Academic Misconduct

University markers across Australia are often faced with assessments where the student has practiced a form of academic misconduct. To manage this issue, the University of Western Sydney (UWS) have placed Academic Misconduct policies which the staff are expected to follow as well as guidelines on how students may avoid penalties. There are different forms of Academic Misconduct which students may be penalised for. UWS has categorised these forms into three to indicate the impact of the breach of the policy, that is; ‘lesser misconduct’, ‘minor misconduct’ and ‘substantial misconduct’.
Lesser misconduct includes, although not limited to, plagiarism and collusion. Plagiarism can occur when a student has used words or sentences from someone else’s work without giving appropriate referencing. A student may also be penalised for plagiarism if they resubmit their own work from a previous assessment which they already submitted. Collusion is when two or more students or any other person act together to cheat, plagiarise or engage in academic misconduct or tell others to do so. The staff must prove if they believe Academic Misconduct exists within the students work and judge the student based on their understanding of referencing. Lesser misconduct is only if plagiarism and collusion is found in small proportions in an assessment during the first term of study.
Minor Misconduct include cheating, plagiarism and collusion during their first term of study at UWS or it may be plagiarism in a student’s second term of study. Cheating includes, but not limited to communicating in an exam or bringing any kind of material which is not authorized by the person who set the exam, trying to read other students work in an examination and also sending or receiving notes from another student related to the examination without the permission of the teacher of the unit. Cheating can be avoided by not copying other students work during exams and also by following the supervisor’s rules