Academic integrity

Before we get into talking about academic integrity, let's start with building a relationship with you and your connections to academic integrity. We're the RRU Writing Centre, and please visit Meet the Writing Centre Team to learn more about us. We appreciate that you're taking time to visit this guide. We always approach supporting students from a person-first perspective, and we encourage students to do the same, which means thinking about who you are and everything you bring to your experiences as a student before you start learning more about academic integrity.

We encourage you to pause for a moment and consider these questions: 

Who are you? 

What languages, cultures, values, experiences, and ways of knowing, being, and doing do you bring with you to your studies? 

How do your experiences shape your understanding of academic integrity?

If you're a RRU student and you decide to come to talk with us in the Writing Centre, we hope you'll share those parts of yourself with us so we can understand the connections you're making as you build your relationship with academic integrity at RRU.

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Definitions and understandings of academic integrity are shaped by cultural factors, which means there may be differently nuanced understandings of academic integrity in different settings, even if the vocabulary is the same. As such, there isn't one globally accepted definition of academic integrity; however, approaches often share similar underlying values.

Here's one definition provided by the International Center for Academic Integrity (n.d.):

The International Center for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage. From these values flow principles of behavior that enable academic communities to translate ideals into action. (para.1)

Here are some additional perspectives on academic integrity: 

• Indigenous Academic Integrity (Keeta Gladhue, Taylor Insitute, University of Calgary)
• Seven Grandfathers in Academic Integrity (Iehnhotonkwas B.J. Maracle, Student Life, University of Toronto)
• Global Perspectives on Academic Integrity: Introduction (link requires RRU login) in the Second Handbook of Academic Integrity
  •  See the other sections in the chapter to learn more about examples of academic integrity in various regions or countries around the world.

Institutional academic integrity policies are specific in how they interpret ideals into actions, but for individuals, the choices may not seem so straightforward. Each person's relationship to academic integrity will likely have overlapping influences, such as self-identity and personal values, cultural identity and experiences, as well as lessons learned in previous educational experiences. We began with inviting you to think about your relationship with academic integrity, so let's explore a little further: 

• Think about your reaction to the definition from the International Center for Academic Integrity. Do you place greater emphasis on some values over others? Do you disagree with any of the included values? Do you think there are other values that should be included?
• Consider the perspectives provided in the resources above; which approaches resonate with you? What are the connections between who you are and the perspective(s) you prefer? If there are perspectives that don't connect with you, what is it about those approaches that create that disconnect?

Your awareness of where you see your own values and belief systems reflected in definitions of academic integrity, as well as where there are differences and how those differences affect you, will help you to navigate the choices you make as a member of the academic community.

In the next section, we'll get more specific about what it means to practice academic integrity at RRU.

Reference

International Center for Academic Integrity. (n.d.). Fundamental values of academic integrity. https://academicintegrity.org/aws/ICAI/pt/sp/values

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