[2024] Academic Integrity Tutorial: Explore Academic Integrity

At the end of this section, you should be able to define academic integrity and the values associated with it.

Based on your responses to the poll questions, how would you define academic integrity? Use this activity to prioritize what you think are the most important attributes.

Academic integrity is a term used to indicate ethical behaviour by learners as they participate in learning environments, especially with respect to expectations for assessments.

The University's Learning Charter (Student Commitment 4) states that students should undertake all learning activities with academic and ethical integrity. Honouring this commitment requires that students understand key principles of academic integrity and adhere to the standards set out in the Regulations on Student Academic Misconduct.

The International Center for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage.

Examples of undertaking your work with academic integrity include:

• Performing your own work unless specifically instructed otherwise, and checking with your instructor about whether collaboration or assistance from others is permitted.
• Using your own work to complete assignments and exams, rather than copying or relying on the work of others.
• Citing the source when quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s work, and discussing with your professor if you have any questions about whether sources require citation.
• Following examination rules, such as refraining from using unauthorized materials or collaborating during individual assessments.
• Discussing with your professor if you are using the same material for assignments in two different courses to ensure you are not self-plagiarizing or violating any course policies.
• Being truthful on all university forms, including applications, financial aid documents, and academic records.
• Maintaining the same standard of honesty with fellow students, lab instructors, teaching assistants, sessional instructors, and administrative staff as you do with faculty, to foster a culture of trust and integrity within the university community.

Academic misconduct is a term used to indicate a violation or breach of academic integrity.

It commonly refers to a learner’s actions related to an assessment that is outside of the expectations or rules that an instructor has set.  Generally, academic misconduct includes

• Cheating: Seeking unpermitted assistance from a person, a resource, or a tool while completing an assessment.
• Plagiarism: Making it seem that you are the author/creator/originator of something that you are not.
• Fraud: Making false claims about data, records, or other matters related to an assessment.

According to the University's "Regulations On Student Academic Misconduct" (2022)5, academic misconduct can be summarized as follows (please refer to pages 6 - 8 of the Regulations for a complete list):

• Submitting materials (assignments, essays) from another course for credit, unless approval is obtained from the instructor.
• Falsifying or fabricating data; for example, making up lab results without doing the work is considered fabrication.
• Taking someone else's work without their permission (lecture notes, research data, computer files, etc.).
• Altering exam answers after the exam was given back.
• Using cheat sheets or dictionaries during an examination when these were not explicitly stated as allowed materials.
• Asking others for help on a take-home exam.
• Collaborating on an assignment without instructor approval or submitting work as your own that was completed jointly.
• Lying in order to change an assignment due date or delay an exam.
• Posing as another person in an academic context, for example writing someone else's exam, signing someone in, etc.
• Preventing other students' full access to university materials, e.g., ripping out a required reading from a journal at the library.
• Helping anyone to do any of the above.
• Plagiarism, which is defined as presenting the work or idea of another as your own.