1. The purpose of this protocol
This protocol provides advice to staff and students to support academic integrity at Adelaide University.
It provides detailed examples of types of academic misconduct that may be investigated under the Academic Misconduct Procedure, as well as providing indicative standard, mitigated, and exacerbated outcomes.
This protocol should be read in conjunction with the Academic Misconduct Procedure which gives effect to the Academic Integrity Policy.
2. Who this protocol applies to
This protocol applies to:
- current and past students who are or have been enrolled in courses as part of either a coursework or non-award program.
- current or past students enrolled in a research program, who are or have been enrolled in coursework components of the program.
Academic Integrity Officers and Formal Inquiry Panels will use the Protocol as a guide for consistency in application, and as appropriate to individual cases of academic misconduct.
3. The academic misconduct protocol
The Academic Misconduct Protocol provides advice and guidance to staff and students to assist them in understanding Academic Misconduct at Adelaide University.
The examples of academic misconduct (section 3.1) provide examples of actions, or attempted actions, that students may take to obtain an unfair academic advantage. While this list cannot be exhaustive it provides guidance about Adelaide University’s expectations around academic integrity to both staff and students.
Concerns about potential academic misconduct are managed according to the Academic Misconduct Procedure.
Under the procedure if academic misconduct is found students can be issued with either a warning or a penalty.
The Indicative Academic Misconduct Outcomes (section 3.2) assists Academic Integrity Officers (AIOs) in implementing the Academic Integrity Policy consistently. The table is not exhaustive, and AIO discretion will apply in the application of outcomes. It also gives advice to student about some of the possible consequences should they try to gain an unfair academic advantage by engaging in academic misconduct.
3.1 Examples of Academic Misconduct
Examples of academic misconduct may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Plagiarism - is presenting other people’s work or ideas as the student’s own without appropriate acknowledgement. Plagiarism can include:
- copying any material without acknowledging the source
- paraphrasing sentences or whole passages without referencing the source
- using the ideas, creation, or concepts of others, without acknowledging the source.
- Collusion - is unauthorised collaboration in preparation or presentation of work, including knowingly allowing personal work to be copied by others.
- Contract cheating - is commissioning and/or submitting work which was completed by someone else, whether paid or unpaid. Contract cheating can include:
- knowingly submitting completed or partially completed assignment produced by a commercial service or paid contractor, by a friend, family member, student or staff member of Adelaide University
- arranging for another person to sit an exam, complete a task or quiz, or complete an assignment.
- Exam cheating - is a deliberate attempt to gain an unfair academic advantage, including:
- unauthorised early access to assignment/exam or answer sheet
- communicating with or copying from another person during an exam
- supplying, receiving or using unauthorised material in an exam
- any other conduct that would give an unfair academic advantage to a student.
- File sharing - is the unauthorised distribution of copyrighted course materials, assignment documents, exam questions, completed assignments, or the use thereof.
- Self-plagiarism - is submitting work for which the student has received or intends to receive credit in the same course or other courses or attempting to gain credit for the same work twice.
- Falsification - is presenting misleading or untrue information as part of an assignment submission. Falsification can include:
- submitting falsified, copied or inappropriately altered data or results as part of assessment
- altering or falsifying any document or record for the purposes of gaining academic advantage or meeting assignment requirements
- deliberate attempts to deceive about assignment submission times, word counts, attendance or participation in learning activities
- inclusion of citations to non-existent or incorrect sources
- sharing login credentials to pose as another student or enabling another person to pose as the student as per the IT Acceptable Use Procedure.
- Solicitation – is when a student offers or gives money or any item or service to an Adelaide University staff member or any other person to gain academic advantage for the student or another person.
- Inappropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) – is to subvert the aims of assignment or give the student an unfair academic advantage. Inappropriate use of AI can include but is not limited to:
- submitting work produced (or produced in part) by generative artificial intelligence as the student’s own work
- using information generated by artificial intelligence without acknowledgement or attribution
- using artificial intelligence or digital tools to submit work which significantly misrepresents the student’s level of competence
- using digital tools to disguise plagiarism, collusion, copying, contract cheating or any other form of Academic Misconduct.
- Promoting cheating - is promoting or being involved in facilitating ways to breach Academic Integrity. It is a criminal offence to advertise or offer Contract Cheating services.
3.2 Indicative academic misconduct outcomes
Type of academic misconduct | Standard outcome | Mitigated outcome | Exacerbated outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
Plagiarism Inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence | Reduction of mark up to and including zero for the assignment | One of the following:
| One of the following:
|
| Collusion | Zero for assignment | Reduction of mark up to and including zero for the assignment | Zero for course |
| Exam cheating | Zero for assignment | Reduction of mark up to and including zero for the assignment | One or both of:
|
| Contract cheating | Zero for course | Zero for assignment | Both:
Or |
| Falsification, fabrication or misrepresentation of assignment content, for example falsified data or references | Zero for assignment | Reduction of mark up to and including zero for the assignment |
|
| Fabrication or falsification of documentation, or certifications (**see below for examples) | One or both of:
And
And one of: | One or both of:
And
| One or both of:
And both:
|
| Solicitation | Zero for course And one of: | Zero for course | Both:
|
| File-sharing | Zero for assignment (and student must remove all material from the site) | A warning (and student must remove all material from the site) | Both:
Or |
| Promoting cheating | One of: | One of:
| Expulsion from Adelaide University |
| Pattern of repeated or extensive misconduct across multiple assignments in a course or program | One of: | Zero for course | Expulsion from Adelaide University |
** This includes, but is not limited to:
- Medical certificates, supporting documentation from community leaders or cultural Elders, Access Plans, or any other documentation used to support an application for a Variation to Assessment.
- Certificates, or professional or legal checks presented by students as requirements for their program, or WIL or assessment activities, for example Working with Children Checks, Police Checks, First Aid Certificates etc.
Course Coordinators should take steps to confirm the authenticity of documents before initiating an academic misconduct report.