Research Help
Introduction to Academic Integrity
Welcome to the Aurora Campus Library's Academic Integrity course! Here, you find information and useful resources that will help guide you through issues surrounding academic honesty.
You can work through each of the sections by interacting with the media and resources in each. You can take quizzes or complete the activities to test your knowledge. Each unit ends with a question to encourage you to reflect on each topic and what it means to you.
This section introduces some fundamental concepts of academic integrity. It explains how important it is to express your own thoughts and distinguish them from the thoughts of others during your academic career.
Watch the video above from Aurora College Libraries' Credo: View for a brief overview of academic integrity and why it is important for you as a student.
This unit explores different values and principles of academic integrity and demonstrates how to apply them to common academic situations
There are several ways to describe academic integrity, and diverse cultures will have different perspectives on what it involves. Below are just two sources.
The International Centre for Academic Integrity (2021) breaks academic integrity down into six values:
- Honesty - never deceiving others through words or actions
- Trust - being reliable and being able to rely on others in return
- Fairness - remaining open minded and impartial
- Respect - valuing yourself and others
- Responsibility - being accountable for your actions
- Courage - being brave enough to act with integrity even when it is difficult to do so
If you'd like to learn more about these values, you can explore The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity HERE
In Indigenous Academic Integrity, Keeta Gladue (2020) lists three Principles of Academic Integrity:
- Relationality: I am because you are- people are interconnected with each other, other living creatures, the environment and creation
- Reciprocity: Roles we serve- being accountable to others and our communities. Passing our knowledge on to others while acknowledging the knowledge others have shared with us
- Respect: Nothing about us without us- Indigenous knowledge and expertise must be valued and honoured
To learn more about how these principles inform Indigenous ways of academic integrity, click HERE
For a printable, PDF version of these definitions, click the link below.
This unit explains plagiarism and multiple ways that it might appear in academic work. It explains how giving credit to others is an essential part of academic integrity
Click through this slideshow to learn the basics about plagiarism: what it is, potential consequences, and how to avoid it.
Should I Cite This?
Not sure when or what you need to cite? Try using this flowchart from the Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab. Click here to download the full size version.
Try using the flowchart to navigate the scenarios in the quiz below!
This unit will introduce resources within and outside of Aurora College that can help you maintain your academic integrity.
Aurora College resources
There are many people and places you can go to find information or guidance about Academic Integrity.
- Your Instructor
- Librarians/ the library
- The Student Success Centre
- Tutors
You can also find information online:
- Aurora College policies on Academic Integrity: Policy C15 Academic Dishonesty
- The Research Help section of the library website
Other resources
- The Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab has citation guides and information that can help you cite your sources
- Credo: View has a series of videos on academic integrity
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library has published a comprehensive Guidebook on Academic Integrity for students
Citation tools
There are several programs that can help you keep track of your sources and cite them. These can be helpful tools when it comes to managing your research. The two below are free to use.
- Zotero. Zotero is a free, open source tool that helps you collect, organize, cite and share your research sources. Citations can easily be added by dragging and dropping PDFs of articles into your account.
- Mendeley. Mendeley is free with up to 2GB of storage. Extra storage is available for a fee. Citations can be added by dragging and dropping PDFs of articles into your account. You can use the Mendeley bookmarklet to import citations from databases and websites.
References
Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/infolit/framework1.pdf
Calonia, J. (n.d.) How to avoid plagiarism. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism/
Gladue, K. (2020). Indigenous academic integrity. https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/Content/Resources/Academic-Integrity/21-TAY-Indigenous-Academic-Integrity.pdf
International Centre for Academic Integrity. (2021). The fundamental values of academic integrity. Third edition. https://academicintegrity.org/images/pdfs/20019_ICAI-Fundamental-Values_R12.pdf
Iowa State University Library. (2021). Understanding plagiarism. https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/c.php?g=49334&p=318092
Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Best practices to avoid plagiarism. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/best_practices.html