Academic integrity is the application of an ethical policy of honesty and truthfulness in academic affairs. In particular, academic integrity involves an active effort by members of the academia; students, teachers and researchers to avoid academic cheating and plagiarism. The area of academic integrity is broad, and involves ethical issue related acquisition and management of data, responsible academic authorship and appropriate allocation of credit, peer reviews, conflicts of interests among others. This paper will focus more on plagiarism as a form of academic dishonesty (Lars, 2011 pp 2).
Lars (2011) describes plagiarism as “attempting to pass off, as your own work, a whole or nay part of a work belonging to another person, group or institution.” (Lars, 2011 pp 2).
Consequences of plagiarism
Many institutions have a policy of non tolerance of plagiarism. In many of these institutions, plagiarism is ranked as one of the highest forms of academic dishonesty, and is punishable by suspension or even expulsion from such institutions. Although instructors and supervisors may have different ways of handling plagiarism issues, many institutions have well established policies that spell out the consequences of any member of such institution involved in plagiarism (Steneck, 2006 pp 62).
For a student, the consequences of plagiarism may be varied. If a student submits a plagiarized work, he may be required by the instructor to repeat the assignment. In most cases where a student is asked to repeat the assignment, it is usually for a reduced grade. The instructor may also choose to fail the student in that particular paper or that particular class. The instructor, as a way of discouraging the practice of plagiarism, may also file a letter making a description of the nature of plagiarism in the student’s discipline file (Steneck, 2006 pp 62).
The quote, the paraphrase and the summary
In academic research, writers use the quote, the paraphrase and the summary. The quote is used when making a direct quotation of the work of another author. It involves the borrowing of the exact words of another author. Opening and closing quotation marks are used to indicate that the words are borrowed. Proper citation must be used to give due credit to the original author of the work inside the quotes (Lars, 2011 pp 5).
The paraphrase is used when a researcher uses his or her own words to convey an idea made originally by another author. In paraphrasing, the researcher avoids making direct use of the exact words used by the original author and uses his or her own, but conveys the same original idea as the original author. According to Lars, R.J. in Academic Integrity & Academic Dishonesty: A Handbook about Cheating & Plagiarism (2011), proper citation must be used to ensure that proper credit is given to the original author of the work that has been paraphrased (Lars, 2011 pp 5).
The summary is used when a researcher has a high volume of academic material from another author that needs to be fit in a limited number of words. The summary simply summarizes the original academic material into smaller amount of text. There are well established methods of making citations when an author summarizes the original work of another author. It is mandatory that an author who summarizes the work of another make the proper citation to ensure that he or she avoids plagiarism (Lars, 2011 pp 6).
Parenthetical References
Parenthetical references, also known as in text citations, are used to give credit to original authors of an academic work. In general, in-text citations use the name of author, the date of publication of the original work and sometimes incorporate page number in the original publication. An example of an in-text citation would be (Doe, 2014), indicating that the original author has Doe has surname and the original publication was in the year 2014. The in text citations form the basis for references of the research work (Lars, 2011 pp 3).
Importance of Documenting Research Carefully
According to Lars, R.J. in Academic Integrity & Academic Dishonesty: A Handbook about Cheating & Plagiarism (2011), it is important that research is well documented because ideas and words of an author are intellectual property, and taking such without giving proper credit could result in legal consequences both to the individual researcher and the institution he is affiliated (Lars, 2011 pp 5).
It is also important to document research because opinion s published in academic scholarship offer ideas that are open to evaluation in the academic community. It is through such evaluations that past academic works are refuted or supported, and documenting research in academic work means that this practice continues and that readers are given an avenue through citations to check sources and evaluate the strength of arguments in any given academic research work (Lars, 2011 pp 6).
In conclusion, it is important that researchers in academic work document their sources, and make a conscious effort to avoid plagiarism. The adverse consequences of academic dishonesty on both the researcher and the academic institution he or she is affiliated should be enough discouragement for anyone to engage in academic dishonesty (Lars, 2011 pp 2).
References
Lars, R.J. (2011). Academic Integrity & Academic Dishonesty: A Handbook about Cheating & Plagiarism. Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL. Available at http://www.fit.edu/current/documents/plagiarism.pdf
Steneck, N.H. (2006). Fostering integrity in Research: Definitions, Current Knowledge, and Future Directions. Science and Engineering Ethics, 12, 53-74. Available at http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFAQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F7275253_Fostering_integrity_in_research_definitions_current_knowledge_and_future_directions%2Flinks%2F00b49521b87eead8ed000000&ei=UWZhVNerHcauPOjtgdAO&usg=AFQjCNG7cf6nm18mHZrfhlNhCHGkw0V5GQ&sig2=HLWqfByCHvnmYwB8svllvg
