Why Academic Integrity is Important?

Because the University is responsible for the award of your degree, official definitions of what is meant by the term “academic integrity” have been produced in order to clarify our official understanding of the term.

The following definition is taken directly from the University Calendar Section IV http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-statement.html

“The University is a ‘learning community’ within which students and staff learn from each other, from their peers and through original research. All members of the University are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct and professional relationships based on courtesy, honesty and mutual respect. In maintaining this learning community, the concept of academic integrity is fundamental.

Academic integrity means conducting all aspects of your academic life in a professional manner. It involves:

• taking responsibility for your own work;
• respecting the rights of other scholars;
• behaving with respect and courtesy when debating with others even when you do not agree with them;
• fully acknowledging the work of others wherever it has contributed to your own
• ensuring that your own work is reported honestly;
• following accepted conventions, rules and laws when presenting your own work;
• ensuring that you follow the ethical conventions and requirements appropriate to your discipline;
• if you are studying on a professionally-recognised vocational programme, maintaining standards of conduct which are appropriate to a practitioner in that area;
• supporting others in their own efforts to behave with academic integrity;
• avoiding actions which seek to give you an unfair advantage over others.

As a member of the academic community at Southampton, you are expected to work in accordance with these principles.
Acting with academic integrity enables you to demonstrate your own knowledge, skills and understanding of the subject and then to receive feedback to help you progress. You will also be developing professional skills and values which are sought by employers. Conversely, failure to act in this way means that you will not be developing the skills which are essential in the longer term for your personal and academic growth. The feedback you then receive on your work will not help you to improve as it will not be a genuine reflection on your knowledge and abilities”. University Calendar Section IV (http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-statement.html)

How this translates into our expectations
When you work on assessments we expect you to work with academic integrity. In particular we expect you to:

• be honest and balanced in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your own work, and that of others
• conduct yourself according to the standards and conventions of your discipline
• respect the intellectual property of others, their moral rights and copyright
• avoid taking unfair advantage of others