Academic integrity: Whose writing is it? Can we stop the plagiarism pandemic?

Academic Integrity (AI) within Higher Education (HE) has attracted a wide range of attention from the media due to a growing international concern, particularly in relation to student’s use of essay mills (Shepherd, 2022) and the development of artificial intelligence within academic fields (Gleason, 2022). The Quality and Assurance Agency (QAA) have taken a lead in providing support to universities in the United Kingdom with guidance documentation on both issues. (QAA, 2022 & 2023) Whilst concerning, this relates to a limited number of student cases within the University of Worcester, where, the use of plagiarism software has led to a surge in academic integrity cases and subsequent penalties awarded to students. Tus impacting on their continuation, completion, and progression into employment. Commonly, these cases reflect a lack of understanding of the purpose of referencing and the ability to reference appropriately.

In response, two University Academic Integrity Leads were appointed to tackle this growing issue with a brief to design a programme of education and training for staff and students on academic integrity principles and practice. The aim of this programme was to change the culture and values of students and staff on assessment writing and practice alongside the operationalisation of the AI systems and processes.

This research utilises McNiff and Whitehead (2011) action research model as a form of enquiry to explore and assess the AI process, the depth of understanding of implementing the policy in practice and the impact of AI cases on both staff and students. A cross-university focus group was established comprising of Academic Integrity Tutors, Teaching and Learning Co-ordinators, Library Services, Student Union Support Services and Information Technology Department. This group identified several issues regarding academic integrity. As a result, four distinct themes were established: Policy and Procedures, Resources, Staff and Student Training and Assessment.

A multi-disciplinary approach to addressing the themes continued, resulting in the development of an online staff training programme in academic integrity, a student training workshop as part of their study skills package, an automated process of referring academic integrity cases and a consistent approach to the reviewing cases. Finally, a review, consultation and re-write of the academic misconduct policy.

The project is now at the evaluation stage and both quantitative and qualitative data is being collected to evaluate the impact of the initiatives on academic cases within the university. An interesting outcome from this project is the ethical debates that have taken place amongst the staff and student body. As well as the lenses through which academic integrity is viewed: conscious actions and punishment or unconscious naivety requiring further education and additional support for the student.

The next stage of this research is to explore the ethical and cultural impact that the initiatives and discussions have had on the university community. It is evident that the new wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infiltrating Higher Education is creating some fear with staff but also viewed as an opportunity to develop more authentic and robust assessments which acknowledge and, in some cases, incorporate the use of AI. This is certainly a shift from the punitive approach previously adopted to a wider more holistic discussion.