What is Academic Misconduct?

Providing significant assistance

Academic misconduct includes "providing significant assistance to a student in the completion and/or presentation of their academic work" (University of South Australia, 2023, p. 3).

It is unacceptable for you to provide significant assistance to other students to complete their assignments.

While it is acceptable to talk to your fellow students and give them advice, you must not write, rewrite or produce any part of their assignment. If you do, you will have committed misconduct because you provided significant assistance where it was not permitted. They will also be guilty of misconduct because the work they submit will not be entirely their own.

  • Do not help to write, rewrite or produce another student's assignment
  • Do not allow another student to read or copy your assignment in either paper or electronic format.

Assistance for assignments does not only relate to writing, but can include solving problems, doing calculations, writing computer code, and designing creative work and images. However, if your course outline states that the assignment is a group task which requires input from the group members then collaboration is acceptable. 

While it is acceptable to ask someone to read your work and provide feedback, it is unacceptable for them to provide feedback to such an extent that they are rewriting your assignment. The picture below illustrates the differences between acceptable feedback, such as pointing out simple grammar and expression errors and providing suggestions to make meaning clearer, and unacceptable feedback, which involves significant rewriting of material by the reader.