Academic integrity is the demonstration of behavior and practices in an academic setting that is moral and honest. While maintaining academic integrity is relevant in all practices, it is especially instrumental within educational settings such as universities. This is due to the fact that academic integrity is vital and influential during the accreditation of students. As such, students must present work that is wholly original and appropriately cites ideas or statements from other individuals or organizations. Within writing, academic integrity is preserved by avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism can be seen as the most common infraction on academic integrity in writing and occurs when an individual fails to acknowledge the origin of certain ideas, concepts, or statements. The process of paraphrasing ideas in writing can also vary between cultures and different academic standards (Morris, 2018). However, in the case of paraphrasing, most educational institutions expect an expansion of the original idea and accreditation for the original source. Plagiarism and inadequate paraphrasing are not always accurately detected, and as such, it proves that academic integrity is of high importance to maintaining academic writing of high-quality. The ability to credit original sources for every idea, concept, or statement used within writing is essential to observing adequate academic integrity.
Professional practices can observe and maintain the quality and ways in which certain operations are conducted within a workspace. Scholarly ethics refer to moral integrity within academic fields by promoting ethical research, course work, examination process, and other tasks that occur throughout the study. Despite the different areas of application for the two concepts, they often contribute to each other. Scholarly ethics promote skills such as avoiding plagiarism, using acceptable sources, and safe conduct of studies that can be implemented within professional spaces (Adhiambo, 2019). Similarly, professional practices such as responsibility, workplace conduct, and time management can inform operations within the scope of academics. As such, the utilization of both components has mutual benefits that emphasize and improve the already present strengths of both professional practices and scholarly ethics. There are also a number of overlapping features between the two concepts, such as the ability to differentiate between relevant and non-relevant data and utilizing resources in a way that is practical. Overall, both professional practices and scholarly ethics share principles that encourage integrity, outcome-based goals, and cohesive operations with others. As such, it can be beneficial to improve capabilities in both practices.
The possibility to maintain academic integrity has drastically improved since the introduction of tools and devices that can identify academic misconduct. This is especially relevant to academic writing which benefits from tools such as Grammarly and Safe Assign. Both pieces of software have the capabilities to detect and improve errors such as spelling omissions, punctuation, grammar, article use, and sentence structure. The change of even minor writing mistakes has the potential to increase the quality of a written work. Even more importantly, such software is capable of recognizing the need for paraphrasing or quotation elements in order to avoid plagiarism (Walden University, n.d.). This is especially relevant due to academic recklessness, which encompasses incidents in which plagiarism occurs unintentionally. Because academic recklessness is punished in the same manner as plagiarism, such tools are essential in limiting the potential of misused and poorly cited information. Both Grammarly and Safe Assign contribute to the improvement of academic integrity by providing tools that increase the quality of the work and by decreasing incidents of plagiarism. While such software is highly effective, there is still potential for error and requires academic writers to be alert and conscious of plagiarism and academic recklessness.
Throughout my learning experience and course work, I aim to present and maintain appropriate levels of academic integrity and to adhere to currently existing ethical standards within the field. I intend to utilize my network that has been established prior to assure that my work adheres to the strategies that have been formulated. Consultation will be an integral component of the strategy as the individuals in my network are able to provide me with professional, academic, and personal support in cases in which gaps of knowledge are identified. Information regarding academic integrity, scholarly ethics, and professional practices will also be vital for any conduct within the workspace. This is because I will be able to maintain my learning experience in a way that is academically honest and sufficient by integrating the aforementioned components into my strategies.
As a professional nurse, environmental factors are likely to modify the ways in which I conduct my practices. However, my current strategies also focus on adaptability and growth which will be relevant in a workplace that is susceptible to change. However, the core values of academic integrity and professional practices should be maintained throughout my career. Throughout my work as a student and professional, I am to utilize resources from academic materials, libraries, online databases, practical lessons, and projects. Within the scope of studies, preparation for examination will allow for familiarization with relevant materials. In the workplace, I am to use experiences and consultations to guide my aims to improve my practice as a nurse.
References
Adhiambo, V. R. (2019). The connection between academic and professional integrity: A review. East African Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 1(1), 12-31. Web.
Morris, E. J. (2018). Academic integrity matters: Five considerations for addressing contract cheating. International Journal of Educational Integrity, 14(1). Web.
Walden University. (n.d.). About Grammarly: An automated writing feedback tool. Academic Guides. Web.