HDR students are expected to perform to high academic honesty standards. When they don’t, they can face allegations of plagiarism, academic dishonesty, and research misconduct. The University has integrity checks throughout your candidature to identify any possible breaches of academic honesty. These include:
Plagiarism is using someone else work without appropriate acknowledgment.
The most common types of plagiarism are:
It is very important to understand that the University refers to the above acts as plagiarism, regardless of the student’s intention; so, forgetting to insert a reference is still plagiarism under the University’s definition. A serious form of plagiarism could be considered academic dishonesty or research misconduct.
If your thesis is found to contain significant referencing errors after you have submitted it for examination, you may be required to Show Good Cause to provide an explanation. You will only be asked to Show Good Cause if the level of plagiarism does not constitute grounds for an allegation of academic dishonesty or research misconduct. If you are required to Show Good Cause as a result of this process, contact us for advice and support.
Academic dishonesty is gaining, or attempting to gain, academic advantage, for oneself or for others, through unfair or dishonest means. This can include:
Research misconduct is defined by the intentional nature of the breach, a person’s recklessness in breaching research guidelines and rules, and/or negligence in breaching research guidelines and rules.
Research misconduct can involve:
All allegations of research misconduct will be referred to the Director of Research Integrity. If you receive a notification of possible research misconduct, contact us immediately for assistance.
Read the University’s Research Code of Conduct 2019 for the responsibilities of all researchers, academic staff and students at the University. It defines research misconduct and breaches of the code related to plagiarism.
Contact us, our SAAO Service will help you:
Phone: (02) 9351 3715
Email: help@supra.usyd.edu.au
Contact the Learning Centre:
Camperdown/Darlington Campus: (02) 9351 3853
Cumberland Campus: (02) 9351 9319
Check the University policy register, in particular:
Academic Honesty in Coursework Policy 2015
Academic Honesty Procedures 2016
Research Code of Conduct 2019
University of Sydney (Student Discipline) Rule 2016
Educational Integrity Decision-making and Penalty Guidelines 2018
Last updated 22 May 2020
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