Academic integrity

Academic integrity is a form of ethical behaviour that is particularly important to your role as part of the academic community at Flinders University. It is one aspect of the Flinders University graduate qualities that “value ethical behaviour”.

These are the main principles of student academic integrity at Flinders University:

• undertaking your academic studies responsibly and honestly
• producing your own work and not passing off the work of other people as your own
• adequately acknowledging the work of other people when you include it in your work
• not falsifying any work
• using only authorised resources during assessment tasks

Here are some common ways in which students don’t meet academic integrity requirements.

• Plagiarism, which is passing off someone else’s work as your own. This includes copying word for word another’s work, paraphrasing or using another’s ideas as if they were one’s own, and "borrowing" facts and figures without proper acknowledgement. Another way plagiarism happens is when you take an assignment you have already done and resubmit it, or parts of it, for another task. This is known as ‘self-plagiarism’.
• Collusion, which is when two or more students collaborate on an individual assignment. Examples of collusion include letting someone copy your answers on a test or allowing someone to write or edit your assignment.
• Cheating, such as copying answers on a test or commissioning others to write an assignment. Examples include using essay mills and ghost writers.
• Misrepresentation, such as asking someone else to sit your exam or falsifying data or a medical certificate.

A more comprehensive list of examples and explanations can be found in Schedule 3 of the Student Academic Integrity Policy.

• Approach your work honestly and responsibly.
• Make sure you understand what academic integrity is at Flinders University. Do the tutorial and quiz in FLO.
• Seek clarification from your tutor, lecturer or topic coordinator if you are unsure about the requirements of an assessment task.  Don’t simply rely on advice from other students.
• Develop your academic skills.  There are some ideas below on how to do this.
• Check for unintentional plagiarism by submitting a draft of your work through the text-matching software (Turnitin) draft submission box in your FLO Topic or on the SLC FLO page.  See more information below.

Find out more by visiting the student FLO (Flinders Learning Online) site on academic integrity.

Text-matching software compares submitted documents against an archive of digital documents, scholastic and news databases, articles and previously submitted papers. A report is generated where all matched text is highlighted and linked to an online source, giving you the opportunity to review your writing and referencing before final assignment submission.

Flinders University provides text-matching software (Turnitin) for use by staff and students. Except where an exemption has been granted for special circumstances, all text-based student assignments will be subject to text-matching.

To check your work prior to final submission, you can submit a draft through the text-matching DRAFT submission box on your topic’s FLO page.  The Student Learning Centre FLO page  also provides a text-matching software DRAFT submission box. Submitting your work through either draft submission box will generate a report for you, allowing you to make changes to your assignment before handing in your final version.  Information on how to interpret the text-matching report can be found on the Academic Integrity FLO page.

If you have any difficulties using the text-matching software on FLO, you can find help and information on the Academic Integrity FLO page, or you can contact the FLO Student Helpdesk.

Developing strong academic skills makes it easier to maintain academic integrity. Develop your skills by:

• visiting the Student Learning Centre website to find a range of excellent resources on time management, academic reading, note taking, referencing and academic writing
• asking for help from the academics in the Learning Lounge located in the Central and Sturt libraries
• booking an appointment with a Librarian to help you find better academic resources
• checking out the Search Smart guides that can be accessed anywhere at anytime.
• asking your tutors or lecturers about specific requirements in your topics

As a student you should know and understand your rights and responsibilities. The consequences for deliberately engaging in academic misconduct can affect your grades and in some cases hinder your future career. Rules, rights and responsibilities around academic integrity are outlined in the University’s Student Academic Integrity Policy.