ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Introduction

Academic integrity is an ethical issue that plays a role in both academic ethics and, generally, professional ethics. Educational institutions and educators have long believed in the importance of academic integrity, which, as defined by the Center for Academic Integrity, requires a commitment to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Academic integrity violations include misrepresenting another's ideas or work as one's own (Bruhn, Zajac, AI-Kazemi & Prescott, 2002); falsifying research data; misappropriation of institutional resources; fraudulently advancing one's own academic standing; and disrupting the academic environment of others, such as through hoarding or damaging educational materials (Weingartner, 2006).

Discussion

Although these issues have always concerned educational institutions and educators, distributed learning technologies have changed the patterns of academic dishonesty. The most common form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, is facilitated by the access to virtually unlimited data, the difficulty faculty have in knowing all of that data, and the ease of cut and paste commands (Jensen, 2006). Moreover, the technology culture supports the belief that “information is free” regardless of regulations that apply to material. The early Internet notion that technically possible behavior is permitted behavior persists. As a result, many individuals who would never steal a CD from a music store not only freely copy that same CD from an online site, but also insist the behavior is ethical and not equivalent to stealing or, more specifically, copyright infringement. In the same problematic way, it may feel different to a student to execute the cut and paste commands than to copy another's work by long hand or to retype it (Cizek, 2005). Technology removes the physical labor that serves as a reminder of authorship and ownership. The ease of technology-facilitated academic dishonesty may require institutions and faculty to take a different approach to academic integrity issues, particularly in the educational efforts designed to address these issues.

Effects on Students' Lives

One of the most important negative effects of academic dishonesty for the students is that they bring about a bad name to themselves and their schools (Davis, Grover, Becker & McGregor, 1992). Additionally, students found guilty of cheating, can be resticated from appearing in further examinations along with heavy punishments and fines. Bearing the consequences of academic dishonesty can lead an individual student to drop out of school thus leaving the education incomplete and their future in darkness.

Codes for teachers and professors tend to require individuals to have a commitment to intellectual honesty, academic integrity, appropriate assessment and grading practices, positive educational environments for all, and confidentiality of personal records (Callahan, 2004). Codes for academic administrators are similar and tend to require individuals to have a commitment to ethical business practices, confidentiality, accuracy of information, and respect for others. Some ethical issues specific to teaching, learning, and research include power, friendship, and consensual sexual relationships; loyalty, friendship, and community; privacy, tolerance, diversity, open discussion, and academic freedom; academic integrity, grading practices, and cheating; honesty and informed consent in human research; private and corporate donations and educational ...