Are you learning about study skills? Go to:

Academic Integrity

What are the Fundamentals of Academic Integrity?

The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) defines academic integrity as a commitment to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage.

By embracing these fundamental values, teachers and students create effective scholarly communities where integrity is a touchstone. Without them, the work of teachers, learners, and researchers loses value and credibility.

More than merely abstract principles, the fundamental values serve to inform and improve ethical decision-making capacities and behaviour (The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity, 2021).

Academic Integrity Glossary

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY*

Behaviours from individuals that intentionally go beyond the limits of ethical standards of academic behaviour held by our community in common as sound research or scholarship.

ACADEMIC ETHICS

Moral values that are recognised and abided by the academic community.

ACADEMIC FRAUD

Actions that are intended to deceive for unfair advantage by violating academic regulations.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY*

Compliance with ethical principles, standards, practices and consistent the academic integrity values of SHHS that serves as guidance for making decisions and taking actions in education, research and scholarship.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

Any action or attempted action that undermines academic integrity and may result in an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any member of the academic community or wider society.

AGGREGATOR

Someone who includes proper citation in the paper, but the paper contains almost no original work.

ANONYMOUS WORK

(1) A work where the author cannot be identified.

(2) A work where the author is intentionally anonymised.

AUTHOR

A person (either individual or organisation) who created or contributed to the creation of original work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A list of sources that inform and/or support the claims made in the work.

BLIND PEER REVIEW*

A peer review is the process by which a piece of research, such as a journal article, book, or academic work is assessed by others – a researcher’s fellow peers – who are suitably qualified and able to judge the piece of work under review in terms of novelty, soundness and significance. In general, it is a critique of submitted work. A blind peer review process of a submitted work is where some or all parties involved are not identified to reduce bias for, or against, authors or peer reviewers.

CHEATING

Actions that attempt to get any advantage by means that undermine values of integrity.

CITATION

A note in the text using a recognised referencing style which identifies the source of an idea or fact and acts as a link to a more detailed reference in the Bibliography or References section of the work.

PLAGIARISM

An act of submitting and / or publishing another's work, word-for-word, as one's own.

(To be finished)

All definitions in this glossary have been copied or adapted from the European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) glossary page (https://www.academicintegrity.eu/wp/glossary/). If you copy any of the definitions above you are required to give credit to:

Glossary. (2021). ENAI. https://www.academicintegrity.eu/wp/glossary/

"*" A star at the end of the word indicates that the definition has been adapted from the original definition from ENAI.

Do the Values of Academic Integrity Align with Smith Hill's EnRICH Values?

The core values of Smith’s Hill High School, Endeavour, Respect, Integrity, Compassion, and Harmony, reflect the ideals our community strives to uphold in both learning and character. Developed collaboratively by students and staff, these values represent shared principles that guide our learning culture.

The core values of Smith's Hill High School are expressed by the student representative council in the word EnRICH, representing Endeavour, Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Harmony, the essence of the school. It's worth really considering and comparing the schools' values as compared to ICAI's description of academic integrity as a commitment to six fundamental values:

Compare the two columns SHHS Values and ICAI Academic Integrity Fundamentals.

Can you see commonalities?
What does this tell you about these two educational institutions?

They may not be exact matches, but it does point towards when you work with academic integrity, as described by ICAI, you are taking significant steps towards working with the values that are held high by our school community.

You can see that our school’s values align closely with the international principles of academic integrity.

Let’s take a closer look at how each of these values can be defined and embodied — exploring both what they mean and how you can apply them in your own academic practices and life.

The descriptions below are adapted from The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity (ICAI, 2021).

Honesty - defined

hon·es·ty

Noun: The quality of being honest, free from fraud or deception, legitimate, truthful

Honesty forms the indispensable foundation of integrity and is prerequisite for full realisation of trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility.

Honesty - embodied

Ways to demonstrate honesty:

Be truthful
Give credit to the owner of the work (i.e., musician, author, artist, speaker etc.)
Keep promises
Provide factual evidence
Aspire to objectivity, consider all sides and one's own potential preconceptions

Trust - defined

trust

noun: The assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something

The ability to rely on the truth of someone or something is a fundamental pillar of academic pursuit and a necessary foundation of academic work.

Trust - embodied

Ways to demonstrate trust:

Clearly state expectations and follow through
Promote transparency in values, processes, and outcomes
Trust others
Give credence
Encourage mutual understanding
Act with genuineness

Fairness - defined

fair·ness

Noun: The quality or state of being fair, especially fair or impartial treatment, lack of favouritism toward one side or another

Impartial treatment is an essential factor in the establishment of ethical communities because it reinforces the importance of truth, ideas, logic, and rationality.

Fairness - embodied

Ways to demonstrate fairness:

Apply rules and policies consistently
Engage with others equitably
Keep an open-mind
Be objective
Take responsibility for your own actions

Respect - defined

re·spect

Noun: High or special regard, esteem; the quality or state of being esteemed

Respect in academic communities is reciprocal and requires showing respect for oneself as well as others. Respect for self means tackling challenges without compromising your own values. Respect for others means valuing the diversity of opinions and appreciating the need to challenge, test, and refine ideas.

Respect - embodied

Ways to demonstrate respect:

Practice active listening
Receive feedback willingly
Accept that others’ thoughts and ideas have validity
Show empathy
Seek open communication
Affirm others and accept differences
Recognise the consequences of our words and actions on others

Responsibility - defined

re·spon·si·bil·i·ty

Noun: The quality or state of being responsible; moral, legal, or mental accountability; reliability, trustworthiness

Upholding the values of integrity is simultaneously an individual duty and a shared concern. Every member of an academic community—each student, staff, faculty member, and administrator—is accountable to themselves and each other for safeguarding the integrity of its scholarship, teaching, research, and service.

Responsibility - embodied

Ways to demonstrate responsibility:

Hold yourself accountable for your actions
Engage with others in difficult conversations, even when silence might be easier
Know and follow institutional rules and conduct codes
Create, understand, and respect personal boundaries
Follow through with tasks and expectations
Model good behaviour

Courage - defined

cour·age

Noun: The mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

Courage differs from the preceding fundamental values by being more a quality or capacity of character. However, as with each of the values, courage can be practiced and developed. Courage often is interpreted as a lack of fear. In reality, courage is the capacity to act in accordance with one’s values despite fear

Courage - embodied

Ways to demonstrate courage:

Be brave even when others might not
Take a stand to address a wrongdoing and support others doing the same
Endure discomfort for something you believe in
Be undaunted in defending integrity
Be willing to take risk and risk failure

Honour Code

Smith's Hill High School embodies a spirit of mutual trust and intellectual honesty that is central to the very nature of learning, and represents the highest possible expression of shared values among the members of the school community. The core values underlying and reflected in the Honour Code are:

Academic honesty is demonstrated by students when the ideas and the writing of others are properly cited; students submit their own work for tests and assignments without unauthorised assistance; students do not provide unauthorised assistance to others; and students report their research or accomplishments accurately.
Respect for others and the learning process to demonstrate academic honesty.
Trust in others to act with academic honesty as a positive community-building force in the school.
Responsibility is recognised by all to demonstrate their best effort to prepare and complete academic tasks.
Fairness and equity are demonstrated so that every student can experience an academic environment that is free from the injustices caused by any form of intellectual dishonesty.
Integrity of all members of the school community as demonstrated by a commitment to academic honesty and support of our quest for authentic learning.

Take a Step Back... Is This Part of Your Ideal Self?

Let's jump back for a moment and take a wider view...

We have a whole page dedicated to learning about Goal Setting, there is an interesting section (hidden in the FAQ dropdown) titled "Ideal Self Goal Setting". It is drawn from the work of Richard Cash, he specialises in working with high potential and gifted students. Basically, a great strategy to help in personal development is to stop occasionally and think about who you want to become? When you think about yourself in the future, how would you describe the characteristics of your ideal self? Typically, this might include a set of characteristics such as compassionate, creative, dedicated, dependable, giving, kind, loyal, sensitive, and trustworthy.

Stop for a moment and think about the six fundamentals of academic integrity that we have been considering: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage. Are these ideal self goals (characteristics) that you might set for yourself?

Students often ask how can you work towards developing these ideal self characteristics? When you research and write for formal assessment tasks you have an opportunity to embrace these fundamental values of academic integrity whilst building towards your ideal self goals. It may be difficult at first learning and implementing academic integrity practices such as in-text citations and referencing, but it will get easier with practice and you can consider it worthwhile steps towards your ideal self goals.

Tools to Support Your Academic Integrity

This page offers a simple overview of the fundamentals of Academic Integrity, encouraging you to see it not just as a rule, but as a mindset for lifelong learning. Academic integrity shapes how we think, create, and collaborate with honesty, fairness, and respect.

Explore these tools, plus below and in the top menu to build the practical skills — like referencing and citation — that support these values in your own work. All of these tools are practical, made for Smith's Hill High School students, and will make your journey to working with integrity easier.

Tools to help you acknowledge when you incorporate other people's ideas in assessment tasks:

Introduction to Referencing - Writing with Academic Integrity

Go Straight to Creating In-text Citations

Go Straight to Creating a Reference List

Go Straight to Shortcuts for Referencing

Does referencing an assessment task really matter in a world where wars happen? Hear this!

References

The Academic Integrity guides on this website are informed by, and in part copied from, guides prepared by the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI). This organisation exists to promote academic integrity and ethics in schools and in society at large. Information copied from their website is done so legally under their Creative Commons Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Content on this page identified as copied or adapted from ICAI remains under Creative Commons Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Assignment Skills. (2021). 26. Retrieved 4th November, from https://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/ld.php?content_id=47814322

Integrity, T. I. C. f. A. (2021). The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity. Retrieved 24/06/2021, from https://academicintegrity.org/images/pdfs/20019_ICAI-Fundamental-Values_R12.pdf

The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity. (2021). Retrieved 24/06/2021, from https://academicintegrity.org/images/pdfs/20019_ICAI-Fundamental-Values_R12.pdf

Page updated

Report abuse