academic integrity

During the late 18th century in the United States academic integrity was tightly correlated to the academic honor code. This was monitored mainly by the students and surrounding culture of the time. The honor code focused on duty, pride, power, and self-esteem.{{citation |author=Tricia Gallant |chapter=Revisiting the Past: The Historical Context of Academic Integrity |title=Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century |pages=13–31}} Any act promoting the uprising or building of any of these within an individual was the goal. Thus, academic integrity was tied solely to the status and appearance of upstanding character of the individual. Any acts of academic dishonesty performed to maintain their good name was seen as a necessary means to an end.

By the end of the 19th century when the goals of the university changed that the concept of academic integrity changed. Academics of this era were required to teach and produce original research. The pressure to acquire tenure and publish added extra stress to their jobs, though acts of academic dishonesty were viewed as acts of follies. Still, the honor code concept of academic integrity was evolving into a more contemporary concept. Academic integrity began to replace honor of the individual honor to the university as an institution. Such an evolution was important to promote unity throughout the academic institution and encourage students to hold each other accountable for dishonest acts. It also allowed the students to feel empowered through the self-monitoring of each other.

As the importance of original research grew among faculty members the questioning of research integrity grew as well. With pressure linked to their professional status professor were under intense scrutiny by the surrounding society. This inevitably led to the separating academic integrity ideals for student and faculty. By 1970 most universities in the United States had established honor codes for their student body and faculty members, although this concept is less prevalent elsewhere in the world.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/IJEI/article/view/762|title=Staff and student perspectives on the potential of honor codes in the UK|first1=Jon|last1=Scott|first2=Joe|last2=Badge|first3=Nadya|last3=Yakovchuk|date=December 12, 2011|journal=International Journal for Educational Integrity|volume=7|issue=2|via=www.ojs.unisa.edu.au|doi=10.21913/IJEI.v7i2.762|doi-access=free}}{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_84 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_84 | chapter=Academic Integrity in North America: A Comparison of Canada and the USA | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Eaton | first1=Sarah Elaine | last2=Fishman | first2=Teresa "Teddi" | pages=171–188 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }} By the early 2020s, there were indications that honor codes diminishing in popularity,Weiss, E. (2024, September 19). Honor Code Review Committee report recommends changes to constitution. The Middlebury Campus. https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2024/09/honor-code-review-committee-report-recommends-changes-to-constitution though they remain prevalent at many US higher education institutions.

Improvements in information technology have created challenges within academic integrity, especially with respect to increased plagiarism and use of poor-quality sources found on the internet.{{cite web|url=http://www.vsnu.nl/files/documenten/Domeinen/Onderzoek/The_Netherlands_Code%20of_Conduct_for_Academic_Practice_2004_(version2014).pdf|title=The Netherlands Code of Conduct for Academic Practice |year=2014|publisher=Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU)}} Technology has also increased opportunities for collaborative writing, raising issues of proper attribution of authorship.{{citation |author=Tricia Gallant |chapter=Twenty-First Century Forces Shaping Academic Integrity |title=Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century |pages=65–78}} There are also problems with hyperauthorship,{{Cite journal |last=Nogrady |first=Bianca |date=2023-02-27 |title=Hyperauthorship: the publishing challenges for 'big team' science |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=615 |issue=7950 |pages=175–177 |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-00575-3|doi-access=free |pmid=36849643 |bibcode=2023Natur.615..175N }} selling authorship,{{Cite journal |last=Else |first=Holly |date=2023-01-18 |title=Multimillion-dollar trade in paper authorships alarms publishers |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00062-9 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=613 |issue=7945 |pages=617–618 |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-00062-9|pmid=36653614 |bibcode=2023Natur.613..617E |url-access=subscription }} and unearned authorship.{{Cite journal |last=Singh Chawla |first=Dalmeet |date=2023-01-05 |title=Unearned authorship pervades science |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00016-1 |journal=Nature |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-00016-1|pmid=36604584 |url-access=subscription }}

The popularization of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) apps in education prompted global reconsiderations of policies and procedures relating to plagiarism and other breaches of academic integrity.{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_153 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_153 | chapter=Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence: An Overview | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Kumar | first1=Rahul | last2=Eaton | first2=Sarah Elaine | last3=Mindzak | first3=Michael | last4=Morrison | first4=Ryan | pages=1583–1596 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }}{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_93 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_93 | chapter=Guidelines for Creating Online MCQ-Based Exams to Evaluate Higher Order Learning and Reduce Academic Misconduct | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Newton | first1=Philip M. | pages=269–285 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }}{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-023-00323-2 | doi=10.1057/s41307-023-00323-2 | title=Decoding Academic Integrity Policies: A Corpus Linguistics Investigation of AI and Other Technological Threats | date=2024 | last1=Perkins | first1=Mike | last2=Roe | first2=Jasper | journal=Higher Education Policy | volume=37 | issue=3 | pages=633–653 }} The impact of large language models (LLMs) has impacted discussions of plagiarism and what constitutes ethical student learning.

Although some scholars claim that GenAI exacerbates academic misconduct,Abd-Elaal, E.-S., Gamage, S. H. P. W., & Mills, J. E. (2019). Artificial intelligence is a tool for cheating academic integrity AAEE 2019 Annual Conference,  https://aaee.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AAEE2019_Annual_Conference_paper_180.pdfYoung, J. R. (2020, February 12). Are algorithmically generated term papers the next big challenge to academic integrity? EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-02-12-are-algorithmically-generated-term-papers-the-next-big-challenge-to-academic-integrity others argue that use of GenAI tools does not automatically constitute a breach of academic integrity.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.21432/cjlt28388 | doi=10.21432/cjlt28388 | title=The Academic Integrity Technological Arms Race and its Impact on Learning, Teaching, and Assessment | date=2023 | last1=Eaton | first1=Sarah Elaine | journal=Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology | volume=48 | issue=2 | doi-access=free }}Lancaster, T. (2022, September 9). Adapting to artificial intelligence: The future of academic integrity European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI),  https://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster/adapting-to-artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-academic-integrity-european-network-for-academic-integrity There is currently no consensus about whether GenAI is responsible for a decrease in academic integrity.

Academic integrity means avoiding plagiarism and cheating, among other misconduct behaviours. Academic integrity is practiced in the majority of educational institutions, it is noted in mission statements, policies,Glendinning, I. (2013). Comparison of policies for Academic Integrity in Higher Education across the European Union. Retrieved from http://ketlib.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/bitstream/handle/ket/814/Comparison%20of%20policies%20for%20Academic%20Integrity%20in%20Higher%20Education%20across%20the%20European%20Union.pdf?sequence=2 procedures, and honor codes, but it is also being taught in ethics classes and being noted in syllabi. Many universities have sections on their websites devoted to academic integrity which define what the term means to their specific institution. An honor pledge created before an assignment that is signed by students can help increase academic integrity.{{Cite journal|last1=Tatum|first1=Holly|last2=Schwartz|first2=Beth M.|date=2017-04-03|title=Honor Codes: Evidence Based Strategies for Improving Academic Integrity|journal=Theory into Practice|volume=56|issue=2|pages=129–135|doi=10.1080/00405841.2017.1308175|s2cid=152268649 |issn=0040-5841}}

Universities have moved toward an inclusive approach to inspiring academic integrity, by creating Student Honor Councils{{Citation|title=Applying the Power of Association on Campus: A Model Code of Academic Integrity|journal=Journal of College and University Law |date=Summer 1997|first=Gary|last=Pavela|volume=24|issue=1|type =PDF|postscript=. }} as well as taking a more active role in making students aware of the consequences for academic dishonesty.

To promote the academic integrity, publication ethics, and responsible research in the higher education system in India, the University Grants Commission (India) enacted the "UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018" on July 23, 2018.{{Citation|title=UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 |url=https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/7771545_academic-integrity-Regulation2018.pdf |postscript=. |year=2018}}{{rp|1}} The Regulations then recommend some institutional mechanisms to eliminate the scope of plagiarism.

Despite these advances, academic misconduct continues to preoccupy policy makers and educators all over the world. In the 1990s, the academic dishonesty rates were as bad as, and in some cases, worse than they were in the 1960s.{{Citation|title=Moral Panic: The Contemporary Context of Academic Integrity|journal=ASHE Higher Education Report |volume=33|issue=5|pages=1–143|doi= 10.1002/aehe.3305|type =PDF|postscript=. |year=2008}}{{rp|1}} The acknowledgement of this ethics crisis is inspiring many universities to focus more on promoting common values of academic integrity.

Conversely, critics have drawn attention to the fact that "teaching and learning are interrupted because faculty, in an effort to control plagiarism and protect notions of intellectual capital, are forced to engage with the students as detectives rather than as teachers, advisors, or mentors. The focus on controlling plagiarism among students is critiqued as unnecessarily legalistic and the rules more rigid than those necessarily accorded to intellectual property law (Marsh, 2004)".{{rp|5}} Similarly, contributions made from a societal perspective question or critique previously unexamined assumptions of the "inherent goodness, universality, and absoluteness of independence, originality, and authorship (Valentine, 2006). Authors who write about the societal dimension such as Ede and Lundsford (2001) do not suggest the elimination of notions of individual authorship and the unconditional acceptance of copying and collaboration in its place. Rather, the societal dimension highlights the need to consider both and the importance of deconstructing how the idea of the "individual author" might be serving (or not serving) the goals of teaching (learning), service, and research. Postsecondary education institutions are urged to step back from the mindless or fear-based ready adoption of the "turnitin culture" (Maruca, 2005) to allow for such question asking in the spirit of enhancing academic integrity and the teaching and learning environment."{{rp|59}}

It is important for schools and higher education institutions to have clear academic integrity policies and procedures to address breaches of student academic conduct expectations.

Six core elements of academic integrity policies have been identified as: access, approach, responsibility, detail, support, and equity.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.21913/IJEI.v7i2.759 | doi=10.21913/IJEI.v7i2.759 | title=Core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy in Australian higher education | date=2011 | last1=Bretag | first1=Tracey | last2=Mahmud | first2=Saadia | last3=Wallace | first3=Margaret | last4=Walker | first4=Ruth | last5=James | first5=Colin | last6=Green | first6=Margaret | last7=East | first7=Julianne | last8=McGowan | first8=Ursula | last9=Patridge | first9=Lee | journal=International Journal for Educational Integrity | volume=7 | issue=2 | hdl=1959.13/1064305 | hdl-access=free }}Eaton, S. E., Vogt, L., Seeland, J., & Stoesz, B. M. (2023, June 1-2). Academic integrity policy analysis of Alberta and Manitoba colleges Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity (CSAI), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116575 Academic integrity policies should clearly define what counts as a violation of academic integrity (e.g., plagiarism, exam cheating, contract cheating, and so on). Policies should be accessible to administrators, staff, and students and should outline the responsibilities for reporting, investigation, and academic misconduct case management. Policies should provide sufficient detail so as to be clear, but not too much detail so as to avoid confusing the reader. Academic integrity policies should be supported by procedures, and educational materials to help students understand what is expected of them.{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_11 | doi=10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_11 | chapter=Academic Integrity: A Teaching and Learning Approach | title=Handbook of Academic Integrity | date=2016 | last1=Morris | first1=Erica J. | pages=1037–1053 | isbn=978-981-287-097-1 }}{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0025-9 | doi=10.1007/s10734-016-0025-9 | title='It's not fair': Policy discourses and students' understandings of plagiarism in a New Zealand university | date=2017 | last1=Adam | first1=Lee | last2=Anderson | first2=Vivienne | last3=Spronken-Smith | first3=Rachel | journal=Higher Education | volume=74 | pages=17–32 | url-access=subscription }}

Historical approaches to academic integrity policy have been punitive and focused on punishment of students for misconduct. Since the early 2000s, there has been increasing interest in more supportive approaches such as the use of restorative justice and providing educational supports to help students build academic literacy skills.{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_30 | doi=10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_30 | chapter=Academic Integrity Through a SoTL Lens and 4M Framework: An Institutional Self-Study | title=Academic Integrity in Canada | series=Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts | date=2022 | last1=Kenny | first1=Natasha | last2=Eaton | first2=Sarah Elaine | volume=1 | pages=573–592 | isbn=978-3-030-83254-4 }}{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2021.2017971 | doi=10.1080/2194587X.2021.2017971 | title=Justice and Consistency in Academic Integrity: Philosophical and Practical Considerations in Policy Making | date=2022 | last1=Moriarty | first1=Christian | last2=Wilson | first2=Blaire | journal=Journal of College and Character | volume=23 | pages=21–31 | url-access=subscription }}{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-079-7_181-1 | doi=10.1007/978-981-287-079-7_181-1 | chapter=Courageous Conversations: Approaching Amnesty Through Honesty as Reparations to a Learning Community | title=Handbook of Academic Integrity | date=2023 | last1=Murdoch | first1=Kane | last2=House | first2=David | pages=1–13 | isbn=978-981-287-079-7 }}

There is no singular or universal definition of academic integrity or related concepts, such as plagiarism. Although English-speaking countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, and the UK have dominated academic integrity discourse, there are emerging perspectives from non-Anglo countries that are providing updated insights and broader perspectives. Experts from Latin America,{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_122 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_122 | chapter=Academic Integrity Policies in Hispanic South American Higher Education: Status and Recommendations | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Moya | first1=Beatriz Antonieta | pages=911–933 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }}Ayala-Enríquez, P., Franco-Pérez, N., Guerrero-Dib, J. G., & Pizarro-Puccio, G. (2020). From moral awareness to academic integrity in Latin America. In T. Bretag (Ed.), A research agenda for academic integrity (pp. 28-39). Edward Elgar Publishing. Africa,{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_9 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_9 | chapter=Academic Integrity Perspectives: Insights from Africa | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Orim | first1=Stella-Maris | last2=Awala-Ale | first2=Anirejuoritse | pages=117–134 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }}{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_184 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_184 | chapter=Academic Integrity and Creative Order: A Case from South Africa | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Van Rensburg | first1=Zander Janse | last2=Van Der Westhuizen | first2=Sonja | pages=485–501 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }} Asia,{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_88 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-54144-5_88 | chapter=Academic Integrity in South Asia: Focus on India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka | title=Second Handbook of Academic Integrity | series=Springer International Handbooks of Education | date=2024 | last1=Sivasubramaniam | first1=Shiva D. | pages=77–93 | isbn=978-3-031-54143-8 }}{{cite journal | doi=10.1002/leap.1540 | doi-access=free | title=Understanding China's construction of an academic integrity system: A grounded theory study on national level policies | date=2023 | last1=He | first1=Chen | last2=Xu | first2=Jie | last3=Zhou | first3=Lihong | journal=Learned Publishing | volume=36 | issue=2 | pages=217–238 }} and the Middle East{{cite web | url=https://doi.org/10.57945/manara.25019768.v1 | doi=10.57945/manara.25019768.v1 | date=2024 | last1=Farah | first1=Faisa | last2=Mahsud | first2=Khadija | last3=Eaton | first3=Sarah | title=Academic Integrity in Qatar: A Scoping Review | publisher=Manara - Qatar Research Repository }}Cinali, G. (2016). Middle Eastern perspectives of academic integrity: A view from the Gulf Region. In T. Bretag (Ed.), Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 113-133). Springer Singapore. are making important contributions to the global discourse on academic integrity.

• Academic dishonesty
• Accreditation mill
• Contract cheating
• Diploma mill
• Exam proctoring
• Grade inflation
• Plagiarism
• Research integrity

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110826045829/http://ric.libguides.com/integrity/ Rhode Island College LibGuide – Academic Integrity]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130928171950/http://www.ease.org.uk/sites/default/files/ease_guidelines-june2013-ethics.pdf Publication ethics checklist] (for routine use during manuscript submission to a journal)

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Integrity

Category:Cheating in school

Category:Professional ethics