Academic Integrity and Misconduct

Introduction to Academic Integrity and Misconduct

This resource serves as a positive guide, highlighting issues surrounding academic misconduct and offering support to help students avoid its pitfalls. It is a complementary resource designed to be used flexibly (stop, start, skip, or re-access as needed) and is not intended to replace the student charter or associated readings.

Webinar Structure

  • Part One: Academic Integrity
  • Part Two: Academic Misconduct
  • Part Three: Plagiarism, Collusion, and Cheating
  • Part Four: Avoiding the Pitfalls

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity can be understood as one end of a spectrum of professionalism, with academic misconduct at the opposite end.

Definition and Significance

Maintaining academic integrity involves upholding morals and professionalism within academic work. This commitment allows for unhindered career advancement. Conversely, academic misconduct carries potentially severe consequences, which students are strongly advised to avoid.

Behaviours Constituting Good Work Practices (University of Wolverhampton)

To ensure academic integrity, commitment to the following behaviours is essential:

  • Acting Ethically: This primarily means acknowledging the authors of published works. This is achieved through proper citation within the text and inclusion in a reference list.
  • Being Honest: Always be truthful about which excerpts or ideas are derived from the work of others.
  • Working Fairly: Use the work of others appropriately, avoiding misuse.
  • Being Responsible: Take personal responsibility for ensuring that one's own work is credible and ethical.
  • Showing Care and Respect: Demonstrate consideration for others, especially authors of published work, by providing accurate citations and references.
  • Being Accurate: Ensure that one's work reliably informs others.
  • Instilling Rigour: Apply necessary academic standards and protocols, including the academic integrity standards themselves.
  • Being Transparent: Be open and clear about the sources of all information used in the work.
Why Work with Integrity?

It is imperative to understand not only the negative consequences of academic misconduct but also the significant benefits of working with integrity:

  • Focus on Learning: When submitting work and receiving feedback, students already have enough to concentrate on in terms of areas for continued success and improvement. Academic integrity ensures that there isn't an additional burden of worry related to misconduct.
  • Ethical and Professional Standard: Maintaining academic integrity guarantees that the submitted work adheres to high ethical, moral, and professional standards.
  • Pride in Achievements: Working with integrity allows students to take genuine pride in their academic accomplishments.

Academic Misconduct

Definition

The University of Wolverhampton defines academic misconduct as the term used to describe breaches of academic integrity.

Forms of Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct can manifest in several ways:

  • Plagiarism: This can be categorized into:
    • Intentional Plagiarism: Deliberately presenting someone else's work as one's own.
    • Accidental Plagiarism: Unintentionally using another's work without proper attribution, often due to carelessness or misunderstanding citation rules.
    • Self-Plagiarism: Resubmitting one's own previous work, or parts of it, for a new assessment without proper acknowledgement or permission.
  • Collusion: Unauthorized collaboration with other individuals on an assignment that is meant to be done individually.
  • Cheating: Any dishonest act aimed at gaining an unfair advantage in an academic assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, contract cheating, where a student pays a third party to complete their work.
Contributing Factors to Academic Misconduct

Research and observations highlight several common factors that can contribute to students falling into academic misconduct:

  • Poor Time Management: Submitting drafts that have not undergone sufficient drafting and redrafting processes due to being left until the last minute can compromise the work's integrity (University of Wolverhampton).
  • Non-engagement and Non-attendance: A lack of participation in core teaching sessions or consistent absence can hinder a student's understanding of proper academic practices (Hughes & MacKaybe, 2006).
  • Non-engagement with Formative Assessment Opportunities: Students who do not utilize opportunities for formative assessment miss crucial chances to practice and improve their work according to institutional guidelines.
  • Poor Help-Seeking Behaviours: A reluctance or inability to seek support when needed can lead students to resort to poor academic practices. (Reassurance: support is always available for students.)
Initial Procedure Regarding Academic Misconduct

The process for addressing academic misconduct begins at the marking stage. When work is submitted, markers assess it not only against the set marking criteria for each module but also for its authenticity. If poor academic practice or academic misconduct is identified during this assessment of authenticity, further procedures are initiated.