Ways of Enhancing Academic Integrity in Academic Institutions - Research Paper Example

The paper looks at academic integrity by definition, rules of academic integrity, and ways of enhancing academic integrity in academic institutions.

Definition
Academic integrity refers to responsibility and honesty in academics. Tutors use assignments to help them gauge whether a student has understood a concept or not. In addition, the tutor further grades the students according to their performance. Academic misconduct refers to all dishonest and prohibited ways where a student tries to receive a higher grade in academics (Soles 306). Misconduct leads to false misrepresentation of student knowledge and skills, and this undermines the tutors’ ability to gauge the performance of a student.
Rules of academic integrity

Avoiding plagiarism
Plagiarism involves the use of another person’s original words or image without giving proper credit. It involves presenting someone else’s work as if it is your own. Depending on the institution's policies and regulations, plagiarism attracts certain consequences ranging from rejection of the results or complete expulsion from the institution. Plagiarism can be either intentional due to the student’s lack of knowledge on research or unintentional due to the ignorance of the student (Ellis 259).
Citation and referencing
Citation and referencing are other important rules of academic integrity. The two rules come with different styles, and they differ according to the institution. The primary used methods include the Harvard referencing system and the Vancouver referencing system.

Enhancing academic integrity
Institutions have come with their writing formats that the faculty and the students must adhere to. Some of the most popular formats include among others, the American psychology association, modern learning association. The basis of all these formats is on Vancouver system or the Harvard system. Creating a climate of integrity within an institution is the most indispensable task in ensuring academic integrity. To make the task less challenging, organizations should follow the existing guidelines and policies on academic integrity (Gabriel 1). In addition, ensuring the timely dissemination of information to new students and the faculty will ease the task further. To ensure commitment to the academic policy, the institution should adopt the signing policy that includes disciplinary measures for those who defy it (Oyekan 11).

Conclusion
Academic integrity is a two-way process that requires the faculty and the student’s adherence. A student can come up with original work by consistently following regulations such as ensuring careful paraphrasing and having the ability to identify direct quotes. Moreover, the student can avoid academic irregularities by including all the details about the source of the information and citing sources as references at the end of the paper. Effective referencing ensures the elimination of plagiarism and consequently results in academic integrity. Read More