Academic_Integrity

SANDRA GREGOIRE First,let me begin by defining Academic Integrity. Academic Integrity refers to honesty and transparency in the ways in which knowledge is acquired and transmitted. (The Centre for Academic Integrity, Duke University,2004). Further , Academic Integrity requires that all writers acknowledge the work of others, and that action is taken if there is any wrongdoing ( Drinan, 1999) I completely support the basic assumption of academic integrity, that a writer should be credited for his ideas and words and the use of his work should be carefully cited. For example the most widely read book is the Bible and various cultures have adopted this ancient Book as the Word of God, inspired and written by men. However whenever the words of that Book is used it is always carefully referenced and no one tries to pass it off as their very own words. By the same token this practice of giving credit to the author can be applied across the board to other fields of study. I make no excuses for other cultures with regard to academic malpractice. The issue of dishonesty is not be tolerated regardless of what part of the world we are in. If an individual took the time to document his words in print or audio for purposes of sharing his ideas with others, the least we can do is give credit to the author. Due to globalization we are thrust into multicultural learning environments and we are compelled to carefully present the topic to each individual for careful consideration. Though most cultures are intolerant of dishonesty, it is obvious that the consequences of academic malpractice may vary from culture to culture. Some cultures welcome the use of the words of the elders and respect is given when this is done, so such a culture my not consider plagiarism as a serious offence to be punished. Whereas in western cultures, this is not so forgiving but considered as a serious offence deserving of a fail grade or even expulsion. Here are some of the more common examples: mini cheat sheets in exam rooms, copying from others, colluding with others, using other peoples words as yours and in modern times the use of cellphones. O’Connor(2003) describes one recent Australian study that spanned twenty subjects and six universities. This saw 1925 essays being submitted to Turnitin, an electronic detection service and found that 14% of essays “contained unacceptable levels of unattributed materials.” The report also highlighted that only a small amount is ever detected electronically, as Turnitin does not cover most books, journals, and paper mills (O’Connor, 2003). Finally due to the ease of access of information on the internet, plus the pressure of being original and time constraints that students experience, the unwise decision is sometimes made to create shortcuts by stealing the work of others in the hope that this dishonesty will not be discovered. (II) Academic Integrity translates in my workplace through the following practices: disclosing confidential information, fraud, pilfering of office supplies and assets, conflict of interest, nepotism, accepting or offering bribes and violations of the laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica. There are still too many reports of these malpractices in the workplace. However due to investigative reports, many of these incidents are being reported and made public. With these exposures there is a marked decrease but it has not been totally eradicated. Some of these reports are used for political mileage so there is always the underlying thought that not all these reports are true, but when you have firsthand information like myself I can confirm many of these reports are true. I had an incident where I was offered a financial bribe to select a particular contractor’s bid as the winning bid even though it was not. I was very uncomfortable with the offer and categorically refused the offer and chose instead to maintain integrity in the workplace. (III) Referencing is important to avoid plagiarism. This allows readers the opportunity to know where the information came from and to cross-check the information. There are many referencing styles but the Harvard Referencing Styles is highly recommended. The Quick Harvard Referencing Guide, directs us to cite properly by: 1. The name of author 2. The year of publication 3. The page number of the work 4. Give more details in the Bibliography 5. The Bibliography gives details of all sources used arranged in alphabetical order by the names of the authors. Example (fictitious) Gregoire, S. (2013). Importance of water, pp 34-37, Longman Press. My plan is to carefully studying the Harvard Guide to become more confident and accurate in its use. I would also make use of certain electronic tools to grab the reference of a webpage when necessary. (IV) The use of the Turnitin acts as a check. It is extremely important to maintaining academic integrity, it will provide a guide as to how much of your work is measured as original . We then have an opportunity to edit and keep the use of cited works at the accepted level, which is 30%. Without this electronic guide this would have been a time consuming exercise to check this manually. So hats off to turnitin. Refernces The Centre for Academic Integrity, Duke University, (2004). Five Principles of Academic Integrity. Retrieved April 13, 2013 from: http://www.academicintegrity.org/fundamental.asp Drinan, P. (1999). Loyalty, Learning, & Academic Integrity. Liberal Education, 85(1), 28-34 O’Connor, S. (2003). Cheating and electronic plagiarism – scope,consequences and detection.. Report by Caval Collaborative Solutions. Retrieved April 13, 2013 from: http://www.caval.edu.au/about/staffpub/docs/Cheating and electronic plagiarism- scope, consequences and detection EDUCASUE May 2003.doc The University of Liverpool (n.d.) Guide to referencing and developing a bibliography [Online]. Available from: http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ohecampus/referencing/referencing.htm (Accessed: 13 April 2013). .