5) This Policy applies to all staff of the University of Wollongong (UOW) and to all students enrolled in a course or subject offered by UOW (including students studying a UOW course at UOW College). This includes students enrolled in non-award study, and those undertaking a course or subject delivered in collaboration with a partner institution both onshore and offshore.

(6) This policy also applies to:

  1. ex-students who were previously enrolled at UOW,
  2. students on a period of approved leave of absence from their course, and
  3. students who are suspended from their course
where a breach of this policy is reported after the student has either left the University, commenced a period of approved leave or has been suspended.

(7) Where an allegation of academic misconduct relates to a higher degree research student (other than where the student is enrolled in a coursework subject) or where an alleged potential breach relates to a coursework student engaged in research, an investigation will be undertaken in accordance with the Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Research Code Policy.

(8) This Policy does not apply to students enrolled in courses offered by the University of Wollongong in Dubai or the UOW College, as they have their own policy governing academic integrity.

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Section 3 - Policy Principles

(9) Academic integrity is fundamental to learning, teaching and research at the University.

(10) The University is committed to providing a learning environment that instils the values of academic integrity in all students and staff, and to that end, provides educational resources, support and guidance for students and staff.

(11) The University aims to maintain the highest standard of academic integrity and to ensure that academic integrity support and processes are continuously improved.

(12) The University recognises that responsibility for maintaining academic integrity is shared by all members of the University community, including all students and staff.

(13) All work submitted by a student for assessment purposes must be their original work, and the ideas and work of others must be acknowledged and not claimed or presented as their own, either intentionally or unintentionally. The University will support students to develop and demonstrate appropriate acknowledgement practices.

(14) All allegations of suspected breaches of academic integrity will be managed in a fair, consistent, transparent and timely manner in accordance with the Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures and the Student Conduct Rules.

(15) The University will investigate proactively suspected breaches of academic integrity and support staff in managing academic misconduct investigations.

(16) Records of reports, investigations and outcomes will be kept secure and confidential, in accordance with the Privacy Policy and Records Management Policy.

(17) The University will take steps to ensure that academic integrity is maintained in arrangements with any collaborative partner. 

Academic Integrity

(18) The University will promote academic integrity by:

  1. maintaining up-to-date online resources on academic integrity for students and staff;
  2. providing resources and support to staff to assist them in providing guidance and feedback to students to develop their knowledge and skills related to academic integrity; as well as responding to potential allegations of academic misconduct;
  3. monitoring, reviewing and reporting on strategies to promote academic integrity and minimise academic misconduct across the University.

(19) Each course offered by the University must integrate academic integrity instruction, support to develop good practices and assessment on academic integrity within a discipline specific context.

(20) Assessments must be designed to minimise the potential for academic misconduct by students.

(21) The University mandates the completion of the following:

  1. StartSmart: an introductory academic integrity module for all new coursework students, as well as an equivalent program for all new Higher Degree Research (HDR) students.
  2. Academic Integrity Module (AIM): an intervention program for students found to have engaged in poor academic practice or minor academic misconduct.
  3. a professional development module on academic integrity and academic misconduct management for all Academic Integrity Officer (AIO), Faculty Investigation Committee (FIC) Chairs and members of the Student Conduct Committee (SCC). This module is also available and highly recommended for all staff involved in teaching, learning and research.

Academic Misconduct

(22) A student will be in breach of this policy (engage in academic misconduct) if they attempt or succeed in obtaining an academic advantage in an assessment task by unauthorised, unscholarly or unfair means for their own gain or for the benefit of others.

(23) Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Plagiarism
    1. Using another person’s ideas, designs, creative content, code, words or any other work without appropriate acknowledgement;
    2. Submitting for assessment any part of one’s own work previously submitted without appropriate acknowledgement or permission from the subject coordinator;
    3. Using techniques to disguise plagiarised work.
  2. Cheating in an Examination (including in-class test or quiz, whether in person or online)
    1. Communicating with or copying from another person/s during an examination;
    2. Using or possessing prohibited equipment or material during an examination;
    3. Sending, receiving or accessing (or endeavouring to send, receive or access) any source of electronic information during the examination unless specified by the examiner;
    4. Accessing or obtaining an advance copy of an examination paper unless otherwise authorised;
    5. Any other breach of examination conditions as set out in the relevant assessment instructions, subject outline and/or examination rules and procedures.
  3. Contract Cheating
    1. Getting someone else to complete part or the whole of an assessment task for you. This may involve outsourcing to a commercial provider, current or former student, family member or acquaintance. It may or may not involve the exchange of value (eg. money);
    2. Organising another person to take an examination on the student’s behalf.
  4. Collusion / Facilitating Academic Dishonesty
    1. Assisting another student, intentionally or recklessly, to commit an act of academic misconduct;
    2. Unauthorised collaboration with other students on assessable work;
    3. Unauthorised file sharing including uploading or posting a copy of a subject outline, assessment task (including student response), examination item or any other subject or course materials to a website or server without express permission of the University, for any other reason than personal use. Permission should be sought from the subject coordinator for subject materials or the Office of General Counsel for all other material;
    4. Removing or endeavouring to remove from the examination session any question or answer paper, other than paper provided for use by the student during the course of the examination, or other material which is the property of the University, unless authorised by the examination supervisor and examiner. In the case of online examinations, copying, recording, downloading, using screenshot functionality or photographing examination questions or materials, without examiner authorisation.
  5. Misrepresentation / Fabrication
    1. Falsifying or intentionally misrepresenting data, images or information in an assessment task;
    2. Citing references to non-existent or incorrect sources;
    3. Making an untrue statement about attendance or participation in an activity required for assessment purposes (including a professional learning placement).
  6. Misuse use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Technology
    1. Using work (e.g. assignment, essay, exam paper, research paper, creative project, data) generated by an unauthorised artificial intelligence (AI) tool in an assessment without permission from the subject coordinator;
    2. Using work generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in an assessment where this is permitted, but without appropriate acknowledgement.
  7. Academic Fraud – Seeking an unfair academic advantage through submission of fraudulent documentation (including, but not limited to medical certificates) to support a student academic consideration request. Students who falsify documents of this kind may be committing a criminal offence and the matter may be referred to the State or Federal Police.
  8. Any other action or attempted action by a student that may result in an unfair academic advantage for the student, or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for other students.
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Section 4 - Record Keeping

(24) The University will maintain a centralised management system to keep secure and confidential records of cases of alleged academic misconduct and the outcomes of investigations.

(25) All files relating to cases of alleged academic misconduct will be retained and disposed of in accordance with University and statutory requirements.

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Section 5 - Reporting

(26) Each year, the Academic Quality and Standards Division, Faculties, and the Graduate Research School will report up to University Council via the appropriate subcommittees on:

  1. statistics and trends relating to allegations of academic misconduct for both coursework and HDR students;
  2. the manner in which the allegations were dealt with, and
  3. the steps taken to promote academic integrity and minimise academic misconduct across the University.

(27) Statistics and trends will be reported back to Faculties, to support Faculties taking opportunities for continuous quality improvement.

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Section 6 - Roles and Responsibilities

(28) Students will:

  1. act in accordance with the principles of academic integrity in their learning and research;
  2. be familiar with the principles of academic and research integrity (where applicable) both generally and for their discipline or course of study and how it relates to their future professional life;
  3. encourage other students to uphold academic and research integrity and discourage other students from any form of academic misconduct;
  4. familiarise themselves with the expectations for assessment, including assessment task requirements, acknowledgement practice, and marking criteria;
  5. submit only work which properly acknowledges the ideas, designs, code, images, words or works of others and which is otherwise their own original work;
  6. avoid lending or otherwise providing assessment items, directly or indirectly, to other students where it could be reasonably foreseen by the student that their work could be used dishonestly;
  7. be aware of the collective responsibility of proper acknowledgement within group assignments, and be able to substantiate their claims to authorship in a group assignment;
  8. acknowledge that a copy of an item submitted for assessment may be shared with other staff members for the purpose of assessment, or submitted to a text/code-matching software program such as Turnitin for originality checking; and
  9. otherwise refrain from any forms of academic or research misconduct as defined in this or any other University policy document.

(29) The University will:

  1. oversee the development and delivery of appropriate academic integrity education;
  2. take a fair and consistent approach to the identification and investigation of possible cases of academic misconduct and actions to address substantiated allegations of academic misconduct;
  3. ensure that all teaching staff are aware of, and provide advice to students, regarding the available sources of assistance for students; and
  4. maintain secure and confidential records relating to the management allegations of academic misconduct.

(30) Faculties and Schools will:

  1. promote academic and research integrity in its courses as they are developed or reviewed, through the integration of learning experiences and assessment tasks that allow students to develop and demonstrate good academic and research practices as they progress through the course;
  2. ensure that students are required to declare that assessment items submitted are entirely their own;
  3. support Subject Coordinators and teaching staff to promote academic and research integrity within subjects taught in their school and faculty;
  4. support Subject Coordinators and teaching staff, to address allegations of academic misconduct in accordance with published procedures; and
  5. appoint one or more Academic Integrity Officer (AIO).

(31) The Faculty Executive will:

  1. provide support and advice to the Faculty nominated Academic Integrity Officers and recognise their work in workload calculations; and
  2. analyse reports about trends in academic misconduct and advise Faculty Executive and Course and Academic Program Directors about appropriate educational interventions.

(32) Collaborative Partners (Third Party Providers) will:

  1. uphold and promote the principles and practices of academic integrity.
  2. ensure that teaching staff employed by them act in a manner consistent with their responsibilities as set out in clauses 34 and 35.

Part A - Coursework Related Roles and Responsibilities

(33) Subject Coordinators will:

  1. design assessment tasks and learning activities in line with the Teaching and Assessment: Assessment and Feedback Policy in such a way as to support the development of academic integrity skills
  2. ensure that adequate information is provided to students about acknowledgement practice that is appropriate to their field of study and provide examples of what is acceptable and expected;
  3. where appropriate, provide access to text/code-matching software to students as an educative tool in promoting appropriate acknowledgement practice, and use text/code-matching software as a tool in detecting suspected cases of academic misconduct;
  4. where appropriate, provide advice to students on the ethical and unethical use of artificial intelligence tools;
  5. actively seek to identify cases of possible misconduct;
  6. support teaching staff to identify cases of possible misconduct; and
  7. identify and act in accordance with published procedures forms of academic misconduct are suspected.

(34) Teaching staff will:

  1. demonstrate academic integrity within their teaching practices and act as role models for their students;
  2. enable and support students to become aware of academic expectations and what constitutes academic misconduct, taking into account their level of experience in the university environment, and their social and cultural background;
  3. provide feedback to students on acknowledgement practice and refer them to sources of advice and support when necessary;
  4. give clear guidelines for group work and make clear the distinction between group work and individual work; and
  5. inform the Subject Coordinator whenever academic misconduct is alleged in a coursework subject, in accordance with published procedures;

(35) Academic Integrity Officers will carry out investigations of alleged academic misconduct in accordance with the Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures.

(36) The Faculty Investigation Committee and Student Conduct Committee will act in accordance with the Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures.

(37) The Academic Quality and Standards Division will maintain a secure and confidential academic misconduct system for the management of allegations of academic misconduct across the University.

Part B - Research Related Roles and Responsibilities

(38) Research supervisors, including Honours Coordinators will:

  1. promote academic and research integrity and actively seek to identify cases of potential academic misconduct or potential breaches of the Code of Practice - Responsible Conduct of Research by students they are supervising; and
  2. provide guidance on the conduct of research and the preparation of a thesis or dissertation for assessment, a research paper or a report for publication or presentation

(39) Research Integrity Advisors are responsible for providing advice and guidance on the responsible conduct of research and how a potential breach of the Code can be reported. The Graduate Research School will provide resources and support HDR supervisors to promote academic skills and minimise opportunities for academic misconduct for students undertaking HDR courses, thesis subjects and in the preparation of papers or reports for publication or presentation.

(40) Research Integrity Development and Ethics will maintain policies and provide training in relation to the responsible conduct of research.

(41) Roles and responsibilities for the handling of potential breaches of the Code of Practice - Responsible Conduct of Research are outlined in the Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Research Code Policy.

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Section 7 - Resource Provision and Support Related Roles and Responsibilities

(42) The Office of Academic Integrity (OAI), in collaboration with other Units across the University are responsible for:

  1. identifying and developing resources to support academic integrity;
  2. providing information, resources, advice and consultation to academic units and teaching staff on methods of integrating learning activities and designing assessment tasks in courses and subjects in order to develop student understanding of academic integrity and proficiency in relevant academic skills;
  3. providing support for students to develop academic skills to minimise the potential for academic misconduct;
  4. developing and maintaining online resources regarding academic integrity for students and staff;
  5. providing resources and professional development to teaching staff to enable the efficient identification of inadequate acknowledgement practice; and
  6. providing resources for the use of text/code-matching software by staff and students to support the development of good acknowledgement practice.
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Section 8 - Definitions

Word/Term Definition
Academic Integrity Academic integrity involves upholding ethical and acknowledgement standards in all aspects of academic work, including learning, teaching and research. It involves acting with the principles of honesty, fairness, trust and responsibility and requires respect for knowledge and its development. Academic integrity is foundational to the work of the whole academic community, including students, teachers, researchers, coordinators and administrators.
Academic Integrity Officer (AIO) One of several academic staff members in a Faculty (at the level of Lecturer or above) who are responsible for making (or helping to make) an initial determination of the allegation of academic misconduct, for actioning a low-level outcome where appropriate within their Faculty, and for maintaining records. The AIO will undertake the duties as described in the Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures.
Academic Misconduct For the purposes of this policy, Academic Misconduct is the conduct set out in section 3 of this Policy.
Acknowledgement Acknowledgement involves the practice of respecting, referencing and giving credit to the words, ideas, designs, interpretations and influences of others.
Coursework All work undertaken as part of a non-research award course or non-award course, as well as any non-research components of a Higher Degree Research course. Coursework also includes research subjects undertaken by undergraduate honours and postgraduate coursework students.
Student A person enrolled to study or registered for a course. It also includes an ex-student of the University, a student on an approved period of leave of absence or a student who has been suspended from the University who, in any such case, was a student at the time of an alleged breach of this policy.
Turnitin An online service integrated with the University’s eLearning platform that provides a streamlined process for submitting, assessing student submissions and providing feedback online. It also provides a text-matching tool to assist in preventing and identifying plagiarism.