Academic Integrity Policies Research Articles

Faculty Perceptions of Plagiarism at Queensborough Community College

The researchers surveyed English and Speech & Theater faculty members at Queensborough Community College on their perceptions of and attitudes toward plagiarism. The researchers used the Queensborough Community College Academic Integrity Policy as the basis for their analysis. Based on the responses received, it was determined that 50% of the respondents did not clearly understand the institutional definition of plagiarism or academic integrity and/or did not properly apply the College's guidelines. The researchers determined there was a strong need for faculty development programming on the interpretation, use, and application of the Academic Integrity Policy at this institution.

Discouraging Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses

With the development of distance education and blended course delivery formats, our faculty faced new issues related to academic integrity in online testing. Current students often differ in their understanding of what is appropriate academic behavior and what is considered cheating. Enhancing quiz formats and educating faculty and students about academic integrity policies has minimized the situation in our program.

Imagine No Possessions: Librarians, the Net-Generation Student, and the Imminent Victory of Plagiarism

Plagiarism's evolution, growing cultural acceptance, and sustained presence in student writing has overwhelmed deficient, outdated academic integrity policies. Cultural differences present in today's Net-generation students require academic librarians and teaching faculty to develop a partnership in order to reassess beleaguered and vague plagiarism definitions and compromised prevention strategies. Current ACRL policies and strategies on plagiarism prevention are examined to reveal their inadequacies. As instruction sessions often fail to consistently address the ethical use of scholarly sources and the Net-generation student's injudicious uses of technology, a new direction is offered, one that is centered not on punitive online detection policies or acquiescence to wavering ethical standards, but rather on the collaborative efforts of the entire academic community.

A model academic ethics and integrity policy for computer science departments

For decades, US universities and colleges have had policies pertaining to the conduct of their students at the institutional level. These policies are referred to as Academic Integrity Policies or Codes of Conduct . The Code of Ethics , instituted by Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has been the standard for the computing sciences profession for over 15 years. However, the traditional institution-wide academic integrity policies have not adapted to the complexities that arose from rapid progress in information technology (IT) and thus either fail to address or are in conflict with the nature of problems in computer science education. In this paper, we propose a model for development and implementation of an academic ethics policy (ethics is a broader concept that includes integrity) that addresses the challenges imposed by information technology vis-á-vis the best modern teaching practices in computer sciences and engineering. Implementing policies that are more in line with the methods of industry and compatible with newer educational pedagogies should make the whole educational environment more engaging to students.

Integrating Academic Integrity Education with the Business Law Course: Why and How?

As a member of the academic integrity committee at Wilfrid Laurier University, I was part of a cross-disciplinary group of faculty and administrators asked to review and revise the existing academic integrity policies and procedures. During the completion of this task, there was often lively debate about fundamental legal topics such as due process, privacy, intention, whistleblowing, misrepresentation, and intellectual property. As the content of these debates began to spill into my business law classroom, I wondered why I was not using this very student-centered issue to teach the procedural and substantive legal content of the course. This article advocates integrating academic integrity education into the business law course. Many have suggested teaching business ethics this way but have ignored the natural overlap in legal content with the traditional business law course. This article focuses on why and how business law instructors should integrate the two. Rather than highlighting only the ethical components of academic integrity, this approach emphasizes the legal aspects of academic misconduct. It connects personal student experiences with many of the substantive legal topics covered in the course,

THE INFLUENCE OF PEER CHEATING BEHAVIOR ON OBSERVERS' CHEATING BEHAVIOR: A SOCIAL COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE.

The article discusses cheating in U.S. business schools, which is said to be a widespread and growing problem. Business students cheat more than non-business students. Research into why cheating is so prevalent in business schools reveals a lack of perceived certainty of being caught and reported for cheating, a lack of perceived severity of penalties, a lack of understanding and acceptance of campus academic integrity policies, and a perception that peers are cheating. Perceived peer behavior may have the strongest influence. The influence of peer behavior on observer behavior is discussed in terms of social identity theory and social comparison theory.

Academic Dishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: Prevalence, Causes, and Proposed Action

Little is currently known about cheating among graduate business students. We collected data from more than 5,000 business (mostly MBA) and nonbusiness graduate students at 32 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada during the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 academic years to test a series of hypotheses regarding the prevalence of graduate business student cheating and reasons why these students cheat. We found that graduate business students cheat more than their nonbusiness-student peers. Correlation results found cheating to be associated with perceived peer behavior, as well as the perceived certainty of being reported by a peer, and the understanding and acceptance of academic integrity policies by students and faculty. But, regression analysis results suggest that perceived peer behavior has the largest effect. Drawing from these findings and past research on undergraduate students, we propose strategies that business schools and faculty can use to promote academic integrity in graduate business programs.

Lecturer and student sensitivity to academic dishonesty intervention approaches in a Federal University in Nigeria

This paper presents the report of a survey of staff and students' expression of preference for, and willingness to engage, in three approaches to curbing the menace of academic dishonesty in a Nigerian university. The study also explored the possible connections between gender and the respondents' responses. Eighty-seven staff and two hundred and thirty–two final year undergraduate students, randomly selected from five faculties in the university, constituted the study sample; and data was collected using a researcher-designed questionnaire patterned after Hinman's (2000) “Police, Virtues and Prevention” approaches to curbing academic dishonesty. The Chi-square statistic was employed in establishing the significance of observed differences between staff and students on the variables of preference and, engagement for each approach. Findings of the study showed that while the Police approach was the most preferred by staff, the students expressed preference mostly for the Virtues approach. However, only small proportions of staff and students expressed high willingness to engage in activities required to actualize the objectives of any of the approaches. The implications of the findings for integrated approach to curbing academic dishonesty and for instituting academic integrity policy in Nigerian universities are highlighted. IFE PsychologIA Vol. 14(1) 2006: 158-182

Faculty and Academic Integrity: The Influence of Current Honor Codes and Past Honor Code Experiences

This survey of faculty at honor code and non-honor code institutions investigated the influence of honor codes on faculty attitudes and behaviors. As hypothesized, we found that honor code faculty have more positive attitudes toward their schools' academic integrity policies and are more willing to allow the system to take care of monitoring and disciplinary activities. Faculty in noncode institutions have less positive attitudes and are more likely to take personal actions designed to both catch and deal with cheaters. We also investigated the potential influence of a student honor code experience on faculty attitudes. We found that, in noncode environments, faculty who had an honor code experience as a student were more likely to believe that students should be held responsible for peer monitoring and to say that they deal personally with cheating. Implications for higher education institutions are discussed.

Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research

This article reviews 1 decade of research on cheating in academic institutions. This research demonstrates that cheating is prevalent and that some forms of cheating have increased dramatically in the last 30 years. This research also suggests that although both individual and contextual factors influence cheating, contextual factors, such as students' perceptions of peers' behavior, are the most powerful influence. In addition, an institution's academic integrity programs and policies, such as honor codes, can have a significant influence on students' behavior. Finally, we offer suggestions for managing cheating from students' and faculty members' perspectives.

Can students' academic integrity be improved? Attitudes and behaviors before and after implementation of an academic integrity policy

This study compares survey results administered before the implementation of a culture change and the adoption of an academic integrity policy with results of a second administration of the instrument six years later. Data collected reveal significant changes in attitudes towards academic integrity issues by undergraduate business school students. Progress, in terms of reducing students' participation in various forms of academic dishonesty, has been uneven. The most notable shift occurred in behaviors over which instructors enjoy some measure of control.

Academic dishonesty among nursing students.

Student cheating on college campuses is believed to be a common occurrence, but academic dishonesty among nursing students is a source of legitimate concern to nursing faculty members because of its potential effect on present and future professional practice. Strategies are outlined that can promote academic honesty in the nursing program through moral and character development of nursing students, teaching moral decision-making skills, role-modeling of honest academic behavior, and developing and enforcing an appropriate academic integrity policy.