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According to the Oxford English Dictionary, integrity is:
“Soundness of moral principle; the character of uncorrupted virtue, esp. in relation to truth and fair dealing; uprightness, honesty, sincerity.”
Oprah Winfrey once said:
“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
Integrity includes a commitment to honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility.
Academic integrity is when students behave with integrity in an academic setting. Maintaining academic integrity involves “expressing original ideas, citing sources, working independently, and reporting results accurately and honestly” (Red Deer Polytechnic, Student Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct Guidebook, p. 3).
Every program at Red Deer Polytechnic expects students to follow a code of academic integrity.
Academic misconduct is when students do not behave with integrity in an academic setting. Academic misconduct includes cheating and plagiarism (Red Deer Polytechnic, Student Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct Guidebook, p. 3).
At Red Deer Polytechnic, academic misconduct can result in:
List created by NAIT Library
Plagiarism occurs when you take another person’s words or ideas and claim them as your own.
Plagiarism includes:
List created by NAIT Library
Plagiarism is a type of academic misconduct. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense, even if it’s unintentional or accidental.
At Red Deer Polytechnic, plagiarism can result in:
List created by NAIT Library
No! As a student at Red Deer Polytechnic, you are expected to read, analyze, and respond to the ideas of others when writing your papers. The key to do this without plagiarizing is to cite your sources!
Citation is a way of giving credit to individuals when you use their words or ideas to support your research. Citations have enough information that a reader could find the exact source you used. Typically, this citation information includes the author's name, publication date, and other source information including the journal title or DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
Citation styles are standardized ways to format citations. The citation style will determine exactly what information is necessary for a citation as well as how that information is presented, including punctuation and other formatting.
Your professor will usually tell you what citation style is required for your assignment. The citation style typically depends on the academic subject area. For example:
There are five steps to get started with citation:
Red Deer Polytechnic has the following policy regarding academic integrity:
Student Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct
Red Deer Polytechnic has created a guidebook to explain this policy:
Student Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct Guidebook
WATCH
Watch the video Preparing to Study at RDP: Academic Integrity (3:27).
"Preparing to Study at RDP: Academic Integrity" by RDP Library (2021)
Permissions and Acknowledgement:
All the information and material in this guide regarding academic integrity at Red Deer Polytechnic is adapted from the Student Academic Integrity and Misconduct policy.
This guide also contains content adapted with permission from the University Library System, Univeristy of Pittsburgh and the University of Waterloo Library. If you use any of the information, please ensure to comply with the terms and conditions of use imposed by the owners or licensees of those materials.
This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Red Deer Polytechnic recognizes that our campus is situated on Treaty 7 land, the traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina and Stoney Nakoda peoples, and that the central Alberta region we serve falls under Treaty 6, traditional Métis, Cree and Saulteaux territory. We honour the First Peoples who have lived here since time immemorial, and we give thanks for the land where RDP sits. This is where we will strive to honour and transform our relationships with one another.