Academic Integrity

banner

Academic integrity appears to be contagious.

The Internet has vastly increased opportunities for plagiarism, and for services such as paper mills. Violations by faculty members and administrators have also increased. However, academic integrity appears to be contagious — and the same with its opposite, academic dishonesty. According to research, the best way to reduce academic misconduct is to foster a culture of academic integrity. This culture should embrace every member of the academic community. Other research has shown that cheating, too, is infectious — simply knowing others are cheating will increase one's own risk of cheating.

Having policies isn't enough. Students often don't know how to avoid it. They frequently don't read antiplagiarism statements in their student handbooks or university calendars and are ignorant of its definitions and implications. Canadian research has concluded that focusing on individuals is ineffective; rather, university administrators, faculty and students should engage in open discussions about how plagiarism should be addressed (Paterson et al, (2003).

Readings

Open-source journal: Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity

Rholetter, W. Me. (2019). Academic integrity. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Sarah Elaine Eaton, Nancy Chibry, Margaret A. Toye, & Silvia Rossi. (2019). Interinstitutional perspectives on contract cheating: a qualitative narrative exploration from Canada. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 15(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-019-0046-0

Eaton, S. E. (2020). Academic Integrity During COVID-19: Reflections From the University of Calgary. International Studies in Educational Administration (Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management (CCEAM)), 48(1), 80–85.

Eaton, S. E., Crossman, K., Edino, R., & University of Calgary (Canada). (2019). Academic Integrity in Canada: An Annotated Bibliography. Online Submission.

Paterson, B., Taylor, L., & Usick, B. (2003). The construction of plagiarism in a school of nursing. Learning in Health & Social Care, 2(3), 147. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1473-6861.2003.00047.x

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of academe and scholarship — both its moral code and ethical policy. It means avoiding plagiarism, cheating and related misconduct.

Most educational institutions uphold and promote academic integrity. UC Berkeley, for example, defines it as "any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community" in its Code of Student Conduct. Yet another definition sees it as ensuring students' writing is distinct from the writing of others.

Academic integrity is typically viewed through the lens of misconduct and dishonesty. Thus it carries both negative and punitive associations. But the discourse is shifting toward an educative, preventive and positive approach, to promote student success. Some approaches include:

Fostering students' intrinsic motivation
Building student self-efficacy
Using frequent, low-stakes assessments
Emphasizing learning-for-mastery over learning-for-performance

Download Invigilation Support Request Form

Invigilation Support Request Form

Title	Description	File type
Invigilation Support Request Form	Please download and fill out this Invigilation Support Request Form to request the support of a Learning Technology Facilitator for your exam. Submit your completed form to your Dean's office.	.pdf
Invigilation Support Request Flowchart	This flowchart lays out the process for requesting invigilation support.	.pdf