Introduction
Academic integrity is an act of honesty and respect. In an academic circle, all teachers, students and other staff are included. All of these members are supposed to ensure academic integrity in their work. As per this integrity, people from the academic circle can work on innovation, and everyone is supposed to respect it. Five primary values are part of this integrity. These values are mentioned below:
- Honesty
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Trust
- Fairness
All of these values make the foundation of academics. For example, your fellow friend has asked you for an opinion on his project work. As per academic integrity, it is your responsibility to share honest reviews. In this way, your fellow will grow positively. You should respect him as he has trusted you. In the same way, you can imply this integrity in all other academic dealings. In this article, you can find how academic integrity plays a role in collaboration and plagiarism.
1. What is Collaboration in Academic Integrity?
Collaboration is the act of completing a task with the assistance of another person. In academic integrity, collaboration is to work jointly on a single task. The task can be in one of the following forms:
- Assignment
- Homework
- Exam
- Project
- In-class activity
- Lab work
- Sharing of data or resources
You may have seen that students share the answer to a numerical problem for confirmation. This act is also termed collaboration. Your professor can mind for it or maybe not. Every professor has his strategy and policy for collaboration. Some advisors take it as a good act, while others do not. Therefore, it is necessary to check the document with a reliable dissertation editing service to ensure that there is not any material that may cause trouble for you.
2. Is Collaboration a Violation of Academic Integrity?
The authorisation and un-authorisation of collaboration decide if it is violating academic integrity or not. The first case is when collaboration is allowed. In this case, collaboration is authorised and not taken as a violation. On the other hand, it is termed unauthorised collaboration when it is not allowed. This unauthorised collaboration is a violation of academic integrity.
Students are assigned so many assignments on daily bases. These assignments are graded individually. Teachers do not allow students to ask each other about the solution. If some student gets caught sharing solutions, it is considered a violation of academic integrity. Another most common example of unauthorised collaboration is exams. In exams, students are not allowed to talk or ask questions to each other. If a student does not follow the instructions of staff and faculty, he has to face a question about his academic integrity.
The policy of collaboration varies from task to task. The final year project at the bachelor’s level is an example of when students are allowed to work in the form of a group and share data. This kind of collaboration is not a violation of academic integrity. In this case, integrity would be judged on sharing honest opinions, fairness of dealing and development of trust.
At the academic level, you have to deal with in-class, lab and homework. In all cases, if you are not sure about collaboration, you should ask your teacher. You can also see instruction related to collaboration in your course syllabus. Maybe you have to work on your final year project individually. In the same way, you may be asked to solve assignments with collaboration. So, instruction varies from professor to professor. It is better to ask about it for clarity so that you do not have to suffer in your grades.
3. What is Collaboration Plagiarism?
This is an unethical consideration when you get assistance from someone and do not give credit to that person. First of all, make it clear in your mind that collaboration and plagiarism both are different terms. Collaboration is to work with someone. On the other hand, plagiarism is copying someone’s data without acknowledging it.
When teachers allow students to collaborate, the core purpose of this permission is to let students learn about teamwork. Also, the purpose can be to get insights into a problem. For example, your teacher has asked you to write about the economy. Here, you people are allowed to collaborate. Now you have to discuss a topic with your fellow. In this way, you both can clear different aspects of the economy. When you start writing, you have to write as per your perspective. You can say that you have to share your point of view after the discussion. This is a good approach. On the other hand, if you are copying the written material of your fellow, it would be collaboration plagiarism. This kind of collaboration plagiarism is against academic integrity.
4. What are Academic Integrity and Plagiarism?
Academic integrity discourages plagiarism. When you understand the real meaning of plagiarism, you can see how students practise plagiarism frequently. For the solution of daily based assignment, you may search for ideas. If you do not mention where you got that idea, it is plagiarism. Furthermore, lots of students use graphics and charts in their assignments. All of the graphics and charts without citation are also plagiarised.
In research work, there is a proper section for literature review. In this section, you collect information relevant to your topic. All of that work is done by some other researchers. You are supposed to cite all of the information you have collected from external sources. If you acknowledge all of the ideas and data, it is considered academic integrity. On the other hand, if you do not acknowledge it, it goes against academic integrity.
Final Thoughts
When you ensure academic integrity in your practice, it makes your worth in the academic circle. As a student or professional in academics, you must have a clear idea about academic integrity. Wherever you feel confused, ask your professor or read the guidelines. Collaboration can harm academic integrity or not. It depends on the permission of your professor. On the other hand, plagiarism is against this integrity.
