1 Academic Integrity: Introduction
What does Academic Integrity mean?
In general, Academic Integrity describes the act of making ethical choices in your intellectual work. You can break down the terms this way:
Academic = (relating to) formal study, often at an institution of higher learning
Integrity = acting in an honest and truthful manner and taking responsibility for the choices you make
Academic Integrity: A shared responsibility
As a student at MSVU, you belong to an academic community. All members of this community are responsible for understanding and upholding high standards of academic integrity. We demonstrate academic integrity by conducting our work with careful attention to the ethics of our courses, programs, disciplines, and higher education as a whole. Academic integrity matters because it is the basis of academic work. Pursuing your studies with integrity ensures that your degree has meaning — in other words, that it accurately reflects your skills, knowledge, and abilities.
Key Takeaway
The International Center for Academic Integrity (2021), defines Academic Integrity as a commitment to uphold six fundamental values in the academic community, even when faced with adversity:
- honesty
- trust
- fairness
- respect
- responsibility
- courage
The following pages will define these six values in more detail and will give you various real life examples. The scenarios are adapted from the Integrity Matters app (MusicCentric Technologies, 2018).
