Can a policy change practice? An evidence-based approach to developing policy

Universities agree that there is a need to educate students about academic integrity and that the quality of the awards they confer on their students is compromised if students gain credit for work where breaches of academic integrity have been overlooked or not dealt with in a consistent matter. This paper describes how one university developed a new institutional framework and accompanying policy document in order to simplify the processes, ensure that students receive educational assistance when required and respond to the dissatisfaction of academic staff with the existing policy and processes. The context for these changes included perceptions in the press that the number of cases of academic misconduct were increasing and that there is an ever-increasing reliance on electronic sources of information. The development of the institutional framework and the related policy are analysed using a policy cycle model and conclusions are drawn about the success of the policy implementation based on practice aligning with policy.