Academic integrity

It takes time and practice to learn how to demonstrate academic integrity to meet the expectations of North American academic audiences. As with any new skill, it might feel uncomfortable at first when you're learning about the expectations and the choices they involve, as well as how to demonstrate those choices, and that's normal. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when learning a new skill, so we're sharing some tools and resources to help you build your understanding and comfort with academic integrity.

We hope the pathways we're providing in these information and tools will be helpful, and if you're a RRU student, please contact the Writing Centre if you have any questions.

Photo © Royal Roads University

Demonstrating academic integrity involves choices you're making every day as a student. By giving yourself the opportunity to practice your new skills regularly, you can strengthen them and become more confident. You can practice academic integrity by choices such as (but not limited to):

• Reading this guide and returning to it if you need a refresher on a topic.
• Keeping track of where you got your information when you're doing research, perhaps through a citation manager such as Zotero. 
• Crediting all sources of information that contributed to the creation of an assignment e.g., you, your teammates, an editor, generative AI
• Reaching out to your instructor to ask for help versus using someone else's work if you're feeling unsure about what's expected in an assignment or you don't understand the subject material.
• Learning more about how to use information from other sources in your assignments; for example, refer to Quoting, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing and following up with the Writing Centre if you have questions.
• Practicing academic integrity skills in smaller assignments, such as discussion forum posts, to help you feel more comfortable when you need to use those skills in larger assignments.

Photo © Royal Roads University

There are lots of decisions involved when determining if you've plagiarized information. Try the interactive module to help identify those decisions, and for the best experience, click on the arrows in the top left corner to view it in full screen. For an alternative format, refer to the flowchart below. For a PowerPoint version with active hyperlinks, please see Plagiarism Flowchart.

You Quote It, You Note It! is an excellent interactive learning module from Acadia University's Vaughan Memorial Library that explains what citation is, when it's necessary, information and practice exercises on paraphrasing and quoting text, as well as giving information about plagiarism. The module is available in English and French, you can choose your preferred font (including Dyslexic Font), your preferred avatar, and the style guide you're using (e.g., APA Style, MLA Style) so the examples align with the style rules.

The module directs students to Acadia University's resources; if you're a RRU student, please feel welcome to reach out to the equivalent services at RRU.

The Writing Centre has extensive APA Style resources to help students build their citing and referencing skills:

• APA Style (7th ed.) guide: information, practice exercises, checklists, and more
• WriteAnswers: search FAQs by keyword and/or topic and contact the Writing Centre if you can't find the information you need so we can assist you.

Demonstrating academic integrity doesn't mean you need to memorize every APA Style rule. Instead, focus on learning how to use the APA Style rules, know where to find the information you need, and ask questions when you need help. Knowing more about how to cite and reference sources in your academic work will help you feel confident that you're making choices that reflect RRU's academic integrity expectations.