Integrity is the most puzzling and usually an oft-cited term. The term integrity is defined differently depending on one’s understanding. It originates from a Latin adjective integer which means intact or whole (Buchon, 2003). The exact meaning of integrity is the virtue of being honest and morally upright. Integrity is important because it makes somebody an overall good person. Integrity is a personal reward since one feels humble and complete and this drives a person into making better decisions for self-benefit and also for the benefit of others. It involves doing what is right for you regardless of other people’s views. A person of integrity sets a good example to others. One is able to make decisions appropriately and stand by those decisions. This becomes a means of inspiration to people of bad company who may change to become better people (Herling, 2002).
My understanding of academic integrity is that they are the moral codes and core values built by learning institutions. Such values may include; honesty, respect, trust, responsibility and fairness among others. Personal writing is self-driven whereas scholarly writing is guided by certain rules and conventions such as punctuation and grammar. Scholarly writing has to conform to set standards (Clark, 2010). Personal writing is not necessarily supported by author citations and a reference list as in case of scholarly writing. Scholarly writing depends on previous knowledge of a reader in contrast to personal writing (Nash, 2004).
Authority can be demonstrated through following long-established customs and traditions within a learning institution. For instance, a teacher may a demonstrate authority to students depending of the organizational structure of the learning institution he is leading. The values and customs of the organization act as the guiding principles for this teacher to demonstrate authority (Foster, 2006). It can also be demonstrated through inspiration whereby a person influences people through personal abilities that are in the form of gifts from above. People are bound to follow this type of authority because they believe that it is not an authority like any other. Students have developed the power to writing because writing has become a fundamental component of educational process (Watt, 2007).
APA style citations may be used when the writer makes an assertion. The APA citation accompanies the assertion as supporting evidence. The citations are usually from books, scholarly articles or journals. The writer should consider the objectivity of the citation and whether it can limit readership before inserting it in the body paragraph. Paraphrasing is the most common form of in-text citation that employs author date-method in the in-text citation. The name of author quoted here is usually the last name. A complete reference of the quoted must follow in the reference list, usually at the end of the research paper. Using APA style citation is prove that the writer has background information and therefore can understand the issues at hand (Angeli, 2002).
Turnitin training is a resource available at Walden University that equips learners with knowledge to support academic integrity. Students are trained on basics to get started on turnitin. They get to know how to write quality work that is plagiarism free and hence enhance their academic integrity. The turnitin academy also trains administrators on how to get instructions and run services of turnitin plagiarism prevention to track any form of plagiarism. Turnitin offers extensive resources for instructors which include professional development webinars. Instructors are trained on citation techniques and how to assess student writing. They are also trained on how to use turnitin to put into use the best practices and manage course work thus supporting academic integrity (Mulcahy, 2004).
References
Angeli E. et al. (2002). Psychological abstracts. 89(8), 576.
Buchon, D. A. (2003). Integrity: Do you have it. Chicago. Cengage Learning.
Clark, J. L. & Murray, K. E. (2010). Scholarly writing: Ideas, examples, and execution. USA: Carolina Academic Press.
Foster, D. N. (2006). Writing with authority: Students’ roles as writers in cross-national perspective. Princeton: SIU Press.
Herling, M. (2002). Maintaining academic integrity in online education. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 5(1), 218-224.
Mulcahy, S. (2004). Opening Pandora ’s Box of academic integrity. Using plagiarism detection software. 14(67), 688-696.
Nash, R. J. (2004). Liberating scholarly writing: The power of personal narrative. California: Teachers college press.
Watt, E. D. (2007). Authority: Croom Helm international series in social and political thought. New York, NY. Dover.