TRANSCRIPT: Academic Integrity: The Do's and Don'ts
Speaker: Nadia Eslinger
Academic Integrity: The Do’s & Don'ts
Hello, I am Nadia Eslinger and I have been working in higher education and student success for over 15 years. Today, we will discuss academic integrity and why it is important to everyone in academia.
When you go to visit with a doctor, you trust that they have studied medicine with integrity. You automatically assume the positive which is that doctor honestly learned everything they needed to know to earn their medical license. When you hire an attorney, an accountant or a therapist, you are trusting that they develop their own skills and prove their knowledge to operate in those professions. These expectations are extended to all professions, from journalism, to nutrition, to business education, the sciences and beyond.
Integrity is the foundation of leadership and responsible citizenship. It is a commitment to being truthful, acting morally, and encouraging others to do the same. When you enter an academic environment, there is an expectation that you always act with integrity.
Academic integrity is the requirement that all academic community members which includes instructors and professors, students, researchers and others act with fairness, honesty, respect, and accountability at all times. It is the expectation that we all choose to approach education in an ethical manner. This means even in the face of adversity, we do not cheat, plagiarize, falsify, or fabricate our work. Let’s explore a few important definitions regarding academic integrity.
Cheating. Cheating affects the instructor’s capacity to accurately and fairly evaluate students’ understanding and abilities since it misrepresents the student’s knowledge and skills. This is probably the most common way a person violates academic integrity.
Plagiarizing. Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else’s ideas or work as your own by incorporating it into your work without giving it due credit. Intentional and unintentional plagiarism are both plagiarism and a direct violation of academic integrity.
Falsifying and fabrication. Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them as true. Falsification is manipulating or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented.
Examples of cheating, plagiarism, falsifying and fabrication include copying from another’s person’s test, assignment or homework, using aids during a test or exam without approval producing data artificially when real experiment data should be obtained, failure to acknowledge improperly credit sources and papers or other assignments or turning in the same assignment for multiple classes without approval from the instructors.
These are just a few examples of academic dishonesty. Anything that is unethical may go against academic integrity. It is your responsibility to know and understand your college academic integrity policy and the subsequent penalties for violating academic integrity. So be sure to seek out this information and ask questions if needed.
Why is academic integrity important? One, it promotes an environment that is fair and honest. Two, it allows students to get the most out of their educational experience. Three, it is important to respect other people’s intellectual property rights. Failure to act with academic integrity negatively impacts you as the student. You forfeit the chance to learn, develop and hone your talents if you plagiarize, cheat, or fabricate on an exam or an assignment. Additionally, you lose your chance to earn a degree that acknowledges your own academic accomplishments.
The academic community. This includes your instructors, administrators, alumni and peers. When one student violates academic integrity, it negatively impacts everyone involved, future employers, clients, and colleagues. The people you will work with in the future could suffer if you cheat. You are training for jobs in journalism, law, medicine, and other fields where you will help others. If you choose not to learn how to do this work, you are depriving potential employers and clients of a skilled professional.
Some major components of academic integrity include honesty, respect, trust, pride, and responsibility or accountability. Honesty can be defined as being free from fraud, genuine and good. Simply put, it means to tell the truth.
When I was a freshman in college, one of the toughest history teachers told me, “I respect an earned C far more than a cheated A.” And I would rather you fail the first time and come back stronger than to pass dihonestly and walk away weak.
Respect in academia is having value for everyone’s perspective. You will not always agree with everyone’s opinion, but as a lifetime learner, respect is a component of integrity that we must hold in a high regard. I’ve realized I learned a lot from people who have very different viewpoints than me. Trust is the belief that a person is honest and reliable. In the academic community, there is an inherent trust that is given to each member. It is assumed that as a member of the community, you are trustworthy.
Pride, there are two kinds of pride. One is more positive than the other. The first kind of pride is having confidence and a go-getter attitude. It is wanting to put your best foot forward at all times. The other kind of pride is having a superior attitude towards others, boasting and bragging, and not being willing to recognize your shortcomings or when you need help. This kind of pride can lead to making poor decisions.
Responsibility, accountability. Having accountability means owning your mistakes and taking responsibility for your actions and choices. If you fail to study or prepare for an assignment, taking responsibility and accountability means you accept the grade that you earned for your lack of effort. You do not blame outside forces or others. You use that moment as an opportunity to learn from your mistake.
When I taught elementary school, to help students learn about integrity, I shared a story that I was taught as a child. I also shared this story with my own children and hope they pass it down to their children.
The story is called The Empty Pot. To summarize the story, a long time ago in China, the king who had no sons needed to find a ruler to succeed him. He decided to give every boy a special seed and the one who grew the best plant would become his successor. All the boys received their seeds and went home to grow their plants. One boy in particular, Ping, was not able to grow anything from his seed. He tried different methods, different soils, and nurtured the seed for several months. He became very frustrated, but continued to work hard to grow the plant. The rest of the boys in his village were growing beautiful, bright, leafy plants. Some even started to see their plant bud within days of planting their seeds. Ping felt like a failure. When the time came to show off their plants to the king, Ping was embarrassed to show the king that he was unsuccessful. However, he was always taught to be honest and accept responsibility. The king walked past each boy and examined their plants. When he reached Ping, he stopped and asked, “Why do you have an empty pot?” Ping explained that he did not grow a successful plant. The king turned to the crowd and announced that Ping would be his successor. Ping was very surprised and asked the king, “Why would you choose me if I did not grow a beautiful plant like the others?” The king explained that all the seeds were cooked and therefore could not grow. The test was not to grow the best plant. It was to see who had the characteristics of a leader. Honesty, trustworthiness, and responsibility. This is an example of integrity. Ping showed integrity by showing up with what he considered a failed experiment.
Choosing to always submit your best work, even if it doesn’t seem to be as well written or as good as others, is a much better choice than being dishonest. Let’s look at some real life examples that you may face as a student.
Imagine it is midterms and you have two tests next week and a major paper due. You are sharing your struggles with a friend. The friend tells you, “I know someone who graduated several years ago and they’ve collected papers from other students on hundreds of topics. For just a couple of bucks, they will read your assignment and select your paper for you to submit. They guarantee it will not be detected in any of the plagiarism software.” You are hesitant, but your friend then says, “Do you want to pass or fail?” Of course you want to pass, but do you want to pass dishonestly? You could take the risk and get someone else to write the paper for you. Maybe it will not be detected in any plagiarism software, but maybe it will. Let’s say you are confident you could get away with it. How do you respond?
You may be thinking, what does it matter? Does the professor really care if you write the paper or do they just want it done? I assure you it matters. Your professor wants to see your work and help you improve. If you are submitting work from someone else, you are preventing yourself from an opportunity to show your skills and knowledge.
You are assigned to a group project and the instructor has made it clear that each member is expected to contribute to the work equally. There are four people in the group. Three of you meet regularly and have all contributed equally. One person has not participated at all and you have made every effort to work with them. The day before the assignment is due, they email the group and say they’ve had some personal problems and would really appreciate it if you would put their name on the assignment before you turn it in. One of the group members responds and says, they are fine with it. We all have those times when we need a favor such as this. Another group members responds and says they do not agree with it and feels it is not fair to everyone who has sacrificed to get the project done. They turn to you to break the tie. How do you respond?
Sometimes we are faced with decisions that can cause internal conflict. We want to do what is right, but deciding what is right is not always black and white. In this case, you may want to give the other group member a break because you understand their situation but you also want to keep things fair for all students.
Some options include, if there is time allow the other member to do something to contribute to the group. Maybe they can go through the presentation and double check it for grammatical errors or maybe they can add some more creativity to the project.
If those options are not viable, you could always encourage them to contact the professor to let them know they haven’t been able to help and ask for an extension or to create the project on their own. However, putting the person’s name on the project, if they have not contributed at all will be a violation of academic integrity.
You need to write a paper for both your writing course and your World History course. Although the World History course has a specific topic, the paper for your writing course can be on any topic. It seems to make sense to only write one paper and submit the same one for both courses. This is not necessarily a bad idea. Academic integrity comes into play, if you do this without having permission from both professors.
In this case, you would want to contact both professors and explain the requirements of each paper. You would then explain how completing one paper satisfies both course requirements and asks permission to submit the one paper for both assignments. If one professor denies your request, you will then need to write two different papers. It is still possible to use the same topic. Just be sure to write two different papers.
You are enrolled in a freshman level biology course. This course is needed for your degree attainment but not for your major. Your friend is also enrolled in the same course, same instructor. Your friend has the class at 9:00 AM and you have the class at 12:00 PM. You and this friend decide to study together for the upcoming test. On test day, your friend goes to take the test at 9:00 AM and afterwards, text you information about the test, what was on the test, what was not, specific questions, and other information that otherwise you would not have. How do you respond?
You may think your friend is trying to look out for you and may even think because this is not needed for your major, it is okay. However, as a member of the academic community it is very clear that this violates academic integrity. An ideal response would be, delete the text and kindly explain to your friend why they should have not shared that information. You can turn it back on them and say I would not want to have an unfair advantage over you or any other students who did not have this information before the test. You can also let them know that sharing this information puts both of you at risk for disciplinary action. Being upfront with your friend in this way sets a boundary for your relationship as well as encourages your friend to make better choices.
Consequences of violating academic integrity. Every university has a policy statement or expectation regarding academic integrity. Take a moment today to familiarize yourself with your university’s guidelines and consequences of any violation as it is your responsibility to know and understand them. Penalties can range from failing grades on the assignment or class to expulsion from the university.
As a member of the academic community, it is imperative that you believe in yourself and your abilities. Remember that your best is good enough. Making the right choice is not always the easy choice but it’s always the best choice. If you are ever feeling pressured or stressed, it is much better to reach out and explain your circumstances than to make a poor choice.