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What is academic misconduct?

Types of academic misconduct

Academic misconduct refers to any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in completing an assessment task, such as cheating or plagiarism. The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the types of breaches classified as academic misconduct. 

The following are some common types of academic misconduct. For more information, visit ‘What is academic misconduct?’ on AskUOW. 

Getting someone else to complete part or all an assessment task for you. This may involve outsourcing to a commercial provider, current or former student, family member or acquaintance – either paid or unpaid. Contract cheating is one of the most serious forms of academic misconduct. A student found to have outsourced their work may not only receive a fail for the assessment task, but may be suspended from their studies or even expelled from the University. For more information on contract cheating, see ‘What is contract cheating?’ on AskUOW. Note: Be cautious of companies advertising contract cheating and assignment help. These services are illegal and can lead to blackmail or scams. 

Contract cheating includes: 

  • Paying a company or individual to assist in producing work 
  • Asking a friend, family member, or tutor to do your work
  • Using unauthorised editing services

Using the ideas, words, images or any form of representation made by someone else without giving proper acknowledgement. Common forms of plagiarism include copying, inadequate referencing, or self-referencing.

When submitting work, you always need to:

  • Provide a reference whenever you include information from other sources in your work, and
  • Use the appropriate citation or referencing style for your subject or discipline 

Plagiarism can often be unintentional as a result of poor referencing. All students should familiarise themselves with the appropriate referencing guides, noting that different subjects, schools, and faculties may use different referencing styles. For the full referencing guides, see the Referencing & citing page. 

This category also extends to self-plagiarism, which is the reuse and submission of your own work which you have previously submitted for assessment, even if you submitted the work for a different subject.

Depending on the type and extent of the failure of academic integrity expectations, it may constitute academic misconduct. UOW takes academic misconduct seriously and there are a range of penalties for students.

These penalties may apply even if you did not know that what you were doing was wrong, so it is very important that you make sure you understand how to work with academic integrity. The penalties are much more serious if you cheat deliberately.

Examples of penalties for academic misconduct

  • Letter of warning
  • Request for more information
  • A mark penalty for the task
  • Resubmission with mark penalty
  • Submission of a different task
  • Zero marks for the task
  • Technical fail of the subject
  • Suspension from study
  • Expulsion from UOW

A finding of academic misconduct can have other serious consequences

For example:

  • If you are an international student on a student visa and are suspended or excluded from the University, you may lose your eligibility to remain in Australia
  • If you have a scholarship, you may risk losing it or having to repay it
  • If, in the future, you seek professional accreditation that involves the assessment of ‘good character’ (such as in law, nursing or accounting), you may be required to disclose whether you have been the subject of an investigation of academic misconduct, regardless of the outcome.

Academic misconduct is a serious matter and will be treated very seriously at UOW.

Records of academic misconduct

Confirmed breaches of academic misconduct, including instances of poor academic practice, are recorded internally in the University’s case management system. UOW treats this information as confidential. Access to misconduct records is strictly limited to authorised staff. 

The purpose is to ensure accurate documentation and to identify students with prior breaches, as repeat offences may be treated more seriously.

In the interests of fairness, when investigating cases of alleged academic misconduct, prior records will only be consulted after it has been determined that a breach of academic integrity has been committed.

Reporting breaches

If you are aware of a potential breach of academic integrity, whether it is something you have witnessed or experienced, it is important to report it. Students can report suspected breaches by contacting the Subject Coordinator or the Office of Academic Integrity at academic-integrity@uow.edu.au.