Academic Integrity: Home

What is Academic Integrity?

Traditionally focused on plagiarism, fraud, dishonesty, cheating prevention, and other academic malpractice, the definition of Academic Integrity is evolving. Recent research takes a more holistic approach, merging the term with the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility in learning, teaching, and research. 

In simplest terms, academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner.

How Do You Maintain Academic Integrity?

• Trust in your own intellect

• Properly credit others work in your own, acknowledge where the information you use comes from

• Use information appropriately, according to copyright and privacy laws

• Undertake research honestly and report research truthfully 

• Act in an ethical manner in all your academic endeavors

Adapted from:

1. Bretag T. Academic Integrity. 2018 Apr 26; Available from: https://oxfordre.com/business/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.001.0001/acrefore-9780190224851-e-147

2. MIT. What is Academic Integrity? | Academic Integrity at MIT [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jul 7]. Available from: https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-integrity-mit/what-academic-integrity

3. Penn State. Academic Integrity | Academic Integrity at Penn State [Internet]. [cited 2021, Jul 12]. Available from: https://behrend.psu.edu/for-faculty-staff/faculty-resources/academic-integrity

What is Academic Dishonesty?

Academic dishonesty encompasses a variety of issues including plagiarism, cheating on exams or assignments, impersonation in exams, collusion, theft of another student’s work, sabotage of another student’s learning/assessment, paying a third party for assignments, downloading whole assignments (or parts of assignments) from the Internet (including file-sharing sites), falsification of data, misrepresentation of records, and fraudulent research and publishing practices. 

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the process of taking other people’s words and/or ideas and presenting them as your own. 

Cheating:

Cheating is defined as fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic assignment. 

Fabrication or Falsifying:

Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information. Falsification, involves deliberately altering or changing results to suit one’s needs in an experiment or other academic exercise.

Collusion:

Collusion is the unauthorized collaboration on work (written, oral, or practical) that should be done individually.

Adapted from:

1. Bretag T, Mahmud S. A model for determining student plagiarism: Electronic detection and academic judgment. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. 2009;6(1):49–60.

2. Sutherland-Smith, W. Crossing the line : collusion or collaboration in university group work? The Australian Universities’ Review. 2013;55(1):51-58.