Importance of Maintaining Academic Integrity - Essay Example

Academic Integrity Total Number of Words 014 Importance of Maintaining Academic Integrity Academic integrity in schools and universities is all about being able to preserve the students’ honesty when it comes to the submission of their assignments, term papers, thesis, and dissertation papers (Lancaster and Waryold, 2008, p. 258). Basically, preserving the schools’ academic integrity is very important because in the process of observing the elements of academic integrity, the students are also somehow playing their role in preserving the school’s credibility in terms of being able to provide the students with an ethically-based learning environment (Whitley and Keith-Spiegel, 2008, p. 139). As a common knowledge, all students have a direct obligation and responsibility not only to the school and universities where they have enrolled the course they have taken but also to their parents, their school teachers, friends as well as to the entire community (Lathrop and Foss, 2005, p. 87). For this reason, all schools and universities worldwide see to it that they do not tolerate academic dishonesty at all cause (Lathrop and Foss, 2005, p. 88). Strategic Ways on How to Avoid Academic Dishones, y In almost all cases, academic dishonesty is considered as something unethical in the field of the academic world (Bleeker, 2008, p. 8). In fact, plagiarism is considered as one of the most serious violation particularly when it comes to school ethics (Lampert, 2008, p. 69). Since all schools and universities throughout the United Kingdom have managed to establish their own school policies on plagiarism, being caught of cheating or plagiarism can be considered as an act of violating or breaching the school’s code of conduct and policies (Lampert, 2008, p. 71). To ensure that the practice of academic dishonesty does not become a part of the school’s institutional culture (Whitley and Keith-Spiegel, 2008, p. 139), there are some school administers are left with no other choice but to punish students who are proven guilty of “cheating” or “plagiarism” by terminating them from the school or university whereas other school administrators or school staff would end up deciding to give the suspected student another chance by taking some form of a remedial course (Bleeker, 2007, p. 138). In most cases, the way the school faculty members would react or treat the students who are caught or being suspected of plagiarism is one of the best ways to ensure that all students would stay away from the practice of academic dishonesty (Lampert, 2008, p. 68). Lancaster and Waryold (2008, p. 259) explained that the universal concept of academic integrity is built-up by five (5) major values which includes trust, honesty, respect, fairness and responsibility. Therefore, to prevent academic dishonesty, it is necessary for all university teachers and students to establish trust particularly when it comes to the students’ honesty in writing their essays (Lancaster and Waryold, 2008, p. 259; Lathrop and Foss, 2005). Often times, the students are expected to be responsible enough to be fair and give respect to the authors of printed and online published materials. In most cases, this can be done by acknowledging sources or the works of other people (Pecorari, 2013, p. 144). There are so many ways wherein a student can play their role in terms of increasing the school’s academic integrity. For instance, as a universal rule, one of the best ways to increase academic integrity is to encourage all students to strictly observe the anti-plagiarism policies in school (Oyekan, 2013, p. 36). As such, each and every student and academic staff are required to follow the universal rule on proper referencing when writing academic papers (i.e. Harvard system, APA citation, MLA, etc.). Pecorari (2013, p. 144) clearly defined the term “plagiarism” as “the reproduction or paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, from public or private materials”. In almost all cases, the term “cheating” and “plagiarism” are often times used inter-changeably when it comes to dealing with academic papers (Lancaster and Waryold, 2008, p. 258; Lathrop and Foss, 2005, p. 88). To avoid being accused of “cheating” or “plagiarism”, all students are required to adapt with the use of “in-text citation” each time there is a need to put into reference some information or ideas taken from a published article or journal (i.e. Erika, 2013) (Oyekan, 2013, p. 40). In the process of using some “in-text citation”, the students can easily acknowledge the real source of information they use in writing down their school papers. Aside from the use of “in-text citation”, all students are also required to come up with a list of references or bibliography at the end of each essay or dissertation (Oyekan, 2013, p. 40). Often times, writing down the list of references should be arranged alphabetically based on the surnames of the authors (Oyekan, 2013, p. 40). It is common for almost all students to be required the need to conduct their own primary or secondary research work (i.e. quantitative or qualitative research). Therefore, another way to ensure academic integrity is to avoid manipulating the interpretation of the works of other people (Shaughn OBrien and Broughton-Pipkin, 2007, p. 193). In line with this, Shaughn OBrien and Broughton-Pipkin (2007, p. 193) mentioned that all students are required to avoid manipulating or fabricating their own research findings each time they are required to do their own primary research study. Conclusion Preserving the school’s academic integrity is important not only to the overall learning experience of the students but also to the overall integrity of the school or university as well as the welfare of the entire community. In general, when writing both academic and non-academic papers, no one is exempted in the use of proper citation and referencing. Therefore, in respect to the copyright laws, encouraging all students to carefully observe the use of proper “in-text citation” and the list of references or bibliography is important since it will help them free themselves from being accused of violating the said law. Likewise, the practice of proper referencing and citation will also help prevent the students from becoming a suspect of “plagiarism” or “cheating”. This statement applies each time the school teachers would give them individual or group assignments. References Bleeker, K. (2007). To Be Honest: Championing Academic Integrity in Community Colleges. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers . Bleeker, K. (2008). To Be Honest: Championing Academic Integrity in Community Colleges. Washington, DC: Community College Press. Lampert, L. (2008). Combating Student Plagiarism: An Academic Librarian’s Guide. Oxford: Chandos Publishing. Lancaster, J. and Waryold, D. (2008). Student Conduct Practice: The Complete Guide for Student Affairs Professionals. Virginia: Stylus Publishing LLC. Lathrop, A. and Foss, K. (2005). Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to Honesty and Integrity Strategies for Change. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Oyekan, O. (2013). ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Study & Guide. US: Xlibris Publishing. Pecorari, D. (2013). Teaching To Avoid Plagiarism: How To Promote Good Source Use: How to Promote good source use. Berkshire: Open University Press. Shaughn OBrien, P. and Broughton-Pipkin, F. (2007). Introduction to Research Methodology for Specialist Trainees. 2nd Edition. London: RCOG Press. Whitley, B. and Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). Academic Dishonesty: An Educators Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Read More