Academic Integrity Perspectives: Insights from Africa

Abstract

Integrity is crucial to the pursuit of academic knowledge in learning institutions, and the need for the increasing spotlight on academic integrity in the African context cannot be overemphasized. This is because, although several pockets of good practice have been identified over the last decade, there are still instances of higher institutions that are replete with reported and unreported cases of academic integrity breaches, making the goal of achieving academic integrity a major challenge. This could be, in part, as a result of various perspectives of what constitutes academic integrity in the African context, in light of diverse cultural perspectives. A number of factors have been identified as being responsible for this variation, including the education system, pedagogy, sociocultural environment, economic environment, infrastructure, technology, institutional policies, and management systems. This chapter focuses on the perspectives drawn from available authors focusing on academic integrity in diverse higher institutions in Africa. The prevailing academic integrity themes are then grouped, providing a synopsis of the different perspectives of academic integrity in Africa. An evaluation of the identified key themes and relevant theoretical frameworks is carried out while examining the impact of the different perspectives on the academic climate and academic integrity-related issues. It also provides an overview of the development and findings of research and practice in the field of academic integrity in African higher institutions, highlighting the unique issues. It concludes by presenting an overview of the major challenges associated with academic integrity and possible ways of instituting a culture of integrity in the African academic system.