Academic integrity is a community issue. Scholarly work is built on trust: trust that we accurately reported the lab results from which we drew conclusions, trust that we actually saw those medieval handwritten notations we analyzed, trust that the people we interviewed for a study actually said what we claimed. It is necessary to know where ideas came from in order to verify and build on them to create new knowledge.
Academic integrity is therefore not just an issue that affects one student and one teacher. It is not just about taking something from a remote, faceless author who will never know about it. Plagiarism affects a community’s ability to trust its members and makes people suspect good work instead of celebrating it.
You’re about to learn how to find, use, and cite sources responsibly in a way that helps you join an academic conversation. This module zooms out to take a broader view, reminding you of why it’s important to be diligent about source use and explaining what to do if you feel yourself struggling with an assignment. It also walks you through a university’s process of addressing an academic integrity violation if one occurs.
This module provides a set of resources to help you use the principles of academic integrity in your own life. You can navigate the sections of this module in any order and revisit them in any time.
The Importance of Proper Source Use
Resources for Students Struggling with an Assignment