Academic Integrity & Plagiarism - Research Paper Example

Some of the fundamental values of academic integrity include fairness, honesty, trust, respect, and responsibility. When a student fails to meet the standards of academic integrity, he cannot develop these values which are the major elements influencing his personality. According to the Code of Conduct of Walden University, a student’s academic integrity is inevitable for tutors/professors to evaluate whether or not a student has met the standards of academic excellence. In other words, teachers cannot assess a student’s progress in the specific area of study if he practices academic dishonesty.

Undoubtedly, this situation would adversely affect the academic performance of students. As experts point out, academic integrity would assist students to be genuine in their studies and to develop their long term career through quality innovations. According to the Code of Conduct of Walden University, academic integrity also contributes to an individual’s professional development and long term career growth. In an academic environment, it is inevitable for students to demonstrate respect for others’ ideas being professional and honest.. It is to be noted that plagiarism not only refers to the world-for-word copying of another piece of work, but also a close reproduction of the original work (Code of conduct).

The second step for students to avoid plagiarism is to be familiar with the topic that they are talking about. Students can write more in their own words if they have in-depth knowledge about the topic. It is particularly advisable for students to restate the subject a number of times as this practice would enable them to express a borrowed idea in their own style and without any resemblance to the original one. By including a bibliography or works cited section in the paper, students can properly cite the quotes and sources they used for the work.

If the student is doubtful regarding the use of any quoted idea, it is better to give credit to the author so as to avoid plagiarism issues. It is identified that most of the students become prone to plagiarism charges while paraphrasing others’ ideas. It is advisable for students not to paraphrase in a way that would closely resemble the original sentences. Finally, students must have good understanding of some basics of copyright so as to avoid plagiarism. Self-plagiarism Self-plagiarism happens if a student replicates any portion of his previous works for obtaining credit in another course, or an author reproduces some parts of his previous writings in his/her subsequent papers.

However, it must be noted that self-plagiarism does not constitute intellectual theft although it represents an act of academic dishonesty. The concept of self-plagiarism has been a hot debated topic because many scholars argue that this