Academic integrity

Academic integrity is essential for ethical scholarship and sits at the core of academic life and student learning. “Integrity” is both a human virtue and an assessable attribute of academic work. Someone who has integrity is honest and truthful. We say that a piece of academic work has integrity if it is produced in honest ways, which demonstrates authentic learning.

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic integrity means acting with honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility in your academic work.  This essentially means doing your own work and acknowledging the work of others when you build on, refer to, or include it in your work.

Why does Academic Integrity matter?

The enduring value and integrity of learning, teaching and research form the foundation of a university. Ensuring this integrity enables confidence and trust in the quality of our programs, awards, research and graduates and the assurances we can make regarding these to the public, the professional, community and governing bodies.

Your work, your ideas, your effort, your degree, your future!

If you don’t maintain academic integrity, it represents a breach of policy and you may be penalised.

An educative approach to Academic Integrity

We recognise that students and staff come to university with different backgrounds and experiences in education so have varying levels of preparedness for learning, teaching and research and upholding academic integrity.

We therefore take an educative approach to academic integrity and as part of this approach we require students commencing a new program of study to complete a series of Academic Integrity Training Modules, and staff to complete Professional Learning Workshops and Modules.

All students have an obligation to uphold the University community’s standards on ethical scholarship. This means that students produce and present their own work, honestly, truthfully, fairly and respectfully. This often involves building on the work of others and acknowledging ‘others’ work appropriately in all forms of assessment. Your work should clearly identify what is your original work, the work of others you have built on, and the work you have used directly from others.

The university identifies four levels of breaching academic integrity based on the seriousness of the breach and what unfair advantage the breach represents. Depending on the level of breach, students will receive a warning, may lose marks in their assessment, fail their assessment or course, be suspended or expelled from the program and the university.

You can find out more in the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure.

Academic Integrity Model

Some types of Academic Misconduct

  • Artificial intelligence

    Unauthorised use of artificial intelligence to produce assessment tasks is a breach of academic integrity. In some assessments, the use of artificial intelligence is specifically and explicitly allowed. Your course coordinator and course materials will make this clear to you. Like any source, you must acknowledge the use of artificial intelligence.

  • Plagiarism

    Plagiarism represents a breach of academic integrity and represents misconduct under the University’s Policy and Procedure.

    Notre Dame defines ‘plagiarism’ as:

    • Representing as one’s own original work (without appropriate acknowledgement) the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another; this includes works in print and electronic media, published and unpublished documents, designs, music, sounds, images, photographs, computer codes; the use of paraphrasing tools or other software services to disguise or avoid plagiarism.

    Plagiarism is a breach of academic integrity and, if proven, makes the student liable for disciplinary action.

    Plagiarism can include, but is not limited to:

    • Plagiarism of ideas – claiming credit for someone else’s thoughts, ideas or inventions.
    • Word-for-word plagiarism – copying the exact, or close to exact, words/expression of someone’s writing.
    • Plagiarism of sources – using another person’s citations of the references they have used without acknowledging the source of the citations.
    • Plagiarism of authorship – where a person claims to be the author of an entire piece of work (e.g. an article, an essay, a book, a musical composition) fully or substantially authored by another. Examples include when a student submits as their own work an essay written by someone else. Translating an article from another language and publishing it under your name, as if you had written it.
    • Plagiarism of data – using data generated by someone else and representing it as your own, for example in a research project or scientific experiment.
    • Plagiarising images – using images (still or moving) created by someone else and representing them as your own. This includes images used to document your own processes and experiments.

  • Contract cheating

    This is when a student submits uses a third party to complete part or all of their work for an assessment and then submits it as their own work. This includes submitting work that has been produced, contributed to, or modified by:

    • a commercial service provider
    • another student, (current or former student), a family member or a friend
    • software including generative artificial intelligence (unless expressly allowed), or
    • organising another person to complete an examination.

  • Other forms of breaches

    There are other breaches of academic integrity. These include file-sharing, falsification/fabrication of information, unauthorised reuse or recycling of assessment items, collusion or unauthorised collaboration and impersonation.

  • Best practice for maintaining Academic Integrity – Do’s and Don’ts

    Do

    • Plan and allow sufficient time for assessments
    • Develop your academic skills in reading, paraphrasing and summarising, evaluating sources, citing and referencing, analysing, synthesising, critiquing, and reflecting on self and others.
    • Take good notes and record sources as you work.
    • Working collaboratively with your peers to discuss concepts, techniques, arguments and positions related to your courses
    • Always acknowledge when you are drawing on or quoting from the work of others.
    • If you are unsure, seek help. If you are unwell seek special consideration. If you are a student with a disability, seek assistance from an Access and Inclusion Advisor to ensure you are able to participate in your course of study on equal terms with other students.
    • If you are experiencing challenges beyond the University, make an appointment with a University counsellor (link).

    Don’t

    • Copy and paste. You need to convey ideas and information in your voice, your words.
    • Neglect to cite and reference the work of others (written, audio, visual, performative, data etc.)
    • Take prohibited devices/materials into an exam such as your phone or unauthorised notes
    • Share your work or files with other students when not working together on a group project
    • Work with other students to complete an assessment when it is individual work
    • Use a third party to complete your work.
      • This includes family, friends, editing and writing tools (such as ChatGPT or Grammarly unless expressly permitted), and contract writing services (paid or unpaid)

  • Possible penalties

    The university identifies four levels of breaching academic integrity based on the seriousness of the breach and what unfair advantage the breach represents. Depending on the level of breach, students will receive a warning, may lose marks in their assessment, fail their assessment or course, be suspended or expelled from the program and the university.

  • Academic Integrity training

    Students studying at Notre Dame are required to complete the Academic Integrity Training Modules.

    Mandatory training

    There are mandatory training modules for all students available on Blackboard alongside program courses.

    The mandatory training is for all students commencing a new program and continuing students can also undertake these modules via the self-enrolment course.

    The training is designed to help you recognise:

    • the values and behaviours that represent academic integrity and those that don’t
    • the different forms of academic misconduct
    • how to plan and manage assessments
    • the types of situations that may lead to poor decisions and how to manage these, and
    • the importance of acting with integrity in all that we do even when under pressure.

    Additional training – Academic Integrity Module (AIM)

    There are also training modules available for continuing students, which act as a useful refresher and guide for continuing students.

    AIM is an educational resource developed to support you in understanding the principles, processes and importance of academic integrity. AIM will provide guidance regarding citations and references, in order to assure the academic integrity of work produced.

    Disclaimer: Material in AIM was developed as a general guide for Notre Dame students. Students should refer to Course Outlines and consult their lecturers or tutors for specific requirements for their units.

    Attribution: Unless otherwise stated, the material in the Academic Integrity Module has been adapted from The University of Western Australia's Academic Conduct Essentials and Communication and Research Skills

  • Getting Help

    Our expectations for maintaining academic integrity are set out in the Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Integrity Procedure. There is also the Code of Conduct for Students, Course Outlines, Marking Guides (for example, rubrics), Text-Matching Software, Library Services and Pathways.

    The University has implemented a range of strategies to support and enhance student academic integrity.

    In the first instance, you should speak with your Course Coordinator or Tutor for guidance. The University also offers support to develop study, research and academic skills which support academic integrity.

    • Uni Success Guide
    • Study Support
      • Learning Advisors – book a one-on-one session
      • Study Skills Workshops - lunchtime workshops to assist students develop key academic skills
    • Library
      • Library Services
      • Resources and e-courses: on study skills, writing
      • Skills: referencing skills, learning
      • skills and research skills
    • Studiosity
      • All students at Notre Dame have access to Studiosity, a free online 24/7 learning advice service where you can get feedback. Access Studiosity from your Blackboard Tools area.

    For further information on resources and support for academic integrity, visit the Academic Integrity Library page.

Have a question?

If you have questions or suggestions regarding academic integrity, please contact Curriculum and Quality.