Academic Integrity Report: Further Academic Skills, BMP3003

This report provides a comprehensive overview of academic integrity, a crucial aspect of higher education. It begins by defining academic integrity and emphasizing its importance in fostering values such as honesty, fairness, trust, respect, and responsibility among students. The report then explores the implications of academic misconduct, including copying, plagiarism, collusion, and cheating, detailing their detrimental effects on academic performance and reputation. Furthermore, the report references the Harvard Referencing System and offers insights into the steps taken, difficulties encountered, and skills learned in producing a related assignment. The discussion includes an analysis of the importance of academic integrity in higher education, followed by an examination of the implications of academic misconduct, and concludes with a reflection on the skills acquired and challenges faced during the academic year. The report underscores the significance of ethical conduct and the consequences of academic dishonesty.

Academic Integrity

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................................3
Importance of Academic Integrity...........................................................................................................3
Implications of Academic Misconduct....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals..................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
In every Educational system around the world, it has been realized and it is required that,
some level of basic education has to be imparted as the mandatory and compulsory levels so that
general understanding of good and bad; and right and wrong is developed among them. In this
manner only, children are also required to learn about the wrongdoings of academic misconduct
and values of academic integrity within their education period, a necessary and highly valuable
period of one life (MacLeod and Eaton, 2020). In this report as well two very important aspects
of Academic integrity are discussed. The report starts discussion from Importance of Academic
Integrity in student’s educational life and afterwards. And secondly the report discusses the
implication and aftermaths of academic misconducts, the manner in which they can meant for
students.
DISCUSSION
Importance of Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is reflection of the values of the student. It basically reflects the
character of the student and many other values that one have, like respect towards individual
goals and objectives. As a student, one person can be seen being involved in many areas and
with many people and also being involved in many activities as well, in which one has to show
how well established a student is, and the way in which the student respect the people of
academia and the activities that one is required to undertake as a student. In this manner it can be
said that a range of responsibilities are conferred on students, which they are required to
undertake in a very respected and highly integrated manner. Considering the importance of
Academic integrity that an individual as a student is required to perform, following points can be
mentioned:
Honesty- This is the first ever thing reflected in a student one goes on fulfilling all such
responsibilities that are required to be fulfilled as a student. However, it should be noted that, a
student may fulfill the responsibility in a particular area of Academics, but that level of honesty
and integrity as a student will also be shown in many other areas, and all other people that are
associated with that student, like fellow students and teachers shall be respecting. Also they shall

be expecting same level of honesty with that student in other areas and respects, and if the
student gets successful in fulfilling all other responsibilities, than reputation and image of the
student shall be built really strong. Also, the student can be seen rewarded in university or at the
college level. Therefore, honesty and it reflection is most prior and biggest positive outcome of
Academic integrity (Sefcik, Striepe and Yorke, 2019).
Fairness- If a student is responsible student of particular university, then its almost acts and
performances will limited to its work only. The responsible student always tries to improve
standard of performance of itself and never try to take advantage of others work. A sense of
learning and becoming more competent in different skills like studies and sports and many others
involved in academia and learning, is reflected in that student. Therefore, a student of high
integrity is aspiring to become the university on its own, believes in learning and do not believe
in stealing credit of others. Like, it was seen in the students that had participated in game that is
discussed in this report. As and when the results of game were declared, it was seen that al the 10
students had received plagiarism level below the range. However, the report 2 students went a
little above but they were also settled to quality performance, because authorities also
understands that this much level is obvious as topic of writing paragraphs was same between all
the students.
Trust- Building up of trust in the biggest advantage that a student can derive from Academic
integrity. The level of value for that student is raised and enhanced to very stronger levels in the
eyes of University authorities, University management, Teachers and Professors associated or
not associated with that student, also between fellow students and many others. As the student of
high academic integrity is awarded and rewarded by University authorities, the value of the
students get also increased in the eyes of Parents and among the outer world. Student get
admiration and appreciation, and people start believing in that individual and the dreams of that
individual student, as much as the person believes oneself. This can be regarded as the best and
biggest reward that one student receives from showing academic integrity and honesty (Robinson
and Glanzer, 2017).
Respect- The student becomes recipient of Respect of all other people, who watches him and his
values that the student reflects. These people are the one that are directly and closely related to
that of individual student, like Professors and Parents and the fellow students. And, also when

the stories of honesty, ethics and Integrity of that students starts wandering around everywhere,
and many people than come know about this, also these people feelings like speaking with that
student respectfully. In terms of respect, biggest advantage that student receives is in career and
professional life. This is because the values that the student had inculcated in life of Higher
Education, they are well embedded in the mind of the student and thus get reflected I
professional life as well. And, the same honesty and integrity, when the student reflects in career,
the level of appreciation for the individual is set at different bar. Also, as and when that
individual who is not as student anymore, makes progress in the career and more people starts
knowing that person, they all admires and the chain of respect and appreciation continues
everywhere.
Responsible- A person who has shown responsible attitude in the student life, the life where
understandings and the level of mindfulness is perceived as the weakest one, than there are no
chance for that individual to get distracted and debarred from responsibilities in future as well.
the Responsible attitude of that person becomes natural and get embedded in character of that
individual. Therefore, those values continues for life long, the values of being responsible. Also,
that particular individual also reflects Responsibility values in personal life as well. Becoming
responsible and behaving like one is also requirement of personal life as well. As this value is
embedded in character of that person in the age where understanding is really weak, they will be
reflected in every sphere and arena of life (Stoesz and Los, 2019).
Implications of Academic Misconduct
It has been argued by Stephens in 2016 that, cheating is in the roots of human being and it gets
reflected many times in life, even at such times where individual is not willing to give effect too
such cheatings and actions but they do under pressure of circumstances or some other way.
Therefore, in the student life as well, it could not be said that surprising to occur. Cheating, in a
sense or can be called as positive sense is also regarded as a strategy that is used by Human
beings to solve their problems. However, cheating should not be regarded always a passive or
pessimistic thing because it is always at the will of individual to what path he has to chose. If an
individual chooses the path of adopting cheating and fraud techniques than also it is somewhere
allowed y the conscience of that person. Therefore, it is a conscience that has to consider
cheating and fraud as wrong and negative practice.

It is important for students, as far as the academic misconduct is concerned, that they have to
think over and make understanding of the phenomenon of cheating. They are required to
understand this concept from deep roots. This is required because, it is then only that they will be
regarding cheating as a wrong practice for the entire life, from roots, and this shall be embedded
in their conscience as well. Also, administration in the university is also required to understand
the concept of cheating from roots, because it is then only, that they can be developing a
counteract strategy to fight cheating in University level. For example, if at the university level it
considered that a particular act of cheating is related to a specific class or section of individual,
who can either perform it or the act of cheating can affect that particular section of people only,
then it is necessary that concerned people should be either interrogated or supervised, so that the
cause of problem can be reached effectively (Chankova, 2020). Also, from the particular thereon,
affected and suffering people and those people who were not involved and are innocent can be
segregated. If this nature of problem of cheating is something that is common and has some
usual characteristics of frequent nature, to be seen at academic or university level, than other
useful and counteractive techniques can be adopted, having some different scale and nature.
If one goes through overall range of practices and tactics that can be regarded as practices or
strategies of academic misconduct then the range is really wide. Also, there are many ranges of
practices being developed from implied minds of students minds of other people, and they are
evolving (Ives and Nehrkorn, 2019). Once they will come in effect, counter strategies can be
developed against them. So far there can be said to be four strategies in general, that are regarded
as practices of academic misconduct:
Copying- Copying is that practice in which one student tries and attempts to copy other students’
answers or styles or patterns, while not using skills and knowledge of own. They do rely over
other students for securing passing marks in examinations or assessments. These students do not
reflect their own strength and what they had learnt so far in academia, and thus they seems to be
deceiving university authorities. Therefore, this is regarded as activity of academic misconduct.
Plagiarism- Plagiarism is regarded as that practice, specially occurring in research and
dissertation assignment taken up by students, where they seems to be copying and using same
ideas and opinions that actually belongs to some other author or laureates. This type of
misconduct has grown widely among students after usage of internet have become integrated

part of study culture. Students are supposed to make their own opinions sometimes, but they just
tend to Google, whatever they want to know, paraphrase that in their own words and therefore
deceive University authorities.
Collusion- Under the Collusion academic misconduct, some students together forms a group and
then tries to adopt some fraud practices for betraying University authorities. They make
collaboration, decides over some common practice. Here, the strategy of these students is that if
they all would be making some common misconduct than there are chances that they will not be
caught as authorities will regard it as common or general actions. But this does not happen and
the fraud students get caught. Also, as a consequence, those people who were aware of this
conduct but had not reported to concerned authorities are regarded as guilty of concealing the
facts and evidences. The most ommon type of Misconduct involved in this category are:
submitting assignments on behalf of classmates, letting other students to copy from you during
an exam and including names of those students as well who did not participate in teamwork
assignments or projects.
Cheating- Cheating is the most common type of misconduct and it is seen very frequently been
committed by students, either knowingly or unknowingly. The activities of misconduct here
includes using notes, technology or other forbidden materials during an exam; including non-
consulted references; inventing or making up data in assignments or lab reports; contract
cheating; distributing or commercializing exams or assignments; submitting apocryphal
documents; impersonating another student’s identity; stealing exams; altering grades; bribing
individuals to improve grades.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that ethical behavior shows a relationship
to the practice of academic dishonesty, both in terms of the frequency with which they carry out
these acts, as well as the severity they assign to them. The more severe the students consider an
act of academic dishonesty, the more ethically they behave outside of the university. Likewise, it
is important to establish measures to discourage or reduce the number of acts of academic
misconduct, since the habitual practice of unethical actions may promote a normalization of

these behaviors, and reduces a student’s interest in practicing ethical behaviors after graduating
from college.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
MacLeod, P. D. and Eaton, S. E., 2020. The paradox of faculty attitudes toward student
violations of academic integrity. Journal of Academic Ethics. 18(4). pp.347-362.
Sefcik, L., Striepe, M. and Yorke, J., 2019. Mapping the landscape of academic integrity
education programs: what approaches are effective?. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education.
Robinson, J. A. and Glanzer, P. L., 2017. Building a culture of academic integrity: What students
perceive and need. College Student Journal. 51(2). pp.209-221.
Stoesz, B. M. and Los, R., 2019. Evaluation of a tutorial designed to promote academic
integrity. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity. 2(1). pp.3-26.
Chankova, M., 2020. Teaching Academic Integrity: the Missing Link. Journal of Academic
Ethics. 18(2). pp.155-173.
Ives, B. and Nehrkorn, A., 2019. A research review: post-secondary interventions to improve
academic integrity. Prevention and Detection of Academic Misconduct in Higher Education.
pp.39-62.