Question

Post a 1- to 2-paragraph evaluation of your growth due to this course. Specifically:

Name an aspect of academic integrity that you have struggled with in the past. Then explain a technique you will use to prevent that situation in upcoming courses and any future professional writing. As part of your post, paraphrase at least one of the sources in this course, including a proper in-text citation and reference.

Answer 1

Academic integrity is showing honesty, morality, ethics and integrity in writing, learning and research process. It includes preventing from using others ideas, words and work without mentioning their source in it and showing it as our own. The aspect that I have struggled with in the past was plagiarism. In writing my essay on a topic I had to make sure it is not plagiarised. For this purpose, I made my own notes, did my research and drafted the essay but checking it over with the other work available on the net and in books to make sure it doesn't look plagiarised was an additional task. I was sure that the words cannot be similar to another's as they were written by me but the ideas could by chance match and thus my essay could be considered plagiarised by my supervisor. Plagiarism is an unethical act in writing which includes copying the words, ideas or intellectual property and showing it as their original work. If caught in such an offence my essay would be disqualified by my supervisor. Hence checking for any similarity in my work with anything available of the same kind was research I had to do.

To avoid such situations where plagiarism can arise and affect my academic integrity I will have to use steps to guard myself against plagiarism. It is important to understand the context and use own words to write the content. A need for copying other's work will arise if we don't understand the topic or its relevance. Understanding it can help us avoid such a situation. If we have to use the words and definitions of someone, it is best to mention it in quotes as that allows us copying their work and not be considered as plagiarised. It is important to cite other's work as well as own work which has been used before in our own writing. Certain tools are available to check the plagiarism in the writing which will prevent the act of plagiarism and help us maintain academic integrity in our work.