A framework for reviewing policies to address unacceptable

academic practice

Dr Erica MorrisSenior AdviserAcademic Integrity Service

• Concerns and approaches in higher education• Academic Integrity Service• Key issues relating to institutional policies• Guidance framework

Overview

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• Student academic misconduct– Student plagiarism, collusion, data fabrication and

cheating

• Institutional approaches– Teaching and learning strategies emphasising

authentic assessment– Induction and learning support provision – Policies and procedures are in place

Concerns and approaches

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• Raise awareness of issues relating to academic integrity

• Promote a holistic approach to student academic misconduct

• Improve the support provision• Run and contribute to events on academic

integrity• Work with the Academy Subject Centres, JISC

Services, Plagiarismadvice.org, and agencies

Academic Integrity Service

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• A guide to resources and approaches relating to academic integrity– Sign-posting existing case studies and resources– Highlight institutional approaches that have been

developed to tackle student plagiarism• A framework to enable higher education

institutions to review and continue to improve their policies for unacceptable academic practice

Current developments

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• Good practice recommendations– Carroll and Appleton (2001)

• Plagiarism Advisory Service Roadmap– JISC (2005)

• Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research (AMBeR) project: second phase– Tennant and Duggan (2008)

• University of Leicester– Badge and Scott (2008)

Institutional policies: related work

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• Procedures and penalties: variation between and within institutions– Baty, 2006

• Good practice– Office of the Independent Adjudicator (2009)

• Higher education: changes– Large and diverse student body– Assessment practices– ICT and social networking tools

Reviewing progress and policies

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• Purpose: to enable institutions to review policies and procedures

• Informing scope and content– Good practice examples from policies– Representative sample of policies

A guidance framework

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• Communicated with students– What is plagiarism?

• How policies relate to educational approaches and resources

• The organisation and content• The style of language, terminology, definitions• Procedures and penalties described• Explicit or not: whether policies are reviewed

periodically

Variation in policies

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• Related work• Review of sample policies• Academy Subject Centres• First version of framework (May 2010)• Consultation and feedback (May-June 2010)• Academy and JISC publication (September

2010)

A guidance framework: timescale

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• Mapping with other policies and strategies• Informing students and staff• Institution policy and faculty or school policy• Coherence and clarity• Principles and values• Definitions and responsibilities• Prevention and detection• Procedures and penalties

A guidance framework: themes

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• Academic Integrity Service– Holistic approach to addressing student plagiarism

and related issues

• Guide to resources and approaches• Key issues relating to institutional policies• Guidance framework– Enable institutions to review and continue to

improve policies

Summary

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Questions and follow up

Contact: Erica Morriserica.morris@heacademy.ac.ukAcademic Integrity Servicehttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/academic-integrity

Badge, J. and Scott, J. (2008) Plagiarism policies: Looking for intra-institutional consistency. Higher Education Academy Conference 2008. Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/events/conference/Ann_conf_2008_Jo_Badge (22 September 2009).

Baty, P. (2006) Inconsistent penalties raise risk of legal action, Deech says. Times Higher Education, 23 June 2006.

Carroll, J. (2009a) What needs to be in a policy for managing plagiarism? Unpublished document.Carroll, J (2009b) A can of worms. Available at:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/documents/Plagiarism09_CarrollJ_handout.pdf (4 February 2010).Carroll, J. and Appleton, J. (2001) Plagiarism: A Good Practice Guide. Available at:

http://www.plagiarismadvice.org/documents/brookes.pdf (5 January 2010).HEFCE (October 2009) Report of the sub-committee for Teaching, Quality, and the Student Experience.JISC (2005) JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service Roadmap (Draft version 4, revision 4). Available at:

http://www.plagiarismadvice.org/road-map.html (21 September. 2009).Office of the Independent Adjudicator (2009) Learning from Complaints: Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct –

Summary of the day and good practice points. Available at: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/uni/previous.aspx (4 March 2010).

Sutherland-Smith, W (2008) Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning: Improving Academic Integrity. New York and London: Routledge.

Tennant, P. and Duggan, F. (2008) Academic Misconduct Benchmarking Research Project: Part 2. The Recorded Incidence of Student Plagiarism and the Penalties Applied. Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/collaboration/academic_integrity (22 September 2009).

References

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