Academic integrity is a commitment to upholding the UBC values of respect, integrity, and accountability in all academic endeavours.
All members of the UBC community have a shared responsibility to understand and uphold its values. Academic integrity is important for activities that produce new knowledge through scholarly activities including creative pursuits, writing, and speaking. It is also important for activities that have students demonstrate their learning through assessments and assignments. On this page, find resources for teaching and learning with integrity, generally, as well as specific information related to collaborative learning and academic file sharing.
Learning with Integrity
Understanding academic integrity
Students have a responsibility to understand the standards of academic integrity in their fields of study and work together with faculty and staff to promote a culture of academic integrity.1
Collaborative learning and group work
Learning collaboratively is effective and important, as long as there is clarity about roles and expectations, and clear documentation of individual contributions. Effective collaborative learning is built on the foundational principle of reciprocity, where everyone’s contributions are acknowledged in a respectful way.
Contract cheating and file sharing
Assessment questions and course materials are, in most cases, the intellectual property of the instructors who created them. Instructors should ensure their materials contain explicit copyright information and students should not share course materials without permission.
Teaching Integrity
Tools for teaching academic integrity
Faculty have a responsibility to work together with students and staff to promote a culture of academic integrity. This starts in the classroom, through explicitly teaching the standards of academic integrity in their discipline and including information about academic integrity in course syllabi and coursework.
Researching, writing, and creating with integrity
All knowledge production builds on the work of others. In areas of study where learners are producing creative outputs and/or writing, academic integrity is upheld when information is properly paraphrased and sources are properly attributed.
Demonstrating knowledge through assessments
In areas of study where students demonstrate their learning through quizzes, tests, homework assignments, there are evidence-based recommendations for rewarding academic integrity in course and assessment design.
1 Eaton, S. E. & Edino, R. I. (2018). Strengthening the research agenda of educational integrity in Canada: A review of the research and call to action. International Journal of Educational Integrity, 14(5), 1-21.