Academic integrity

Incomplete Academic Practice occurs when:

• a student makes a genuine attempt to reference their work but has inadequate referencing skill
• a student early in their academic career displays a lack of awareness that the content used should be cited (for example, using verbatim content from course note materials or their own notes of a lecturer's material that use phrases without acknowledgement)
• a student reuses their own original work for a coursework assessment item that has previously been presented for assessment, at Griffith or elsewhere, without acknowledgment, whilst not understanding this is not permitted
• a student shares material with another student in a spirit of collegiality without being aware that such sharing may amount to Collusion.

Students whose work displays Incomplete Academic Practice, with no intention to deceive the assessor or claim work as their own that they did not create, have not committed Academic Misconduct. Decisions considering whether an act was intentional and/or should already be within the student's skillset will give regard to the student's academic history, including any confirmed breaches of academic integrity and level of prior academic experience.

Incidents of Incomplete Academic Practice will be addressed educatively in the context of the teaching, supervision, learning and assessment environment, with citation treated as one element of good academic practice among many.

Breaches of academic integrity that go beyond Incomplete Academic Practice are considered Academic Misconduct.

Types of conduct that always constitute Academic Misconduct include:

• Plagiarism (where no attempt at citation is made)
• Uncited content created using generative artificial intelligence software
• Cheating, for instance, in examinations, tests and quizzes
• Contract cheating
• Fabrication, for instance, of data, results or other work items
• Falsification of, for instance, data, results or other work items
• Misrepresentation of the student's identity or activities
• Solicitation
• Washing
• Over-editing
• Breach of Ethical Standards, including conducting research without the required ethics clearance
• Breach of HDR Thesis Examination Procedures.

Academic Misconduct varies in severity and will be classified as either less serious or more serious through the triage process prescribed in the Breaches of Academic Integrity Procedure.

All allegations of Academic Misconduct will be addressed fairly, consistently, and transparently in accordance with the processes in the Breaches of Academic Integrity Procedure.

Breaches of academic integrity can be defined as:

Academic file-sharing is when a student shares any aspect of their assessment materials with another student. This includes materials related to past year assessment tasks without the explicit permission of academic employees.

Assisting plagiarism occurs when a student willingly assists another student to circumvent the purpose of assessment through cheating, misrepresentation, plagiarism or solicitation (for example, by willingly sharing their own work, giving them access to their own work, using a file-swapping/sharing site or advertising the availability of their own work or someone else's work).

Attempting to inappropriately influence a peer review process occurs when a student, whose work is undergoing peer review, seeks to influence the process or outcomes in any way, whether directly or indirectly.

Breach of ethical standards (research) is a breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2018, which occurs when a student conducts research without the required ethical clearance or fails to comply with the terms of the research project's ethical clearance.

Breach of HDR thesis examination procedures occurs when a candidate fails to comply with the protocols for the examination process, including unauthorised contact with an examiner, as set out in the Higher Degree Research Policy.

Cheating occurs when a student fails to comply with the requirements, conditions and instructions specified for their conduct in the assessment task.

Collusion is unauthorised collaboration on assessable work (written, oral or practical) with others. This can occur when a student presents group work as their own or as the work of another person.

Contract Cheating involves acquiring or commissioning a piece of work that is not a student's own work and representing it as if it were by:

• purchasing the assessment task from a commercial service, including internet sites, whether prewritten or specially prepared for the student concerned
• submitting an assessment task produced by a third party, including a friend, family member, a fellow student, or an employee of the University.

Fabrication of results occurs when a student claims to have carried out tests, experiments, or observations that have not taken place, makes up results or presents results not supported by evidence.

Falsification of data or results occurs when a student manipulates research material, equipment or processes or changes or omits/suppresses data or results without scientific or statistical justification, such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.

Misrepresentation of the student's identity or activities occurs when a student:

• presents an untrue statement about attendance or participation in any learning activities
• includes citations to non-existent or incorrect sources
• does not disclose any information or matter where there is a duty to disclose such information. This includes submitting falsified documentation in support of an assessment application (assessment extension, deferred assessment, special consideration).

Over-editing occurs when an individual other than the student takes responsibility for the work by editing language, structure and/or content such that there are significant changes to the material content and or presentation.

Plagiarism occurs when the work of another is represented, intentionally or unintentionally, as the owner's own original work without appropriate acknowledgement of the author, creator or the source.

Solicitation occurs when a student requests, offers, encourages, induces or advertises for another person to write or develop assessment tasks, items or other work on their behalf.

Uncited content created by generative artificial intelligence (AI) software involves using AI tools, such as ChatGPT, which can be used to generate content for assessment items. These synthesise large amounts of material found online into a coherent response or output. Representing AI-generated content as a student's own work is Academic Misconduct.

Washing occurs when a piece of material written in another language has been put through translating software such as Google Translate.

One or more of the following educative interventions and warnings (for less serious matters) and educative interventions and penalties (for more serious matters) can be applied by a Decision Maker where a breach of academic integrity has been established:

One or more of the following educative interventions and warnings (for less serious matters) and educative interventions and penalties (for more serious matters) can be applied by a Decision Maker where a breach of academic integrity has been established:

Only Exclusion from the University penalties are recorded on your Official Academic Transcript. The Official Academic Transcript will bear the annotation 'excluded from the University on (date) for disciplinary reasons'.

All educational interventions and penalties are recorded on the Student Academic Integrity Management System for Coursework Students, or by the HDR Operations Team for HDR candidates.

Students seeking admission to a Legal Practitioner's Admission Board must disclose a breach of academic integrity.

Students who have a finding made of Academic Misconduct may be entitled to a review and, in some situations, may appeal their outcome as outlined in the Student Review and Appeals Policy and Procedure.

The following question: "where can I get help in responding to a written notice?" provides a list of student support and advocacy services that can assist you in understanding the decision and seeking a review of decision.

A student excluded on disciplinary grounds may apply for readmission three years from the date specified in the notation on the Official Academic Transcript. Coursework students may apply for readmission to the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) by lodging a Request for Readmission form. HDR candidates may apply for readmission to the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) via email. Decisions on readmission are final.

Student advocates and other relevant support services can assist and support you in responding to a written notice.

Student associations

Griffith University Student Representative Council

Griffith University Gold Coast Student Guild

Postgraduate associations

Griffith University Postgraduate Students Association

Gold Coast Association of Postgraduates

Student support services

GUMURRII Student Support Unit

International Student Advisors

Student Support