Academic integrity policy toolkit
The purpose of the Academic Integrity Policy Toolkit is to guide Australian higher education providers in:
- the development of their Academic Integrity policy; or
- in reviewing or auditing their existing Academic Integrity policy against exemplary practice for the purpose of improvement; or
- more effectively implementing and supporting their existing Academic Integrity policy.
The Academic Integrity Policy Toolkit has been developed by the Exemplary Academic Integrity Project to ensure that all Australian higher education (HE) providers have access to a range of resources to develop and implement an institution-specific academic integrity policy. This will assist higher education providers to meet the standards required by the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA) to:
- “Ensure the integrity of student assessment
- Ensure the integrity of research and research activity
- Prevent, detect and address academic misconduct by students or staff including cheating and plagiarism”. (TEQSA Provider Registration Standard, 4, Requirement 4.3)
Support is crucial for the development and enactment of effective policy and the Academic Integrity Policy Toolkit aims to provide that support by:
- Transferring evidence-based, efficacious principles of exemplary academic integrity policies to all TEQSA registered HE providers; and
- Building capacity within Australian HE providers to develop an institutional culture of academic integrity.
How to use the Academic Integrity Policy Toolkit
The template is designed to facilitate the drafting of an appropriate academic integrity policy instrument for consultation, decision and implementation at specific Australian higher education institutions. Once the template has been completed, users can save the academic integrity policy form as a word document, which can be further edited as required. Policy makers can access internationally recognised resources and suggestions for best practice to address institutional issues in relation to academic integrity by clicking on the question icon. These resources are also available in the Academic Integrity Policy Toolkit Booklet (available to print out and use as a stand-alone resource) or by using the links below:
- Policy scope
- Policy purpose
- Academic integrity
- Roles and responsibilities in assuring academic integrity
- Promoting a culture of academic integrity
- Ensuring academic integrity in assessment
- Academic integrity breaches
- Classification of academic integrity breaches
- Academic integrity breach outcomes
- Academic integrity breach decision-makers
- Academic integrity breach decision-making process
- Identification of potential academic integrity breach
- Notification of breach to an appropriate authority
- Referral of breach to Academic Integrity decision-maker
- Preliminary assessment by decision-maker
- Communication of students' rights in the decision-making process
- Student's response to allegation of academic integrity breach
- Consideration of relevant matters in determining outcome
- Communicating the decision
- Recordkeeping
- Appealing the decision
Feedback on the use of the toolkit, its value to higher education providers and suggested improvements are welcome via the Feedback link.
The toolkit draws from:
Academic Integrity Standards Project (AISP): Aligning Policy and Practice in Australian Universities (2012). Elements of exemplary academic integrity policy, Office for Learning and Teaching Priority Project 2010-2012, http://www.aisp.apfei.edu.au/content/exemplary-elements-policy; and
The Exemplary Academic Integrity Project Roundtable, Brisbane, 28 Feb-1 March 2013.