Case Study on Academic Integrity is an Essential Component of Student’s Life

(i) What is academic integrity?

               It is quite easy to understand what academic integrity is. The word integrity itself giving an indication that academic integrity is something; where a student is expected to be honest, responsible as well as morally ethical in his/her conduct. It means that in any academic setting, a person should always demonstrate an honest and responsible behavior, and he/she should always be committed to doing so. This concept of academic integrity becomes more relevant when the discussion is about college and university level studies, where people need to be credited when their ideas, concepts or content are used by the students. It means that when people have contributed to the academic field in any given terms, then they should be acknowledged for their work because it certainly takes their time and effort. It is important to understand that if people will not be given credit and acknowledgment for their work, then such work will be considered under plagiarism, which is against the parameters of academic integrity. In academic work, a student can use the idea, words, or research of others, without giving credit, and if he/she does so, then such content will be considered plagiarized, which is not acceptable in the academic field by any means. Plagiarism is prohibited in all its forms and no situation can justify the plagiarized content. It also means that when one student is going with his/her own research, he/she should be doing best efforts to conduct his/her research, and when he/she use ideas or concepts of others, then they should be acknowledged for their work (Bretag, 2018)

ii) Why is academic integrity so important in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies?

               It is important to know that academic integrity is critical students, researchers as well as educational settings, because it brings so much positive and ethical in the academic field. If academic integrity is not present in the academic field, then it will lose its basic purpose. There are different aspects of pillars associated with academic integrity, which makes it further important thing. Honesty is the first important aspect related to academic integrity, and it is also the basic element, as all other elements will relate to it in one way or the other. The second most important thing is trust, which is needed in the academic field so that students can trust each other. S system without the essence of trust will not produce good and positive results, because mistrust comes with so many adverse effects. It is also important to show fairness as well as respect with regards to the work of other researchers and students. It is a phase of learning, and if students will copy the idea of others, it will be bad for their own learning and critical thinking. It leads to showing responsibility towards the academic field because it is the responsibility of all the stakeholders to use fair and honest means to deal with each other (Newton, 2016)

               The students should understand that when are involved in undergraduate or graduate studies, they are trying to learn the basic knowledge and skills of a relevant field of their choice. If they want to equip themselves with enough knowledge, so that they have enough ideas in their minds, then it is vital for them to follow an honest path of learning, where they explore new ideas and try to learn as much as possible. If they would copy others, and will not explore their own minds, then the whole learning process will stop, which is against the overall purpose of studying in college and universities. As a student, one must realize that he/she is studying in his/her relevant field so that they can be ready to work in a real professional environment in the future. If they will copy ideas and will show academic dishonesty, and they may get marks with it, but what will they do when they will face difficult situations in their future careers? For instance, if a student is studying in field of IT, and he/she passes the course with the help of academic dishonesty, but then he/she gets a job in an IT company, then how will he handle IT processes or problems, when he will not have broad knowledge and practical ideas in his/her mind? So, academic integrity is important, both for undergraduate or graduate studies, because these studies will lead students to their professional careers, and if they will cheat during these studies, it will be damaging for their future success and career (Wong, et al., 2016)

References of Academic Integrity is an Essential Component of Student’s Life

Bretag, T., 2018. Academic Integrity. [Online]
Available at: https://oxfordre.com/business/business/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.001.0001/acrefore-9780190224851-e-147
[Accessed 6 December 2019].

Newton, P., 2016. Academic integrity: a quantitative study of confidence and understanding in students at the start of their higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(3), pp. 482-497.

Wong, S. S. H., Lim, S. W. H. & Quinlan, K. M., 2016. Integrity in and Beyond Contemporary Higher Education: What Does it Mean to University Students?. Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 7.