By Dr Rhonda Daniels AE, Standing Committee on Academic Editing
The final meeting for 2024 of the Special Interest Group on Academic Editing (SIGAE) was held on 11 December 2024, chaired by deputy facilitator Cheryl Ballantyne in the absence of facilitator Ann Philpott. We discussed several issues.
International student caps
Although the federal government’s proposed legislation to set caps on international student numbers was not passed in late 2024, it remains of interest and concern to members. The Study Australia website posted an article in August 2024 about the proposed student caps for 2025, called the National Planning Level (NPL). The article said the proposed caps would not apply to Higher Degree by Research students. However, even if research student numbers are not affected, a large decline in funding from international coursework students will have a large impact on many universities’ budgets and reduce funding for academic staff and editing services. It could also provide opportunities for self-employed academic editors to provide their services to staff and research students.
A policy update, posted on 12 December, a day after our meeting, now says: “The proposed student cap system for 2025 has not been confirmed. We will keep you updated by email, on the Study Australia website and via our social media channels.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
We continued our discussion of this issue from the previous SIGAE meeting in October.
Universities are developing policies on the use of generative AI tools. For instance, on 1 November 2024, the University of Sydney released a policy allowing the use of AI in student assignments. From Semester 1 2025, the University will change its default to allow the use of AI for assessments, except for exams and in-semester tests or if teaching staff choose not to.
This video by University of Sydney staff for the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is eye-opening on the potential of generative AI tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUpoRTyNvVE&list=PLts-Ei4tTTZ5HOGi9RFixZcNVzml9XcLT
Endnote
While the reference management software Endnote is not AI, our discussion then flowed to Endnote. Members noted tips for using Endnote and recommended training courses provided by IPEd member Hilary Cadman of Cadman Training.
Macros
Several members confirmed the benefits of using macros in their work and the value of the recent IPEd workshops by Paul Beverley and Jennifer Yankopolus. See the free macros available at https://www.wordmacrotools.com/.
IPEd conference July 2025
Members were reminded of the 12th IPEd conference on 23 to 25 July 2025 in Adelaide, the first face-to-face IPEd conference since 2019. Members can present papers on interesting aspects of their academic editing work or deliver a workshop. EOIs to present at the conference close on 28 February 2025.
About the SIGAE
The SIGAE (an informal discussion group for IPEd members only) came into being as a result of an academic editing interest group discussion at the 11th IPEd conference, 2 to 9 May 2023 (online conference). It holds informal meetings every second month to discuss issues and questions about academic editing. No question is considered “too basic” or “too advanced”. All IPEd members are welcome.
Find IPEd material on academic editing on the IPEd website.
There is also material in the member-only portal on the IPEd website.
The next SIGAE meeting is Thursday 13 February 2025, 6 to 7 pm AEDT. The icebreaker topic is numbers in academic writing. Free to all interested members, but you must book.