Important announcement re Grammarly

The following important announcement is posted on behalf of Faculty HDR Director Assoc Professor Edward Podolski.

Dear all,

I am a aware that a number of you are either using Grammarly or intending to use it to help you with your spelling, grammar and punctuation. I would like to strongly discourage you from using this (or similar) service for two reasons.

First, the use of online assessment grammar tools, such as Grammarly, are unlikely to improve your grammar or writing skills as they will simply make you dependent on the tool. More significantly, such tools are a potential research integrity issue. For example, under some circumstances the use of Grammarly can lead to charges of plagiarism, especially where significant changes to sentence structure and tone are made by the tool. There are also concerns about the transfer of copyright of your thesis to Grammarly, which can have significant implications for your ability to publish your work. Below please find the advice from DUSA on this issue:

“The use of online assessment grammar tools could potentially be an academic integrity issue in some cases depending on what type of changes the tool suggests or makes. Online grammar assessment tools may be more of a problem regarding academic integrity if the website offers a log in or payment option. If the website offers advanced suggestions about word choice, vocabulary, run on sentences, tone, and more then we should suggest you do not use it.” 

For this reason, both DUSA and GRA have strong reservations about Grammarly (or similar online tools) and discourage its use. Instead, if you need this type of support, you are encouraged to look at DSL services, including Smart Thinking: https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study-support.