Academic integrity, at its core, involves honest practice. Scholarship involves researching, understanding and building upon the work of others. It requires that you give credit where it is due and acknowledge the contributions of others to your own intellectual efforts, be they world famous experts, your teachers or fellow students.
Think about the following situations ...
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You are injured playing football and the nurse who treats you bought her essays instead of writing them. She doesn’t know how to keep up with the latest research because she never learnt how to read the journals so she recommends old, outdated treatments. She just doesn’t know how to keep up to date in her medical knowledge. |
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You are an engineer whose best mate was always better at doing assignments than you and you relied on him throughout university to solve the assignment problems for you. Now, two years out of university, you have been put in charge of a major project which could result in you getting a promotion. But you don’t know how to go about getting it done. You know how to memorise for exams but you don’t know how to solve problems. |
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You are an accountant going for a position and during the selection process it is revealed that you were found guilty at university of handing in someone else’s assignment as your own. You explain to the panel that you had four major assessment pieces due that semester and you were just trying to get it all done. You do not get the position, the panel saying that you would be dealing with clients’ finances and they are not sure you could be trusted. |
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You find an interesting image on the internet that you use as the basis for an elaborate tapestry for your fabric art assignment. Because, in your opinion, you had altered the medium of the image, you didn’t think you had to acknowledge the source. In the process of commercialising the tapestry, you are sued for copyright infringement by the original creator of the image. |
Why is academic integrity important?
It is important that you are honest in your academic work. In this way you will work towards the advantages that a QUT qualification offers in a way that is fair and equitable to your teachers and fellow students without seeking unfair advantage by cheating, not acknowledging other people’s work or dishonest practices.
Upholding the principles of academic integrity adds to the value and quality of your degree and the reputation of the university.
Nurse image: Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Engineeer image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Accountant image: Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Fabric image: tungphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
