Academic Honesty

Avoiding plagiarism, collusion & cheating.

The University of Adelaide regards breaches of the Academic Honesty Policy as unacceptable.

To access the University of Adelaide’s policies and procedures on academic honesty see the website: www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230/

The English Language Centre

While studying in the ELC, students will learn about academic honesty, plagiarism and referencing conventions. These protocols and practices are extremely important in Australian universities and students will benefit greatly in their University award program from learning about these practices while at the ELC.

Students will learn that it is unacceptable to:

  1. Plagiarise: where students present work for assessment that is not their own, without appropriate attribution or reference to the original source.  
    Plagiarism includes:
    • Paraphrasing sentences or whole paragraphs without reference to the original work;
    • Adopting the ideas or concepts of others, including the structure of an existing analysis without due acknowledgement by way of reference to the original work or source.
  2. Collude: where students present work as independent work when it has in fact been produced in whole or in part with others (including persons external to the University) unless prior permission for joint or collaborative work has been given by the Education Program Manager in the task sheet.
    Collusion includes:
    • Inappropriately assisting another student/person with or accepting assistance from another student/person with the production of an assessment task;
    • Submitting work which is the same or substantially similar as another student's work for the same assessment task.
  3. Cheat: where a student acts in such a way as to seek to gain unfair advantage or assist another student to do so. 
    Cheating can include:
    • Submitting an assessment task with the intention of deceiving or misleading the assessor about the student's contribution to the work;
    • Submitting an assessment task written or answered for the student by another person or which the student has copied from another person;
    • Separately submitting the same piece of work as another student with the intention to deceive the assessor as to the contribution they have made to the assessment task;
    • Submitting the same piece of their own work, or significant parts of that work, for two (or more) different courses, without the assessor’s permission;
    • A student falsely indicating that they have been present at an activity where attendance is required;
    • Completing an assessment task outside the conditions specified for that task (in order to mislead or gain an unfair advantage).
  4. Cheat in examinations: where a student engages in dishonest practice or breaches the rules regarding examinations.
    Cheating in examinations can include:
    • Communicating in any way during an examination with any person who is not a teacher or invigilator inside or outside the examination venue; communicating with any student while still in possession of the exam papers in the examination room; 
    • Giving or accepting assistance from any person who is not an examination supervisor whilst in the examination venue;
    • Reading, copying from or otherwise using another student's work in an examination or knowingly allowing a student to do so;
    • Possessing, referring to or having access to any material or device containing information directly or indirectly related to the subject matter under examination, other than that explicitly approved by the Education  Program Manager. This includes using electronic dictionaries & mobile phones while in the examination room; using mobile phones or any electronic device during a break between exam sections;
    • Permitting another person to attend an examination on a student's behalf or attending an examination on behalf of another student.

Responsibilities of the Student

  • Read and abide by all instructions distributed by the Teaching Staff, including course guides and assessment task requirements.
  • Seek assistance with your learning and assessment tasks if you are unsure of appropriate forms of acknowledgement and referencing.
  • Submit assessment tasks according to staff instructions.
  • Submit for assessment, whether by examination or otherwise, only your own piece of work, except where:
    • The work of others is appropriately acknowledged;
    • The assessor has required, or given prior permission for group or collaborative work to be submitted.
  • Take reasonable steps to prevent your own assessment work being copied by another student with the intention to deceive the assessor.
  • Not produce all or part of an assessment work for another student with the intention to deceive the assessor.
  • Use quotations, paraphrasing, referencing and acknowledgement in accordance with accepted academic conventions and with any explicit instructions given by the assessor. 

Consequences of breaching the Academic Honesty Policy

Students who breach the Academic Honesty guidelines will face academic consequences (NOTE: this can range from failing the assignment to failing the program).

As an ELC student you are required to read the guidelines and ask for clarification if you don’t understand any of the points.