The importance of academic and research integrity (Higher Education Standard 5.2) in the assessment process to Christian formation, resilience, and well-being

Academic integrity is the adherence and upholding of a universal consensus of fundamental values within the field of academia.  Values such as truthfulness, integrity, honesty, and so on.  Academia, with regard to any field or industry with which it is associated, is integral to obtaining knowledge pertaining to that field or industry, and is therefore crucial to maintaining reputation and confidence within these fields or industries.  Academic behavior which undermines or breaches these values may call into question a whole body of work, and indeed the robustness of the trust engendered in higher education learning and outcomes.

Issues of public safety are raised in those industries where unqualified personnel pose a significant risk, such as for health and engineering, those with associated economic ramifications, such as accounting, and risks associated with the diminution of personal values, such as in Christian ministry and theology. Literature reveals that studies regarding student awareness of university academic integrity policies bore some correlation between the level of visibility of related legal structures and the perceptions of cheating.  This highlights how support and training in academic integrity is essential.  Diversity and competition place increasing demands upon higher education structures, rendering the perception of the role of higher education as a means to an end rather than as an educational being an end in itself.

Guidance on what constitutes academic misconduct, on how to maintain academic integrity, creating and maintaining a culture that supports, upholds and reinforces ethical values for higher education may in turn benefit Christian formation.

Cheating behaviors in schooling add likeliness to fostering the same or similar behaviors at work.  Whereas increased academic literacy assuages academic misconduct.  The Australian Code of the Responsible Conduct of Research (ACRCR) outlines expectations of induction, training and professional development in all aspects of research, ethics, as well as data storage and retention.

Unintentional misconduct, by the novice researcher, may stem from honest ignorance rather than belligerence.  Prevention is better than penalty, for penalty doesn’t equal cure.  Guidance on what constitutes academic misconduct, on how to maintain academic integrity, creating and maintaining a culture that supports, upholds and reinforces ethical values for higher education may in turn benefit Christian formation.