Student Misconduct

Last reviewed: 1 August 2008

The purpose of this 10-point guideline is to explain the concepts of academic merit, plagiarism, collusion and other misconduct and to give information that will help students to avoid actions that could lead to penalty and embarrassment.

By avoiding and reporting misconduct, students can help to uphold the academic standards of the University and accordingly the value of the qualifications they obtain.

This guideline operates in conjunction with UQ Handbook of Policies & Procedures policy number 3.40.12, Academic Integrity & Plagiarism and with policy number 3.60.1 Procedures for Dealing with Student Discipline and Misconduct Matters and Statute No 4 Student Discipline and Misconduct

1. Academic Merit

Students should understand that assignment and project work submitted for assessment must consist of original effort.

Sometimes work submitted by students is appropriately referenced, but effectively contains nothing but the referenced material. An example is a design or code that has been copied from the web, and acknowledged, but then submitted exactly as found on the web. Another example is a report that is essentially nothing but a long, almost-verbatim rendition of work from a technical report or text written by others. Even though this work might not technically be plagiarised, because the sources are cited, there is no academic merit in simply copying from others in this way. Submission of such work is unacceptable.

It is a fundamental requirement of academic work at University level that it demonstrate an understanding of ideas through original interpretation and application. Academic merit also involves the demonstration of new findings and the advancement of ideas and concepts, relative to rigorous, transparent standards.

It is insufficient to simply copy work from other sources and submit it, even if those sources are appropriately acknowledged. Work submitted by a student must have an original component.

Originality can be derived through generation of one's own ideas, concepts, code, designs, text, etc, and can also be obtained through synthesis of ideas, concepts, code, designs, text, etc from multiple sources, where that synthesis clearly adds value. Both synthesis and completely original work are ways of demonstrating that the concepts learned have been understood and/or applied.

Academic instructors in the School have been advised that work without academic merit should be awarded a grade of 0 or 1 (on a 1-7 scale), and that assessment criteria for assignments and examinations should reflect this.

It is not a misconduct matter to submit work that merely has no academic merit. To be a misconduct matter, there has to be evidence of plagiarism or collusion.

2. Plagiarism

To plagiarise is to knowingly present someone else's work or a part of someone else's work as your own. This is a serious academic offence.

The University has adopted the following definition of plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's own original work, the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another. These include published and unpublished documents, designs, music, sounds, images, photographs, computer codes and ideas gained through working in a group. These ideas, interpretations, words or works may be found in print and/or electronic media. The following are examples of plagiarism where appropriate acknowledgement or referencing of the author or source does not occur:

Direct copying of paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence;
Direct copying of paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence with an end reference but without quotation marks around the copied text;
Copying ideas, concepts, research results, computer codes, statistical tables, designs, images, sounds or text or any combination of these;
Paraphrasing, summarising or simply rearranging another person's words, ideas, etc without changing the basic structure and/or meaning of the text;
Offering an idea or interpretation that is not one's own without identifying whose idea or interpretation it is;
A ‘cut and paste' of statements from multiple sources;
Presenting as independent, work done in collaboration with others;
Copying or adapting another student's original work into a submitted assessment item.

To get a passing grade your work must be of sufficient standard that it meets the academic merit criteria (Section 1), and not be plagiarised. Of course, plagiarised work has no academic merit by definition, and therefore will be marked as indicated above, as well as possibly resulting in the initiation of misconduct proceedings.

How do you reference properly?

When you directly quote text, for instance, you must use quotation marks and a footnote or endnote symbol. Here's an example:

"Referencing demonstrates that the student has read widely, is aware of authoritative scholarship in the field and has based his/her ideas on earlier research or evidence. This is central to research-based learning. Failure to reference appropriately will be considered unethical academic behaviour and could result in allegations of misconduct." [1]

The text inside the quotes comes directly from the University Handbook of Policies and Procedures. The [1] symbol at the end of the quote refers to the first entry in a list of references, usually shown at the end of your work under a heading 'References' or 'Bibliography'. It would be shown thus:

[1] The University of Queensland, Handbook of Policies and Procedures, Policy Number 3.40.12, Academic Integrity & Plagiarism, The University of Queensland, November 2004, http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=40&s3=12.

When you paraphrase or use someone else's ideas without directly quoting them, you still acknowledge them by an endnote. Here's an example using an idea taken from a textbook:

Unlike their analogue counterparts, digital computer based controllers make their control decisions based on sampled data. The key design issue with respect to sampling is the rate at which samples must be taken [2].

The entry in the reference table is:

[2] Curtis D. Johnson., Process Control Instrumentation Technology, Fifth edition, Prentice Hall., 1997.

The actual words in the book are:

Digital computer based controllers operate differently from their analogue equivalents when making control decisions; they rely on sampled data. In designing digital controllers, engineers need to consider a number of issues. The primary one of these with respect to sampling is how frequently samples must be taken.

The idea that has been taken from the book is that the rate of sampling is an important design issue.

If you are paraphrasing words, avoid the temptation to merely change a few words using a thesaurus. Not only could you be accused of plagiarism, but you risk changing the original meaning or argument. You could then be accused of misquoting, also without academic merit.

Important detail on how to correctly reference the work of others is available at the University of Queensland Library's alphabetical list of UseIts ('how to' guides), such as at http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/agps.html. This site covers books, theses, journal articles, multi-media materials, standards, patents and electronic sources. Training resources in plagiarism and referencing are available from the Library: http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/plagiarism.html and Student Support Services: http://www.uq.edu.au/hanginthere/studySkills/study43.html and http://www.sss.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=1325&pid=1185.

Some of the work done in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering will involve reference to non-traditional sources, such as the web, CD-ROM, computer files. Just because the original work is not printed does not mean it is not subject to proper referencing by you in your assignment and project work.

Similarly, not all work submitted is text-based. Much of it is computer code or hardware devices or schematic or built models. The work you do must, where applicable, be accompanied by a reference list. For a design this could be done in an addendum. References for code could be added as comments. In general we expect that you would produce your own code, devices and drawings, but in some circumstances you may be allowed to copy code or designs.

For example, if you're required to produce some code and you're not sure what to do, it's a good idea to begin by doing some research on the internet to find similar solutions. Let's suppose you find something close to what you're looking for. Don't just copy the code from the website. This could constitute plagiarism (if you don't reference it) or work with no academic merit (if you do reference it). Instead, read the code on the web and use this as the basis to build your own interpretation of the design you have found. Since this is your own interpretation, it is likely to differ significantly from the code you found on the web, and therefore has academic merit. To avoid any plagiarism accusation, reference the website you used for your inspiration (eg "This code is inspired by an example found at...").

Don't leave it to the end

Create your list of references as you do your work. Don't wait until you've finished the assignment. It is not sufficient just to have a list of references at the end - the references must be made or correctly cited in the body of your work.

3. Collusion

Students are encouraged to study together, but this should not result in students knowingly handing in the same or similar work for assessment. This is collusion, a serious offence that is responded to in the same way as plagiarism.

On individual assignments or projects

Do not be tempted to allow a fellow student to have access to your work, even if s/he may be having difficulties in completing the assignment or promises to use it only as a reference 'for ideas'. This can be construed as assisting another student to cheat and is regarded as misconduct itself. If a student asks to see your work after the submission deadline, how do you know that they have not been granted an extension or that they are willing to lose marks for a late submission? They could still gain an advantage from copying your work, and you have assisted them to do so. Do not ask another student to lodge your work on your behalf.

While students are encouraged to share concepts and experiences related to the understanding of the courses studied, care must be taken not to exceed 'reasonable' boundaries in relation to assessable material, so that the individuality of each solution is preserved.

Well-judged, high level discussions and working through a similar tutorial problem with colleagues are certainly within the bounds of 'reasonable' cooperation. But this must be done in the context of the size or complexity of the problem. Collaboration that is too close can lead to students arriving at the same solution. The School has dealt with cases where students claimed to discuss the assignment early on and then 'went their own ways'. The problem has been that they 'went too far' and have worked together, perhaps on an assignment of relatively small value, to the extent that they produce very similar pieces of work.

The personal struggle of solving problems successfully is a vital part of developing an individual's good understanding, experience and expertise. It should not be avoided by unreasonable dependence on another person's efforts.

Another example is an assignment problem that involves a solution that is essentially either correct or not. Publicly displaying a partial solution, on a notice board or an electronic bulletin board, could lead to copying that is regarded as misconduct. The provider of the material can be accused of misconduct.

On team assignments or projects

Just as collaboration between individuals on assignments can go too far, collaboration between teams can be excessive. Do not plagiarise the work of other teams or work out solutions/approaches jointly. Teams sometimes allocate tasks to individual members to share the load. However, as the individual is completing the work on behalf of the team, other members must do their best to ensure each member is conducting himself/herself with academic integrity, to minimise the likelihood of accusations against the team as a whole.

Although a team may be required to work together to produce assessable work, usually there is some individual component, such as peer review, a report by one team member on the team's progress, or a final report of the individual's reflections on the team's work. This individual component must be your own work. If you submit as your own, work that is found to be shared, misconduct proceedings will be instituted.

If you need to state that which somebody else in your team has said or done, then refer to them by name. For example, in a team progress report: Joan Smith said that the source code for the interface would be completed by this Thursday.

Don't throw away your signature

When you sign an assignment cover sheet (or tick the statement on the electronic version), think about what you are doing. It is far more than simply writing your name. It is a powerful symbol of your assent, your pledge, and your acceptance of responsibility.

4. Know the boundaries

If you are unsure of the difference between (a) using the work of others to understand your topic and to get ideas, and (b) plagiarism, you should talk to your lecturer, tutor or course coordinator.

Similarly, if you are unsure of the difference between (a) collaboration and (b) collusion, you should talk to your instructor. The safest way to avoid trouble is to simply do your own work and to never share or show your work to others.

Here are some examples that might help you.

5. Don't think quantity doesn't matter

Some students have been less-careful about referencing and collaboration on pieces of assessment that carry a relatively lower value. They have wanted to get the work done quickly and easily in order to concentrate on larger projects and have been willing to risk the loss of marks.

What they must realise is that academic standards are not scalable to the size of the assessment. A guilty finding of misconduct is a guilty finding. A second guilty finding will carry a harsh penalty.

6. What are my chances of being caught?

At the very least, a sample of submitted work, whether it be an essay, computer code, device or schematic, will be checked by markers for originality. This checking may be random within a course, no matter how large the class, and will usually involve exhaustive checking for plagiarism and/or collusion.

ITEE course coordinators of programming courses routinely uses MOSS software (Measure of Software Similarity) for detecting possible cases of plagiarism, which identifies where students seem to have programming code the same or very similar. MOSS is a very sophisticated tool that can be applied to a wide variety of programming languages. It compares every student’s assignment against every other students’ assignment and produces a list of student pairs ordered by the percentage overlap of the assignments. It can be configured to take into account support libraries every student is expected to use and to ignore similarities if the approach is common to many students. It cannot be easily fooled by changing variable names, reordering code or changing comments. Typically, course coordinators use MOSS as a “trigger” to highlight potential problems and they then look more closely at the relevant assignments to ascertain whether there is evidence of possible collusion or sharing of code, to determine if it really does look like a case of plagiarism or just a coincidence. Attached is a MOSS report which has identified apparent similarities in two pieces of code, and which illustrates how MOSS even highlights code where different variable names have been chosen in an attempt to appear original. MOSS compares codes, structure and even the format of work, highlighting where similar line spacings and indents have been used which might indicate electronic sharing of code.

Since 2001, ITEE has investigated more than 1,000 students for misconduct, leading to formal allegations against more than 750 students. The vast majority were found guilty. Penalties ranged from having to do extra work in the course to expulsion from the University.

7. A word about use of University computer and laboratory facilities

Students are entitled to use facilities under certain conditions, as set out in the ITEE Student Guide booklet, also viewable at: http://studenthelp.itee.uq.edu.au/Docs/Conditions.pdf.

In the past, problems have been experienced with:

consumption of food and drink in rooms,
tampering with lab equipment (including unplugging lab equipment to power personal laptops)
stealing paper stocks
working alone in engineering labs,
using swipe cards to allow access to other students,
abusive language in newsgroup postings, and
internet downloading of material not related to studies.

Such behaviour is regarded as misconduct. Students are reminded that, for safety and security reasons only, electronic surveillance takes place in a way that individuals can be identified.

8. What are the penalties?

The University takes misconduct seriously enough to have it as a Statute, a decree which it is authorised to make under the Act of Parliament that governs the University. Statute 4 covers Student Discipline and Misconduct and can be viewed at: http://www.uq.edu.au/senate/docs/statutes/statute-04.pdf.

Students accused of misconduct will be invited to a formal hearing with the Head of School, Executive Dean or Disciplinary Board, which will proceed regardless of the student's attendance. If found guilty, a student may incur penalties ranging from a fine to a grade of zero for a piece of assessment, to cancellation of credit for the course, suspension or expulsion. In recent years, the University has expelled a student who had been found guilty of plagiarising his assignment for the second time, and revoked the award of a degree for a student who plagiarised parts of an honours thesis. Names of the guilty will be published on a noticeboard and a record of the proceedings will be placed on an official University file, for reference in case of a second offence.

9. Ignorance is not a defence

The UQ Student Charter sets out your rights and responsibilities, including conduct. It is viewable at: http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=40&s3=1.

All course profiles include statements about academic misconduct, while all laboratories and computer rooms carry reminders about use of facilities. The School Student Guide contains clear statements. Students issued with swipe cards for room access sign a statement that they have read and understood the conditions of use of facilities and that they will abide by their responsibilities.

Assignment cover sheets include statements about academic misconduct and require you to sign that the work being submitted is your original work.

These signed statements can be used in evidence.

Students charged with misconduct represent only a small fraction of the people in the School. Most other students are upset by this behaviour, and the implications it has for the value and quality of their degrees. The University, Faculty and School take collusion, plagiarism and the submission of work devoid of academic merit very seriously indeed, and will act to eliminate this kind of behaviour.

10. Our doors are open

The Head of School encourages students who have concerns about perceived weaknesses in our system, or the behaviour of other students or of staff members in relation to the topics covered in this statement, to feel free to make an appointment with the Head or one of the other senior academic or general staff of the School to discuss those concerns. Confidentiality is guaranteed.