Academic Integrity Guide Ask Us

What is Academic Integrity?

According to the International Center for Academic Integrity, Academic Integrity represents the moral value and ethical standard upheld within academia. It is the commitment to honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage in all scholarly activities.

Why is Academic Integrity Important?

Academic Integrity is a critical value to uphold for your own learning, the sake of your classmates, and others who have contributed to your discipline.

• Fairness and Trust: Ensures that success is based on individual effort and ability.
• Credibility: Maintains trust among students, educators, and institutions, preserving the integrity of academic institutions.
• Personal Development: Encourages ethical decision-making and reinforces honesty in all life aspects.

Additionally, instructors expect students to act with Academic Integrity, and may include further information in their course syllabi regarding this topic. Depending on the course content and expectations, certain actions may be perceived as misconduct, so you should always verify with your instructions that your actions are acceptable in their classroom.

Academic Misconduct

 In addition to guidance your instructors give you for specific classes, the University of New Brunswick has guidelines on Academic Offenses that it is important every student familiarizes themselves with. While this guide focuses on best practices around writing and citation best practices, this guidance document also includes other forms of academic misconduct, including submitting false information to get work extensions or exemptions, and cheating on tests.

How to act with Academic Integrity:

• Always ensure you properly acknowledge instances where you are incorporating other people's ideas or words through in-text citations and a bibliography
• When you are directly quoting someone, indicate this with quotation marks
• When paraphrasing, ensure you substantially change the words used and sentence structure, while still acknowledging where the information came from
• Only put your name on work, or submit papers, if you are positive that the work is original and fairly attributes any sources used
• Avoid sharing work with classmates when it is meant to be completed individually
• Speak to your instructor if you have any questions or concerns about actions that could be considered misconduct

What is a citation?

On the Shoulders of Giants

In a letter he wrote in 1676, Isaac Newton stated that “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”  It is this concept of each generation’s work being built upon the work of those who came before that underscores the importance of citation in scholarly writing. Every new idea in academia is informed by data, research and existing literature, and it is through citation that these building blocks of innovation are recognized. Citing is the act of formally granting credit to an author/creator for their ideas or work that you have borrowed for use in your own work.

Why are citations important?

Citations are a way to "join the conversation" taking place within the scholarly community.  You can't always talk to the researchers you’re citing, but by citing them in your work you are bringing them into your conversation, while telling people that you are a part of theirs.  Becoming a scholar (at any level) means joining and adding to the discourse in the field, and citation is a vital part of this.

In addition to the abstract act of ‘joining the conversation’, there are some very real and valuable reasons to cite any work that you are using to support your own conclusions.

1. Citations give credit to the person whose work you have used.  In some cases, an article you have cited and the research behind it may have taken a year or more for the author to produce.  Research is the result of a huge amount of effort on the part of the author, and citations are a way of showing respect for all that effort – especially since you are benefiting from it.
2. Citations let you (and others) track down the information being discussed.  When you cite correctly, it can allow your audience to access the same resources you did.  This can give them a way to expand their knowledge on a subject, or even just to develop a better understanding of your work.  Additionally, you can use others’ citations to do the same thing – in fact, this is an excellent way to find resources to further augment any arguments you may be making.
3. Citations show that you have done your research.  Citing other works assures your audience that you have done the necessary work to both understand your own arguments and to be able to defend them intelligently.  Citations grant you credibility that your name and work alone may not offer.
4. Citations distinguish your work from the works you are citing. Citing others works, in addition to granting credit to the authors whose works you have cited, helps you to distinguish your own contributions.  In a paper in which citation has been done well, it should be clear to the reader what you have learned from others, and what you have contributed yourself.

Where do I put my citations?

Different disciplines and venues use different formats and structures for citations, so there is no universal way to cite, but generally speaking, information like the author name(s), date, publisher, venue, and a link to the information will be included in a reference list. In your writing, you will utilize in-text citations to guide the reader to the corresponding reference list entry. You should be able to find information about the style to use in your course syllabus, the assignment instructions, or by asking your instructor. Typically, both in-text and reference list citations are required to properly attribute your sources.

Find your style

Different disciplines have different preferred styles, and the library has Research Guides that contain information about referencing in that discipline. Navigate to your subject Research Guide to get detailed information about how to cite in your discipline.

Impact of Generative AI On Academic Integrity:

Language models like Chat GPT are changing academic integrity norms. These tools may enhance learning, provide writing assistance and creative exploration, but there are also important factors to consider before incorporating these tools into your work.

Guidelines for Using AI Tools in Academic Assignments:

Using generative AI in your assignment does not automatically equal to plagiarism. Here are a few things you need to consider before using an AI tool, like ChatGPT.

1. Read assignment instructions carefully: Always check if AI use is allowed as per the specific instruction provided for each assignment.
2. Clarify instructor's expectations: If you are not sure about whether you are allowed to use AI tools, confirm with your instructor before starting the assignment to avoid misunderstandings.
3. Complete due diligence: Choose your tools carefully, and ensure you consider their information source, potential for bias, recency, and any other criteria that are important to you.
4. Keep track of how you use AI: Note which applications you use, and in what capacity so that you can properly acknowledge them. Consider keeping track of prompts or outputs, so you can illustrate how you changed outputs, or synthesized them.
5. Acknowledge your use: Using the information in the Citations tab of this guide, properly attribute your usage. If your instructor has additional expectations (such as a form, or statement of acknowledgement), include this in your submission.
6. Reflect on your experience: Were the outputs you got adequate? Did you learn or retain new information? How would you approach similar tasks in the future?

Concluding Advice:

Remember that the primary goal of academic work is to challenge and develop your skills. AI tools like ChatGPT should be used to supplement your learning, not to replace the effort required to overcome academic challenges.

Now that you've learned how to navigate the use of Generative AI for your academic work, it's time to apply your knowledge! Head over to the interactive game from University of Waterloo library to see if you can apply these guidelines effectively. It will reinforce best practices when leveraging AI as a learning tool.

ChatGPT and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Assignment Dilemma

Citations VS Acknowledgement

A citation isn't always sufficient to indicate that you've used a GenAI tool. Some of the key reasons to include citations are:

1. Citations give credit to the person whose work you have used (but GenAI doesn't meet standard requirements for authorship in most cases, and so you are not giving credit to authors)
2. Citations let you (and others) track down the information being discussed (but for most GenAI tools, you can't directly link to your own outputs, so the reader can't see exactly what you see)

The purpose of citing is to acknowledge information resource you used, and GenAI itself is not always a reliable information resource. Consider using tools that actually search a repository of academic works like Consensus.

If you decide to use Generative AI to complete your assignment, it is important to be transparent about this use. This might look like including your prompts and the outputs of the GenAI tool as an assignment appendix to illustrate the changes you made. It might look like a statement explaining what tool(s) you used, and in which capacity. To see examples of how to develop an acknowledgement statement, see this resource from Thompson Rivers University Library.

Citing Generative AI

Other citation styles, like IEEE (see page 13), Vancouver and JAMA do not have guidelines for citing GenAI, either because outputs are irretrievable by others, or because GenAI cannot be considered an author. This does not mean you shouldn't acknowledge your use of GenAI, either in the text, or in a separate statement, but it does mean a GenAI entry should not be included in your bibliography or works cited.

With Chicago style, you should indicate your use of GenAI in a footnote or endnote, and do not include a citation to GenAI in your bibliography/reference list unless you also include a publicly available link. To acknowledge use, you could say, "The following recipe for pizza dough was generated by ChatGPT", and a footnote might look like: 1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2024, https://chat.openai.com/chat

Remember, as technology evolves, citation rules will likely change too. Keep an eye out for updates.

If you're looking for support with maintaining academic integrity, writing, and reference management, there are resources and people who can help you.

Academic Integrity

It's important that you're aware of both UNB wide policies, and course specific guidelines around academic integrity. To understand if you're acting with Academic Integrity:

1. Review the UNB Regulations on Academic Offenses
2. Read your course syllabus
   1. Look for any policies on the use of AI
   2. Find out how you're supposed to acknowledge ideas from others/AI (acknowledge use, or include in bibliography)
   3. Check if tests/exams are open or closed book
   4. See if you can collaborate on assignments with classmates, or if they are intended to be completed entirely separately
3. Talk to your instructor

Further Resources:

• Avoiding Plagiarism - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University
• How do I protect my Academic Integrity? - Trent University

Writing Support

It can be challenging to learn to paraphrase properly, and ensure that you're not inadvertently plagiarizing. Review the resources that the Writing Centres have compiled on understanding when citations are needed, and how to approach direct quotes, and paraphrasing.

• Writing Answers (sharepoint.com)
• Plagiarism and How to Use Sources with Integrity (unb.ca)
• Book an appointment in Saint John
• Book an appointment in Fredericton

Citations and Reference Management

If you're looking for help with storing and organizing the sources you use, consider using a reference manager like Zotero, which the library has extensive resources to support you with

• Zotero | Your personal research assistant
• Zotero | UNB Libraries