Examining exemplar elements of selected Malaysian higher education institutions’ academic integrity policy: Document analysis based evidence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss1pp269-293Abstract
Background and Purpose: This study examined the comprehensiveness and sufficiency of selected Malaysian higher education institutions’ academic integrity (AI) policies. The investigation of eight public and private universities’ AI policies was guided by the five core elements of the exemplar AI policy framework developed by Bretag, Mahmud, Wallace, Walker, James, Green, East, McGowan and Partridge (2011).
Methodology: This qualitative research focused on document analysis of purposively selected eight AI policies. The five core elements that guided the document analysis are access, approach, responsibility, detail and support. The data collected from document analysis was analysed via NVivo 11 software.
Findings: Public universities are educative-based, and private universities practice a punitive approach. All universities provide access to the AI documents to the university community and public, implement ad hoc basis education, awareness campaigns and modules to support the AI agenda and encourage responsibility among the staff and students to curb academic dishonesty. As for details, universities differ in terms of the amount and type of information provided in the documents.
Contributions: The study’s findings provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening institutional policies and advocate for a standardised national AI policy to ensure consistency and academic rigour.
Keywords: Academic integrity policy, core elements of exemplar, document analysis, Malaysian higher education institutions.
References
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Alfredo, K., & Hart, H. (2011). The university and the responsible conduct of research: Who is responsible for what? Science and Engineering Ethics, 17(1), 447-457.
Aluede, O., Omoregie, E. O., & Osa-Edoh, G. I. (2006). Academic dishonesty as a contemporary problem in higher education: How can academic advisers help. Reading Improvement, 43(2), 97-106.
Beasley, E. M. (2014). Students reported for cheating explain what they think would have stopped them. Ethics and Behavior, 24(1), 229-252.
Bell, S. (2018). Addressing student plagiarism from the library learning commons. Information and Learning Science, 119(3/4), 203-214.
Bradley, C. (2011). Plagiarism education and prevention. Chandos Publishing.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braxton, J. M., Proper, E., & Bayer, A. E. (2011). Professors behaving badly: Faculty misconduct in graduate education. Johns Hopkins Press.
Bretag, T., Mahmud, S., Wallace, M., Walker, R., James, C., Green, M., East, J., McGowan, U., & Partridge, L. (2011). Core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy in Australian higher education. International Journal for
Educational Integrity, 7(2), 3-12.
Bretag, T., Mahmud, S., Wallace, M., Walker, R., McGowan, U., East, J., Green, M., Partridge, L., & James, C. (2014). Teach us how to do it properly! An Australian academic integrity student survey. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7),
1150-1169.
Creswell, J., & Plano Clark, V. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage.
Cronan, T. P., Mullins, J. K., & Douglas, D. E. (2018). Further understanding factors that explain freshman business students’ academic integrity intention and behaviour: Plagiarism and sharing homework. Journal of Business Ethics,
147(1), 197-220.
Dawson, M., & Overfield, H. (2006). Plagiarism: Do students know what it is? Bioscience Education, 8(1), 1-15.
East, J. (2009). Aligning policy and practice: An approach to integrating academic integrity. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 3(1), A38-A51.
East, J. (2010). Judging plagiarism: A problem of morality and convention. Higher Education, 59(1), 69-83.
East, J., & Donnelly, L. (2012). Taking responsibility for academic integrity: A collaborative teaching and learning design. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(3), 1-13.
Elander, J., Pittam, G., Lusher, J., Fox, P., & Payne, N. (2010). Evaluation of an intervention to help students avoid unintentional plagiarism by improving their authorial identity. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(1), 157-
171.
Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., & Feldman, L. G. (2009). Graduate socialization in the responsible conduct of research: A national survey on the research ethics training experiences of psychology doctoral students. Ethics & Behavior, 19(1),
496-518.
Gallant, B. T. (2008). Academic integrity in the twenty-first century: A teaching and learning imperative. Jossey-Bass.
Galloway, M. K. (2012). Cheating in advantaged high schools: Prevalence, justifications, and possibilities for change. Ethics and Behavior, 22(1), 378-399.
Glendinning, I. (2014). Responses to student plagiarism in higher education across Europe. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 10(1), 4-20.
Graham, M. A., Monday, J., O’Brien, K., & Steffen, S. (1994). Cheating at small colleges: An examination of student and faculty attitudes and behaviours. Journal of College Student Development, 35(1), 255-260.
Gray, P. W., & Jordan, S. R. (2012). Supervisors and academic integrity: Supervisors as exemplars and mentors. Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(1), 299-311.
Gullifer, J., & Tyson, G. (2010). Exploring university students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A focus group study. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 463-481.
Gullifer, J., & Tyson, G. (2014). Who has read the policy on plagiarism? Unpacking students’ understanding of plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7), 1202-1218.
Howard, R. M. (2002). Don’t police plagiarism: Just teach! Education Digest, 67(5), 46-50.
Hutchings, C. (2014). Referencing and identity, voice and agency: Adult learners’ transformations within literacy practices. Higher Education Research & Development, 33(2), 312-324.
Hutton, P. A. (2006). Understanding student cheating and what educators can do about it. College Teaching, 54(1), 171-176.
International Centre for Academic Integrity (2014). The fundamental values of academic integrity (2nd ed.). International Centre for Academic Integrity.
James, R., McInnis, C., & Devlin, M. (2002). Assessing learning in Australian universities: Ideas, strategies and resources for quality in student assessment. Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
Kaposi, D., & Dell, P. (2012). Discourses of plagiarism: Moralist, proceduralist, developmental and inter-textual approaches. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(6), 813-830.
Kier, C. A., & Ives, C. (2022). Recommendations for a balanced approach to supporting academic integrity: Perspectives from a survey of students, faculty, and tutors. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 18(22), 1-19.
Lang, J. M. (2013). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Harvard University Press.
Levine, J., & Pazdernik, V. (2018). Evaluation of a four-prong anti-plagiarism program and the incidence of plagiarism: A five-year retrospective study. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(7), 1094-1105.
Li, Y., & Casanave, C. P. (2012). Two first-year students' strategies for writing from sources: Patchwriting or plagiarism? Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(2), 165-180.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2013a). Fostering academic integrity in postgraduate research: An evidence-based policy and support framework. Accountability in Research, 21(2), 122-137.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2013b). Postgraduate research students and academic integrity: ‘It’s about good research training’. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 35(4), 432-443.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2015). Integrity in postgraduate research: The student voice. Science and Engineering Ethics, 21(6), 1657-1672.
Manjet, K. (2015). Malaysian public university students’ attitude towards plagiarism. Language & Communication, 2(2), 133-145.
McCabe, D. L., Butterfield, K. D., & Treviño, L. K. (2012). Cheating in college: Why students do it and what educators can do about it. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Mohamed, K., Abdul Samat, N. H., Abd Aziz, A. S., Mohd Noor, N. A., & Ismail, N. (2018). Academic plagiarism in Malaysia higher education institutions: A legal perspective. International Journal of Law, Government and
Communication, 3(13), 245-253.
Mohd Zain, M. I., Rahmat, N. E., Zulkarnain, M. N., & Awasthi, S. (2021). Plagiarism of academic writing in Malaysian universities: A legal analysis. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 6(16), 197-202.
Mustapha, R., Hussin, Z., Siraj, S., & Darusalam, G. (2017). Academic dishonesty among higher education students: The Malaysian evidence (2014 To 2016). KATHA-The Official Journal of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, 13(1), 73-
93.
O'Regan, K. (2006). Policing—or, at least, policying—Plagiarism at one Australian university. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 3(2), 113-132.
Packalen, K., & Rowbotham, K. (2022). Student insight on academic integrity. In S. E. Eaton & J. M. C. Christensen Hughes (Eds.), Academic integrity in Canada: An enduring and essential challenge (pp 353–375). Springer.
Pavela, G. (1997). Applying the power of association on campus: A model code of academic integrity. Journal of College and University Law, 24(1), 1-22.
Power, L. G. (2009). University students’ perceptions of plagiarism. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(6), 643-662.
Roig, M. (2001). Plagiarism and paraphrasing criteria of college and university professors. Ethics and Behaviour, 11(3), 307-323.
Shephard, K., Trotman, T., Furnari, M., & Löfström, E. (2015). Teaching research integrity in higher education: Policy and strategy. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(6), 615-632.
Stabingis, L., Šarlauskienė, L., & Čepaitienė, N. (2014). Measures for plagiarism prevention in students’ written works: Case study of ASU experience. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 110(1), 689-699.
Stuhmcke, A., Booth, T., & Wangmann, J. (2016). The illusory dichotomy of plagiarism. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(7), 982-995.
Sutherland-Smith, W. (2011). Crime and punishment: An analysis of university plagiarism policies. Semiotica, 187(1), 127-139.
Tatum, H., & Schwartz, B. M. (2017). Honour codes: Evidence based strategies for improving academic integrity. Theory into Practice, 56(2), 129-135.
Tran, M. N., Hogg, L., & Marshall, S. (2022). Understanding postgraduate students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A case study of Vietnamese and local students in New Zealand. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 18(3), 1-21.
Verhoef, A. H., Fourie, M., Rensburg, Z. J. V., Louw, H., & Erasmus, M. (2022). The enhancement of academic integrity through a community of practice at the North-West University, South Africa. International Journal for Educational
Integrity, 18(18), 1-19.
Weber-Wulff, D. (2014). False feathers. Springer.
Wijaya, H., & Gruber, K. E. (2018). Ethics perspective and regulation of plagiarism in higher education. International Journal of Humanities and Innovation, 1(1), 17-25.
Wilkinson, J. (2009). Staff and student perceptions of plagiarism and cheating. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(2), 98-105.
Wright, K. L., Jones, S., & Adams, C. (2018). Academic dishonesty: Recommendations for the future of higher education. The Vermont Connection, 39(1), 48-54.
Zejno, B. (2018). Plagiarism in academic writing among students of higher learning institutions in Malaysia: An Islamic perspective. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 9(3), 1-14.
Alfredo, K., & Hart, H. (2011). The university and the responsible conduct of research: Who is responsible for what? Science and Engineering Ethics, 17(1), 447-457.
Aluede, O., Omoregie, E. O., & Osa-Edoh, G. I. (2006). Academic dishonesty as a contemporary problem in higher education: How can academic advisers help. Reading Improvement, 43(2), 97-106.
Beasley, E. M. (2014). Students reported for cheating explain what they think would have stopped them. Ethics and Behavior, 24(1), 229-252.
Bell, S. (2018). Addressing student plagiarism from the library learning commons. Information and Learning Science, 119(3/4), 203-214.
Bradley, C. (2011). Plagiarism education and prevention. Chandos Publishing.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braxton, J. M., Proper, E., & Bayer, A. E. (2011). Professors behaving badly: Faculty misconduct in graduate education. Johns Hopkins Press.
Bretag, T., Mahmud, S., Wallace, M., Walker, R., James, C., Green, M., East, J., McGowan, U., & Partridge, L. (2011). Core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy in Australian higher education. International Journal for
Educational Integrity, 7(2), 3-12.
Bretag, T., Mahmud, S., Wallace, M., Walker, R., McGowan, U., East, J., Green, M., Partridge, L., & James, C. (2014). Teach us how to do it properly! An Australian academic integrity student survey. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7),
1150-1169.
Creswell, J., & Plano Clark, V. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage.
Cronan, T. P., Mullins, J. K., & Douglas, D. E. (2018). Further understanding factors that explain freshman business students’ academic integrity intention and behaviour: Plagiarism and sharing homework. Journal of Business Ethics,
147(1), 197-220.
Dawson, M., & Overfield, H. (2006). Plagiarism: Do students know what it is? Bioscience Education, 8(1), 1-15.
East, J. (2009). Aligning policy and practice: An approach to integrating academic integrity. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 3(1), A38-A51.
East, J. (2010). Judging plagiarism: A problem of morality and convention. Higher Education, 59(1), 69-83.
East, J., & Donnelly, L. (2012). Taking responsibility for academic integrity: A collaborative teaching and learning design. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(3), 1-13.
Elander, J., Pittam, G., Lusher, J., Fox, P., & Payne, N. (2010). Evaluation of an intervention to help students avoid unintentional plagiarism by improving their authorial identity. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(1), 157-
171.
Fisher, C. B., Fried, A. L., & Feldman, L. G. (2009). Graduate socialization in the responsible conduct of research: A national survey on the research ethics training experiences of psychology doctoral students. Ethics & Behavior, 19(1),
496-518.
Gallant, B. T. (2008). Academic integrity in the twenty-first century: A teaching and learning imperative. Jossey-Bass.
Galloway, M. K. (2012). Cheating in advantaged high schools: Prevalence, justifications, and possibilities for change. Ethics and Behavior, 22(1), 378-399.
Glendinning, I. (2014). Responses to student plagiarism in higher education across Europe. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 10(1), 4-20.
Graham, M. A., Monday, J., O’Brien, K., & Steffen, S. (1994). Cheating at small colleges: An examination of student and faculty attitudes and behaviours. Journal of College Student Development, 35(1), 255-260.
Gray, P. W., & Jordan, S. R. (2012). Supervisors and academic integrity: Supervisors as exemplars and mentors. Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(1), 299-311.
Gullifer, J., & Tyson, G. (2010). Exploring university students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A focus group study. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 463-481.
Gullifer, J., & Tyson, G. (2014). Who has read the policy on plagiarism? Unpacking students’ understanding of plagiarism. Studies in Higher Education, 39(7), 1202-1218.
Howard, R. M. (2002). Don’t police plagiarism: Just teach! Education Digest, 67(5), 46-50.
Hutchings, C. (2014). Referencing and identity, voice and agency: Adult learners’ transformations within literacy practices. Higher Education Research & Development, 33(2), 312-324.
Hutton, P. A. (2006). Understanding student cheating and what educators can do about it. College Teaching, 54(1), 171-176.
International Centre for Academic Integrity (2014). The fundamental values of academic integrity (2nd ed.). International Centre for Academic Integrity.
James, R., McInnis, C., & Devlin, M. (2002). Assessing learning in Australian universities: Ideas, strategies and resources for quality in student assessment. Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
Kaposi, D., & Dell, P. (2012). Discourses of plagiarism: Moralist, proceduralist, developmental and inter-textual approaches. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(6), 813-830.
Kier, C. A., & Ives, C. (2022). Recommendations for a balanced approach to supporting academic integrity: Perspectives from a survey of students, faculty, and tutors. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 18(22), 1-19.
Lang, J. M. (2013). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Harvard University Press.
Levine, J., & Pazdernik, V. (2018). Evaluation of a four-prong anti-plagiarism program and the incidence of plagiarism: A five-year retrospective study. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(7), 1094-1105.
Li, Y., & Casanave, C. P. (2012). Two first-year students' strategies for writing from sources: Patchwriting or plagiarism? Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(2), 165-180.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2013a). Fostering academic integrity in postgraduate research: An evidence-based policy and support framework. Accountability in Research, 21(2), 122-137.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2013b). Postgraduate research students and academic integrity: ‘It’s about good research training’. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 35(4), 432-443.
Mahmud, S., & Bretag, T. (2015). Integrity in postgraduate research: The student voice. Science and Engineering Ethics, 21(6), 1657-1672.
Manjet, K. (2015). Malaysian public university students’ attitude towards plagiarism. Language & Communication, 2(2), 133-145.
McCabe, D. L., Butterfield, K. D., & Treviño, L. K. (2012). Cheating in college: Why students do it and what educators can do about it. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Mohamed, K., Abdul Samat, N. H., Abd Aziz, A. S., Mohd Noor, N. A., & Ismail, N. (2018). Academic plagiarism in Malaysia higher education institutions: A legal perspective. International Journal of Law, Government and
Communication, 3(13), 245-253.
Mohd Zain, M. I., Rahmat, N. E., Zulkarnain, M. N., & Awasthi, S. (2021). Plagiarism of academic writing in Malaysian universities: A legal analysis. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 6(16), 197-202.
Mustapha, R., Hussin, Z., Siraj, S., & Darusalam, G. (2017). Academic dishonesty among higher education students: The Malaysian evidence (2014 To 2016). KATHA-The Official Journal of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, 13(1), 73-
93.
O'Regan, K. (2006). Policing—or, at least, policying—Plagiarism at one Australian university. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 3(2), 113-132.
Packalen, K., & Rowbotham, K. (2022). Student insight on academic integrity. In S. E. Eaton & J. M. C. Christensen Hughes (Eds.), Academic integrity in Canada: An enduring and essential challenge (pp 353–375). Springer.
Pavela, G. (1997). Applying the power of association on campus: A model code of academic integrity. Journal of College and University Law, 24(1), 1-22.
Power, L. G. (2009). University students’ perceptions of plagiarism. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(6), 643-662.
Roig, M. (2001). Plagiarism and paraphrasing criteria of college and university professors. Ethics and Behaviour, 11(3), 307-323.
Shephard, K., Trotman, T., Furnari, M., & Löfström, E. (2015). Teaching research integrity in higher education: Policy and strategy. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(6), 615-632.
Stabingis, L., Šarlauskienė, L., & Čepaitienė, N. (2014). Measures for plagiarism prevention in students’ written works: Case study of ASU experience. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 110(1), 689-699.
Stuhmcke, A., Booth, T., & Wangmann, J. (2016). The illusory dichotomy of plagiarism. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(7), 982-995.
Sutherland-Smith, W. (2011). Crime and punishment: An analysis of university plagiarism policies. Semiotica, 187(1), 127-139.
Tatum, H., & Schwartz, B. M. (2017). Honour codes: Evidence based strategies for improving academic integrity. Theory into Practice, 56(2), 129-135.
Tran, M. N., Hogg, L., & Marshall, S. (2022). Understanding postgraduate students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A case study of Vietnamese and local students in New Zealand. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 18(3), 1-21.
Verhoef, A. H., Fourie, M., Rensburg, Z. J. V., Louw, H., & Erasmus, M. (2022). The enhancement of academic integrity through a community of practice at the North-West University, South Africa. International Journal for Educational
Integrity, 18(18), 1-19.
Weber-Wulff, D. (2014). False feathers. Springer.
Wijaya, H., & Gruber, K. E. (2018). Ethics perspective and regulation of plagiarism in higher education. International Journal of Humanities and Innovation, 1(1), 17-25.
Wilkinson, J. (2009). Staff and student perceptions of plagiarism and cheating. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(2), 98-105.
Wright, K. L., Jones, S., & Adams, C. (2018). Academic dishonesty: Recommendations for the future of higher education. The Vermont Connection, 39(1), 48-54.
Zejno, B. (2018). Plagiarism in academic writing among students of higher learning institutions in Malaysia: An Islamic perspective. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 9(3), 1-14.
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2024-02-29
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Examining exemplar elements of selected Malaysian higher education institutions’ academic integrity policy: Document analysis based evidence. (2024). Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 9(1), 269-293. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss1pp269-293
