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

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.

Resubmitting your own work, which is when you take an assignment you have already done and resubmit it, or parts of it, for another task without the permission of the Topic Coordinator. If you are repeating a topic and you wish to re-submit work that you have previously submitted you will need seek advice from the Topic Coordinator about originality requirements.

Collusion, which is when two or more students collaborate on an individual assignment in a way that is not authorised by the Topic Coordinator. Examples of collusion include letting someone copy your answers on a test, comparing your essay to one written in a previous year by a different student, lending another student your essay to "give them some ideas", or allowing someone to write or edit your assignment.

Misrepresentation occurs when a student presents false or misleading information about their work, identify, or circumstances. It can include misrepresenting evidence such as changing citation dates, including references to non-existent resources, providing dishonest information about a placement, or falsifying academic or medical records.

Fabrication is when a student invents or alters data, source materials, or results. This includes reporting on an experiment that did not take place, altering data or results from an experiment or paper, or inventing data that is not supported by evidence.

Exam cheating is when a student uses any method to gain an unfair advantage in an exam or test. This includes copying from a fellow student, taking a cheat sheet into an exam without the permission of the Topic Coordinator, or having someone impersonate you for a test or exam.

Contract cheating is paying someone else to do your work and submitting it as your own. It includes purchasing an assignment from an online service, asking someone to write an assignment for you, or downloading an essay from a file-sharing website.

• Approach your work honestly and responsibly.
• Make sure you understand what academic integrity is at Flinders University. Do the tutorial 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 such as referencing, paraphrasing and quoting, and time management and seek support from the Student Learning Support Service if you need it. See more information in the develop your academic skills section below.
• Check for unintentional plagiarism by submitting a draft of your work through the Turnitin (text-matching software) draft submission box in your FLO Topic.  See more information in the develop your academic skills section below.

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

Many students unintentionally plagiarise sources by paraphrasing poorly or referencing incorrectly. You can check your work before submitting it by submitting a draft to Turnitin (text-matching software).

It is important to understand that Turnitin is text-matching software, not plagiarism-detecting software. Turnitin compares submitted documents against an archive of digital documents, scholastic and news databases, articles and previously submitted papers. A report is then generated where all matched text is highlighted and linked to an online source. It is important to check this properly, as not everything that Turnitin matches indicates plagiarism.

Matches that do not indicate plagiarism include:

• In-text references and citations in your reference list
• Direct quotes (provided it is referenced and enclosed in quotation marks)
• Common headings and titles
• Your assignment question, topic name and number, or other topic-specific identifying information
• Common phrases and terminology within your discipline
• Common or generic sentences such as ‘there are many benefits to the program’.

You can submit a draft through the Turnitin DRAFT submission box on your topic’s FLO page. Submitting your work through the 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 your academic skills will make it easier to maintain academic integrity.

• Visit the Student Learning Support Service FLO site to find a range of excellent resources on time management, paraphrasing and quoting, referencing and academic writing
• Drop into the Learning Lounge to seek support from a learning advisor
• Check out the Library Gateway for tools to help you develop better research skills
• Book an appointment with a Librarian to help you find better academic resources
• Ask 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.