Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: A Comprehensive Essay

This essay delves into the critical concepts of academic integrity and plagiarism. It defines academic integrity as the ethical framework of academia, emphasizing honesty and responsible scholarship. The essay then explores various forms of plagiarism, including direct, self, and accidental plagiarism, detailing their characteristics and ethical implications. Furthermore, it examines the consequences of violating academic integrity, which can range from failing grades to suspension. The essay also highlights the detrimental effects of academic dishonesty on students and institutions, eroding trust and hindering intellectual development. Conversely, it underscores the benefits of upholding academic integrity, such as fostering trust, developing career skills, and promoting ethical behavior. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of academic integrity for both individual students and the university as a whole.

Running head: ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
Introduction
Academic integrity is indicative of the moral code in relation to academia. It includes
the different kind of values like avoiding plagiarism, maintaining of academic standards and
honesty in the arena of research. Plagiarism refers to the “wrongful appropriation” and
stealing the work of another author and presenting it as his own work (Cronan, Mullins &
Douglas, 2018). This essay discusses about the three kinds of plagiarism and the three
consequences that can arise owing to violation of academic integrity. It also talks about the
benefits in relation to academic integrity and how it can prove to be harmful for everyone.
Description of Academic Integrity
Academic integrity deals with the aspect of honest along with responsible scholarship.
Academic Integrity helps the students in the formation of new ideas that can help them in
their academic life along with their professional growth (Angélil-Carter, 2014). Academic
integrity can help an individual in the aspect of problem solving and it can help one to nurture
his skill-sets along with knowledge.
Description of plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs on account of the violations in relation to academic honesty. The
most common types of plagiarism are that of direct plagiarism, self- plagiarism and that of
accidental plagiarism. Direct plagiarism takes place when there is a word-for-word in relation
to the work of someone else without having any kind of quotation marks. Deliberate
plagiarism is unethical and it can provide the ground for that of disciplinary action. Self-
plagiarism takes place in the event of a student submitting his previous work and when he
mixes the parts of his previous works (Macfarlane, Zhang & Pun, 2014). Self-plagiarism also
occurs when a student submits the same work in different classes. It occurs when the
permission is not given by both the professors. Accidental plagiarism takes place in the event

2ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
of the person neglecting to cite the sources or in the case of misquoting of the sources.
Accidental plagiarism takes place when the paraphrasing of a source is carried out
unintentionally by making use of similar kinds of words along with group of word.
Accidental plagiarism also occurs when the sentence structure is without any kind of
attribution (Chow et al., 2015). Lack of intention on the part of the student does not absolve
him of responsibility in relation to plagiarism. Accidental plagiarism is held seriously like
any other kind of plagiarism and one will be subject to the same kinds of consequences.
Consequences of Academic Integrity
The consequences in relation to academic integrity violation can be serious and it can
result in suspension of a person. The instructor can ask the student to do the assignment again
but he would get a reduced grade (Angélil-Carter, 2014). The student can be assigned with a
failing grade in relation to the assignment. In relation to a research project, the participation
of the student can be terminated pertaining to the research project.
Harmful effects of academic integrity violation
The violation of academic integrity can be considered to be harmful because it makes
the assessment of the student unreliable. The intellectual needs in relation to the student goes
unmet because he does not exercise the intellectual abilities. It can hurt all the students in the
class. Academic Integrity can erode the mutual trust that exist between the students along
with the faculty in an institution. The faculty trusts the students and they believe that the
students are giving the correct information so it proves to be catastrophic for the student
(Flowerdew, 2015). Academic integrity violation can prove to be harmful for all people as
the common people often tends to think that he is reading something new when actually the
work has been plagiarized.
Benefits of Academic Integrity

3ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
Academic trust can help the students in learning the career skills that will be required
for his future success. It can help in the creation of trust between peers along with the
professors. It can help in providing satisfaction when the ethical principles are followed. A
person who abides by the rules of academic integrity will also be helpful for an organization
as the employers will be able to trust such kind of a person (Eaton, Guglielmin & Otoo,
2017). This kind of trust can prove to be crucial for the successful functioning of a business.
Need of Academic Integrity
People need academic integrity because the actions of an individual who violates it
will be reflecting back that on the university. Studying in a university can provide an
individual with the opportunity to learn and maintaining academic integrity can help an
individual in emerging as a confident person.
Conclusion:
The violation of academic integrity can pave the path for serious consequences and an
individual can be suspended in case of the violation. The student may have to do the
assignment again and he may get a low grade in the assignment. The student assessment
becomes unreliable and it is harmful for the entire institution. Intellectual needs pertaining to
the students are not being exercised and it can prove to be a hindrance in relation to the
development of the student. Academic trust can enable students in acquiring career skills that
can help him in his professional development. It can pave the path for creating trust in
between peers and professors.

4ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM
References:
Angélil-Carter, S. (2014). Stolen language?: Plagiarism in writing. Routledge.
Chow, E. H., Thadani, D. R., Wong, E. Y., & Pegrum, M. (2015). Mobile technologies and
augmented reality: early experiences in helping students learn about academic
integrity and ethics. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and
Education (IJHSSE), 2(7), 112-120.
Cronan, T. P., Mullins, J. K., & Douglas, D. E. (2018). Further understanding factors that
explain freshman business students’ academic integrity intention and behavior:
Plagiarism and sharing homework. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(1), 197-220.
Eaton, S. E., Guglielmin, M., & Otoo, B. (2017). Plagiarism: Moving from punitive to pro-
active approaches.
Flowerdew, J. (2015). Language re-use and the notion of culture: A response to Diane
Pecorari's “Plagiarism in second language writing: Is it time to close the
case?”. Journal of Second Language Writing, 30, 109-110.
Macfarlane, B., Zhang, J., & Pun, A. (2014). Academic integrity: a review of the
literature. Studies in Higher Education, 39(2), 339-358.