Academic integrity breaches occur along a broad spectrum. Sometimes, a student's work may show signs of a minor breach of academic integrity requirements or conventions. In such cases, a finding of ‘poor academic practice’ may be more appropriate rather than a finding of academic misconduct.
Teachers should proactively monitor and address suspected instances of academic integrity breaches, such as plagiarism, even if they believe that the conduct is the result of a lack of awareness or skill in the appropriate acknowledgement practices and academic literacies. Addressing these issues helps students recognise deficiencies in their work and develop their skills. Poor academic practice is not as serious a finding as academic misconduct and will not be recorded as 'misconduct' in the central database.
What is poor academic practice?
There are several reasons why someone investigating an alleged academic integrity breach may decide that the student's actions constitute poor academic practice rather than misconduct.
This outcome may be appropriate if:
- it is the student's first offence
- the student is in their first year
- the student has only just started studying in Australia
- the conduct relates to a fairly minor matter of referencing
- there is other compelling evidence that the conduct arose from a genuine lack of understanding of academic integrity expectations.
This differs from academic misconduct, which involves actions taken to gain or attempt to gain an unfair academic advantage.
Consequences of poor academic practice
When a student engages in poor academic practice, the Subject Coordinator, Academic Integrity Officer or Investigation Committee must impose an educational outcome. The main intervention is the Academic Integrity Module (AIM), although a range of other possible outcomes may also be imposed, ranging from resubmitting the assessment task to a loss of marks.
Poor academic practice should only be found where the alleged academic misconduct is not extensive, blatant or does not result from an obvious lack of effort overall.
How to report poor academic practice
Any teaching staff member can report suspected academic integrity breaches. As a teacher, you may wish to discuss the case with the subject coordinator before reporting it into the system. A Subject Coordinator, Academic Integrity Officer (AIO), or Investigation Committee may determine a finding of poor academic practice.
Subject Coordinators must record an outcome of poor academic practice via the Academic Misconduct Management system. This ensures that cases are processed in accordance with University policies and procedures and that a record is maintained.
If there are no prior cases against the student in the system, a preliminary outcome can be made, and the student will have five working days to respond. You will need to select the available outcomes from the system, and communication will be sent to the student. After the response period has passed, or if the student has attended an interview, you will need to finalise the outcome in the system.
If you prefer to meet with the student before making a decision, you can do so and apply a finding of poor academic practice following the interview.
Prior cases are recorded in the central system. Any subsequent report of poor academic practice will require you to interview the student. If, after the interview, you believe that an academic integrity breach has occurred, you will need to indicate that there was evidence of misconduct in the system, and the case will be escalated to an AIO for review. You cannot enter a finding of poor academic practice in this situation.
If the AIO finds that the student has a previous record of poor academic practice and is still exhibiting the same conduct, the new case may be escalated to a finding of academic misconduct.
The Academic Misconduct (Coursework) Procedures outlines the process for investigation as well as possible penalties or outcomes for confirmed instances of academic misconduct.
Detailed information on the Academic Misconduct Management system and resources on the investigation process can be found on the academic integrity page on the Staff intranet.
Questions?
Contact the Academic Integrity Officer within your School or the Office of Academic Integrity at academic-integrity@uow.edu.au.