About Academic Integrity

What is academic integrity?

Teaching and promoting academic integrity and responding to academic misconduct allegations are all part of UBC’s culture of academic integrity. 

Academic integrity is a commitment to upholding the values of respect, integrity, and accountability in academic work. For students, this means completing academic work honestly and for instructors this means supporting students to learn with integrity in their courses. It is an essential part of being a member of the university community since learning with integrity ensures that graduates are properly credentialed. 

While academic integrity relates to academic work, scholarly integrity (also known as responsible conduct of research) relates to work intended for publication. Academic integrity and scholarly integrity share many values but they differ in the work they are connected to. The Responsible Conduct of Research site outlines the realm of scholarly integrity and the differences between scholarly misconduct and academic misconduct.


How do you show respect for other learners and scholars by learning with integrity?

Why is integrity by all members of our community important?

What is your responsibility to help others uphold standards of accountability in our community?


Academic Integrity Statement

Doing your own work, acknowledging the contributions of others, and seeking help when you need it are all part of what academic integrity means at UBC, as is avoiding tools and services that subvert these practices.

Academic integrity is a commitment to upholding the values of respect, integrity, and accountability in academic work. It is foundational to teaching and learning and is a fundamental and shared value of all members of the UBC community. UBC adopts an educative approach to academic integrity that supports students and instructors around awareness and that values academic misconduct processes that are fair and effective.   

Academic integrity is a set of values and skills that must be learned and refined over time. Instructors are responsible for setting clear expectations around academic integrity in their courses, modelling honest behaviour as teachers and scholars, and creating a space for students to develop their understanding of academic integrity. Students are responsible for meeting these expectations in their academic work, developing an understanding of concepts, and seeking support when they have questions. UBC is responsible for creating and sustaining the culture of academic integrity that makes all of this possible. 

Everyone plays a part in supporting and enhancing academic integrity at UBC.


UBC cultivates an educative approach to academic integrity that strives for clarity around expectations for teaching and upholding it and provides information on the process involved for both faculty and students when it is breached. Academic integrity is everyone’s responsibility and faculty, students and staff all have a role to play in upholding it. 


While we tend to believe that everyone is on the same page about academic integrity and academic misconduct, there can often be questions and confusion about these concepts. Check out the FAQ to learn about some of these misunderstandings, including some common myths about academic integrity.


We all benefit from academic integrity

The responsibility for academic integrity is shared by all members of the UBC community, and we all benefit as a result.

Academic integrity is a shared value and an ongoing shared responsibility. Without integrity, a degree from any institution has no meaning. Yet, academic integrity is much more than just the absence of dishonesty or academic misconduct. It is a collective effort to ensure honesty, trust, fairness, and respect in all we do.

The International Centre for Academic Integrity values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage are captured within UBC’s vision of academic integrity. UBC is a member of the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) and members of the UBC community are invited to join in international discussions about academic integrity through the ICAI’s annual conference and blog

Respect

An essential and learned value: regard felt or shown towards different people, ideas, and actions

Through the lens of academic integrity, respect means having regard for not only your own work but also the work of others. Respect is reciprocal, both given and earned. It means always upholding principles of academic integrity, but doing so with fairness.

Students act with respect when they acknowledge others’ ideas and work using expectations and norms from their academic discipline. Faculty act with respect when they set work in a fair and equitable manner, and when they ensure credit is based on fair and honest work.

Integrity

A moral value: the quality of being honest, ethical and truthful

Honesty forms the foundation of academic integrity. Through honesty we build trust both within our community and outward. Students act with honesty when they endeavour to learn, submit work based on their own efforts, and properly acknowledge the contributions of others.

Faculty work with honesty when they set and communicate clear expectations for work, provide support for students in meeting these expectations, and respond to incidents of academic misconduct.

Accountability

A personal and public value: being responsible for our conduct and actions and delivering upon our respective and reciprocal commitments

Accountability is a responsibility shared by every member of the teaching and learning community. Each individual is accountable to themselves, but also to their peers, their faculty, and the greater community.

To be accountable means having the courage to make the right decisions in circumstances where difficult choices are in front of us. It also means acting to prevent others from engaging in dishonesty, and responding appropriately if they do.