Academic Integrity: Concept, Importance, and Implications

This report discusses the concept and importance of academic integrity in higher education, as well as the implications of academic misconduct. It also reflects on the steps taken and difficulties encountered when producing a game on academic integrity, and the skills developed during the process.

Academic Integrity

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
SECTION 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of academic integrity................................................................................................................3
Importance of academic integrity in higher education.............................................................................3
Implications of academic misconduct......................................................................................................4
SECTION 2.................................................................................................................................................6
Reflect on steps taken and difficulties encountered when producing the game.......................................6
Reflect on the skills which were developed when producing the game...................................................7
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The academic skills made up of core skills such as referencing, academic writing and
presentation that help in underpinning the complex skills such as critical thinking and reflection.
It is very essential for students to develop these academic skills which consist of learning
strategies, tools for time management and study habits that can help them to learn and absorb the
lessons of school or University. Every student requires learning and assessing to the information.
Academic integrity is very important for the whole process so that there can be fairness and
honesty in the work and they can grow and develop in a positive learning environment (Gervais,
2020). This report shall cover to concept and importance of academic integrity in the educational
industry, implications of academic misconduct and the reflection on difficulties encountered
during the making of a game and skills developed during it.
SECTION 1
Meaning of academic integrity.
Academic integrity is the moral and ethical code of conduct that helps the educational
institutions to frame such policies that can uphold their values. The main purpose of this is to
make sure that the fundamental learning is done in an equal and fair manner and the creative
ideas are subject to acknowledgement by the institution. It prohibits the unauthorized
information which is categorized as the misconduct. The students must understand the
importance of academic integrity so that it is present in their working and they must try to
comply with the ethical and moral conduct of the institution in order to make their work
authentic and without any misconduct (Wolksy and Hamilton, 2020)
Importance of academic integrity in higher education.
In an educational industry, academic integrity simply implies that it is important to have
moral and honest conduct so that the effective standards are being maintained and students get an
integral approach for the learning. It is important to encourage academic integrity in the
institution so that the trust is built in it and the goodwill is also maintained. Its principles are very
fundamental to teaching, researching and learning. The universities and colleges must have its
own policies that can encourage and promote the academic integrity so that if any student is

found with the work which is subject to misconduct, it can be punished for the same (Onete,
2021). The importance of academic integrity is illustrated thereunder-
 Academic integrity offers the staff and students with the guidance and training as to what
constitutes academic misconducts and supports them in development of a practice that
can contribute in maintaining the academic integrity.
 It heads in maintenance of goodwill for the educational institution so that the students
feel confidence about their place where they are studying presently.
 It helps the students to get a positive perspective and attitude about the academics so that
they can have complete knowledge and confidence about their studies which can help
them in the future career development (Barnhardt and Ginns, 2017).
 In case the academic integrity is not promoted, it may lead to negative impact on students
due to violation of it which results in taking away the opportunity to develop, improve
and learn the skills that can reflect in the academic achievements. Moreover it affects the
society as academic misconduct can violate the values and principles of University. So it
is very important for them to uphold and promote the academic integrity in their
institution.
 Academic integrity also helps the students with their career because it is aimed to
encourage honesty, morals and ethics which can help in getting life lessons (Miller,
2021).
Hence it can be observed that academic integrity plays an essential role in giving shape to the
student’s personality and helps in establishing the goodwill of the educational institution. It also
provides the students with an opportunity to enhance their success rates by using appropriate
skill and knowledge which can motivate and also promote them towards honesty and morality.
Implications of academic misconduct
As it is very important for the educational industry to have the principles of academic
integrity, so the practice of academic misconduct must be prevented because it deteriorates
integrity into the institution. There are various implications of academic misconduct which are
found in a student’s work if it does not act in the integrity. It is basically an act that results in
false evaluation of the student’s performance and it also represents the unfair gain which is being

achieved by a student in its academic setting (Gibson, 2020). The implications of academic
misconduct are discussed below
 Plagiarism- It is that practice which involves using the thoughts, idea and writing of
someone else and passing it off in its own name. In simple words, it generally involves
taking the credit for the ideas or writing that is not of the person who has taken it rather it
involves using the writing or idea of somebody else without giving them credit about it or
without citing their name in it.
 Self- plagiarism- It is just same as plagiarism but the slight difference arises when a
person uses its previous work without getting the permission of its professor because a
student is generally not allowed to take the credit for the work which it has done
previously. It just prohibits the person to use the similar work again and again even
though there is similarity in the topic.
 Cheating- This is the common implication of the academic misconduct wherein a student
copies the work or idea of somebody else. It is commonly found when a student appears
in the exam and cheats the answer of someone else.
 falsifying or forging the academic record- It generally involves the material or the data
that is submitted to the University at the time of enrolment. If a person or student is found
to omit, forge or change any document that may result in revoking the admission also. In
simple words, it is misrepresentation of any of the academic record (Karanauskienė and
et. al., 2020).
There are very harsh consequences for the implication of the above discussed academic
misconduct that may result in penalties imposed on the student and even revocation of the
admission. These consequences can affect the career of a student. Other consequences of the
academic misconducts are discussed below-
 The practice of academic misconduct can result in demotivating those students who are
working hard and sincerely in the academic careers. It can also result in losing the
opportunities and creating the dishonest environment in the institution where the
atmosphere must always be learning for every student.

 It also affects the goodwill and reputation of the educational institution because this
simply involves the unethical behaviour and may also create several issues for the staff
and teachers as they have to undergo the emotional distress due to violation of trust
(Sopova, 2020).
SECTION 2
Reflect on steps taken and difficulties encountered when producing the game.
During my studies, I have the opportunity for producing a game which can help students
to prevent any practice of academic misconduct in there working. The game relates to upholding
the academic integrity and prohibits the misconduct. The game gives the opportunity to the
students to identify the methods that can help them in erasing the academic misconduct practices
and make them feel protected from any of the negative consequences of it.
In order to produce the game I initially got an idea of making such game which can help the
students to get the importance of academic integrity in a fun loving way. So I got the idea to
produce such a game which can help in preventing academic misconduct. There were many
difficulties faced by me at the time of making this game which are discussed below-
 The biggest problem for me was to assemble the game when I have the idea. I wanted to
give a shape to this idea in such a way that it can reflect the importance of academic
integrity and encourage the students to promote this principle in their studies.
 Then I face the problem while designing the graphics of the game as I do not have any
knowledge about it. My IT skills are very weak that became a hurdle in giving shape to
my idea and turning it into reality. But I tried my best and made the game.
 I also face difficulties in framing the questions relating to the game. There were end
number of questions in my mind but I wanted to have very few of them in the game that
can directly impact the students and encourage them to uphold this principle. I wanted to
make sure that the questions are framed by me and must reflect the harsh consequences
of academic misconduct so that the students are prevented from committing it again.

 Next problem which I faced was in framing and preparing the rules for the game as it is
the most complex part of it. My aim was to produce such a game which can be fun loving
at one end and which can pass a serious message to everyone about why it is important to
prevent academic integrity in the educational work.
Reflect on the skills which were developed when producing the game.
When the game was in process, I got the opportunity to inculcate different skills which can
help me in my career development. The skills which were developed by me at the time of
producing this game are discussed below-
 IT skills- This skill is very weak in me when I was producing this game because I do not
have any knowledge relating to computer and technologies. When the game was in
process, I realised the importance of IT skills and decided to develop this, so I undergo a
diploma course which can help me in learning the information technology knowledge. It
also helped me with the designing of graphics of the game so that the game can look
attractive.
 Communication skill- It is a very essential skill which must be there in every person. As
producing a game is not an individual work rather it requires the efforts of entire team so
I got the opportunity to have the clear communication channel among all the team
members. This helped me in learning this skill where I was able to communicate with my
team members without any hesitation. I also tried to communicate with my teachers who
guided me during this whole process.
 Creativity skills- It is very important to have a creative idea at the time of making a game
because there is an element of creativity in it which makes it different from others and
also attract the gamers. My aim was to attract as many students as I can so that the
importance of academic integrity can be promoted among all. I got this opportunity to
develop this skill at the time of designing the game where I was giving shape to my idea.
This skill helped me in producing a game that can fulfil that purpose that is to prevent the
academic misconduct and make the game enjoyable for all.

 Writing skills- This game helped me in developing this skill because it played an
essential part in completing the game. There was a requirement of framing several
questions for the game so the writing skills helped me in preparing questions by using
various methods that also helped in learning the techniques of writing skills.
 Decision making skills- During the time of producing this game, I got the opportunity to
develop this skill where I was given the task to decide which questions should be
included in the game. I do not have this skill at the initial time but got the chance to
inculcate it by going through end number of questions and deciding which one is to be
included in it.

CONCLUSION
It is summarized from the above report that it is an essential for academic institutions to
promote academic integrity so that there is fairness and honesty in the work. There must be
policies in the universities that can encourage academic integrity and prohibit the academic
misconduct in order to provide positive environment to the students and also maintaining the
goodwill of the institution. There are various implications of academic misconduct which
includes plagiarism, cheating, falsifying the documents, etc.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barnhardt, B. and Ginns, P., 2017. Psychological teaching-learning contracts: academic integrity
and moral psychology. Ethics & Behavior. 27(4). pp.313-334.
Gervais, L., 2020. Academic integrity and student support during COVID-19. Canadian
Perspectives on Academic Integrity. 3(2). pp.18-19.
Gibson, C., 2020. Academic Integrity Threatened: A Case Study (Doctoral dissertation,
Northcentral University).
Karanauskienė, D., and et. al., 2020. Differences in Understanding Academic Integrity: A
Lithuanian Case. In Corruption in Higher Education (pp. 25-29). Brill Sense.
Miller, J.S., 2021. Academic Integrity by Design: Universal Solutions for Face-to-Face, Remote,
and Online French Classes. The French Review. 94(3). pp.27-32.
Onete, O.U., 2021. Reimaging Sigmund Freud’s Psycho-Analysis in Re-Cultivating Academic
Integrity: Moral Perspective. European Journal of Training and Development Studies. 8(1).
pp.1-5.
Sopova, D., 2020. Trends in the academic integrity development of future specialists in
European Universities. Znanstvena Misel, (43-2), pp.18-24.
Wolksy, K.L. and Hamilton, M.J., 2020. Faculty development and academic integrity during
pandemic times. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity. 3(2). pp.55-56.