Academic Integrity 

Projects submitted to STANSW Young Scientist are often the first exposure a student has to the “real world” of STEM. Students benefit when the experience is an authentic experience of participating in the work of a ‘STEMist’. Maintaining academic integrity throughout the process teaches valuable skills and also ensures that the awards are fair and equitable. Our rules outline our academic integrity policy, and all supporting adults and senior students should familiarise themselves with these rules directly. The following advice can help ensure that students have an authentic experience and meet the requirements for academic integrity.

  • Some students will select their own topic area and question to address, and some will be provided a topic by an educator. Either way, students should be supported to develop their own research questions or design brief. Students may require guidance to ensure that their plans are both logical and feasible. This process should be well-documented in the logbook.
  • All assistance given must be documented in an “Acknowledgements” section, giving the details of the assistance and support. Names should be removed before submission. Some examples might be:
  • Received support from mother to format the data into a graph using excel.
  • Teacher provided a selection of research papers with suitable methods to try.
  • A university program provided the topic area and training in the basic skills to use the equipment.
  • Names of any mentors (other than parents and school staff) should be listed in the submission form.
  • All sources used for background research must be listed in a bibliography. Senior students can be supported to use in-text referencing but this is not essential. The sources used to develop the methods in the project should also be clearly described in the log book (and can also be mentioned in the methods section of the report).
  • Some projects build on the work of a previous year’s project, either from the same student or a different student. Previous projects should be referenced, making clear what the student’s new contributions are within the period of the project. 
  • All text should be in the student's own words. Editing advice is allowed (with acknowledgement), and programs such as Grammarly or AI-based tools may also be used to improve readability. Content generation by AI is discouraged, as the information sources cannot be evaluated. Any use of generative AI must be described and acknowledged.

 

Whether students are tinkering with recycled materials in their bedroom, or generating novel data in the laboratory of a leading scientist, all students are judged on their own understanding and their application of the skills outlined in the rubrics. Success in Young Scientist depends on the STEM skills being demonstrated by the students and is therefore achievable no matter where the student is.