Submission guidelines and penalties for late submission of research assignments

Overview

• All subject assessment must be submitted online. It is no longer possible to submit assessment via email or in person. 
• Your assessment should be submitted electronically by 5.00 pm (Melbourne Time) on the due date. Take-home examinations are not eligible for extension or late-penalty and will not be accepted after the deadline. Research papers and assignments submitted after this time will incur marking penalties.
• Instructions on how to submit your assessment through the University's Learning Management System, can be viewed under the ‘Assessment' tab on the subject homepage. You will require your University email username and password to submit your assessment.
• An assessment coversheet must be submitted with all forms of assessment. You must paste this cover sheet into your assessment (instructions are on the cover sheet).
• Your submission must be in the form of one single file to be uploaded into the system. The file should be either a Rich Text File (.rtf) or a Word Document (.doc or .docx). PDF files which have been created by scanning a printed copy of your assignment will not be accepted.

Assessment coversheet

You must use the latest version of the coversheet, which may be downloaded below.

Assessment cover sheet (DOC)

Once you have submitted your assessment through the University's Learning Management System, you will receive an electronic confirmation immediately. The Melbourne Law Masters Office will check your assignment the following day and contact you if there are any problems in reading your assessment.

If you are having difficulty submitting your paper, please ring the Masters Office on 03 8344 6190 prior to the submission deadline for assistance or your paper will be marked as late and marking penalties will apply.

Please be aware that all research papers, take-home examinations and class assignments will be put through an electronic plagiarism checking system and will be retained for this purpose in future.

Format of Research Papers

Papers should:

• have a 2cm (minimum) margin all around;
• have all pages numbered;
• use 1.5 line spacing;
• include a footer with student number and subject name (do not include your name);
• have all references cited in accordance with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC);
  AGLC3 Quick Guide (PDF)
• include a bibliography;
• be saved as a single document in .doc, .docx or .rtf format.

Footnotes and bibliographies are not included in the word count.

Format of Take-Home Exams

Take-Home Exams should:

• have a 2cm (minimum) margin all around;
• have all pages numbered;
• use 1.5 line spacing;
• have each question commence on a new page and be clearly identifiable (e.g. Include Question number and title);
• include a footer with student number and subject name (do not include your name);
• have all references cited;       
• be saved as a single document in .doc, .docx or .rtf format.

Where a word limit is imposed, footnotes and bibliographies are not included in the word count.

Marking Policy: Word Limits on Assessment

Each subject in the MLM has a marking policy on word limits which is determined by the subject coordinator, and indicated on the assessment schedule and the homepage for each subject on the Melbourne MLM website. In the absence of any such indication, the default position is Code 2.

In calculating the number of words for the purposes of enforcing the word limit, footnotes, synopses or abstracts and bibliographies will not be counted unless otherwise specified by the lecturer.

Coding for marking policy for word limits on assessment is as follows:

Code 1: Any word limit will be enforced strictly and any excess will incur a marking penalty.

Code 2: Work judged grossly in excess of any word limit will incur a marking penalty. If the examiner does not specify some other threshold, work will be judged grossly in excess of a word limit if its length exceeds that word limit by 10% or more.

Code 3: Any word limit will be regarded as recommended rather than compulsory and no student will be disadvantaged by exceeding the limit.

As a default position, any penalty incurred will be equal to 5% of the total available marks for the piece of work for each 10% or part thereof by which the number of words exceeds the applicable word limit. For example, for an assessment task with a limit of 2,500 words, a penalty of 5% of the total available marks will be imposed for every 250 words or part thereof by which the submission exceeds (a) 2500 words where Code 1 is applied or (b) 2,750 words where Code 2 is applied.

Penalties for late submission of research assignments

Important Note:  This policy applies only to research assignments. No extensions are granted, or late submissions accepted, for take-home exams.

No penalties are applied for late submission of research assignments where the Melbourne Law Masters Office is satisfied that the reason for late submission is documented medical grounds

• Extensions (where an extension has been sought and granted) and the research assignment is handed in within the period of time allowed by the extension:
  As a general rule, no penalties are applied where an extension has been sought and granted. However, the Melbourne Law Masters Office may, depending upon the circumstances, impose marking penalties on research assignments where an extension was sought and granted.
• No extension sought and granted: The Melbourne Law Masters Office reserves the right to assess an assignment at pass/fail if the assignment is submitted after the due date and no extension has been sought and granted. Subject to this right, as a general rule, the following policy applies where an assignment is submitted late and no extension has been sought and granted:
  • Between one day late and five days late: Two mark penalty deducted from student's result for the assignment for each day the assignment is submitted late (eg, an assignment submitted five days late will incur a penalty of 10 marks)
  • Between six days late and ten days late: Assignment assessed pass/fail (ie, if the assignment is awarded a pass, a mark of 50% is given)
  • More than 10 days late: Assignment not accepted and a mark of zero is awarded for the assignment.

Note that this policy applies on a ‘per day' not ‘business day' basis - Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are included in the calculation of days.

For the purpose of applying this policy, an assignment is deemed to be submitted one day late if it is submitted at any time in the period of 24 hours after the due time. For example, if an assignment is due at 5pm, the assignment is deemed to be one day late if it is submitted in the period from 5.01pm on the due date to 5pm on the following date.

The Melbourne Law Masters Office emails students who have not submitted their assignment by the due date (and no extension has been sought and granted), requesting a response to ensure the student is aware the assignment has not been received.

Extensions (where an extension has been sought and granted) and the research assignment is not handed in within the period of time allowed by the extension:
The Melbourne Law Masters Office reserves the right to assess an assignment at pass/fail if an extension has been sought and granted and the assignment is not submitted within the period of time allowed by the extension.

Subject to this right, as a general rule, the following policy applies where an extension has been sought and granted and the assignment is not submitted within the period of time allowed by the extension (the dates referred to below are the dates for the submission of the research assignment in accordance with the extension):

• Between one day late and five days late: Two mark penalty deducted from student's result for the assignment for each day the assignment is submitted late (eg, an assignment submitted five days late will incur a penalty of 10 marks)
• Between six days late and ten days late: Assignment assessed pass/fail (ie, if the assignment is awarded a pass, a mark of 50% is given)
• More than 10 days late: Assignment not accepted and a mark of zero is awarded for the assignment.

Note that this policy applies on a ‘per day' not ‘business day' basis - Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are included in the calculation of days.

For the purpose of applying this policy, an assignment is deemed to be submitted one day late if it is submitted at any time in the period of 24 hours after the due time. For example, if an assignment is due at 5pm, the assignment is deemed to be one day late if it is submitted in the period from 5.01pm on the due date to 5pm on the following date.