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The State of Academic Integrity
in Europe
Presented by Dr. Thomas Lancaster
from Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
Presented at Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine
on Tuesday, 25 April 2017

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Introduction

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About Dr. Thomas Lancaster
Background
Working at Staffordshire University, United
Kingdom as an Associate Dean
Have been employed in higher education since
2000 – my main academic discipline is
Computer Science
Undertake research and raise awareness on
issues surrounding academic integrity
Main publications relate to student plagiarism
and contract cheating (ghost written work)
Contact Information
Email: thomas@thomaslancaster.co.uk
Website (and blog):
http://thomaslancaster.co.uk
Twitter: @DrLancaster
Slideshare (talk archive):
https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster

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Regular Media Contributor And Speaker

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Areas For Consideration
What is academic integrity and why is acting with integrity
important in education?
What behaviours demonstrate a lack of academic
integrity and what can we do to address these behaviours?
What do we know about the wider issues of academic
integrity in Europe? What is working well elsewhere?

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Important note:
Academic integrity is not
just about plagiarism

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Does Academic Integrity Matter?

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Which Of These Types Of People Succeeds
More With Their Career?
Acting without
academic
integrity?
Acting with
academic
integrity?

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A Lack Of Academic Integrity Leads To ‘Bad’ News
stripped of PhD
guilty of
falsifying data
papers pulled
from publication
fake peer
review
Examples of the types of news stories surrounding academic integrity

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Important note:
Academic integrity is not
just about students

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Academic integrity applies to…
Students – are the qualifications they get deserved?
Teachers – do they treat all students fairly?
Managers – are they providing their staff with the support they
need?
Leaders – are they leading by example and providing
opportunities for autonomy?
…and everyone involved in the educational process

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What Is Academic Integrity?

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Definitions Of Academic Integrity
“Academic Integrity is honest and responsible
scholarship. As a student, you are expected to submit
original work and give credit to other peoples' ideas.”
Michigan State University
https://ombud.msu.edu/academic-
integrity/What%20is%20Academic%20Integrity.html
“Academic integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of
academia. This includes values such as avoidance of
cheating or plagiarism; maintenance of academic standards;
honesty and rigor in research and academic publishing.”
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_integrity
“Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an
open, honest and responsible manner.”
Pennsylvania State University
http://tlt.psu.edu/plagiarism/student-tutorial/defining-
plagiarism-and-academic-integrity
“Academic integrity is the core set of values and principles
that underwrites the very mission of the University itself:
integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to
translate personal and professional principles into behavior.”
University of Missouri
https://osrr.missouri.edu/faculty
Results from 4 of the first 5 matches for “academic integrity definition” on Google
(one link did not contain a definition)

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Academic Integrity
Most commonly defined in negative ways
such as:
“eliminating student plagiarism”
“stopping student cheating”

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Can we think about
academic integrity in a
positive way?

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academic
integrity
fair
transparent
consistentrepresentative
respectful
rigorous

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Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is:
“doing the right thing when no one else is watching you”
attribution not available

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How Is Academic Integrity Being
Supported Within Europe?

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ETINED
The Pan-European Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education
The mission of the ETINED platform is to:
• Share information and good practices in the field of transparency and integrity in
education
• Contribute to the development of adequate answers to challenges that corruption
poses to the sector of education and higher education
• Create a virtuous cycle in education, whereby all actors commit to fundamental
positive ethical principles
• Develop capacity-building for all actors
http://www.coe.int/en/web/ethics-transparency-integrity-in-education

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Some Guiding Projects (so far)
Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher
Education Across Europe (IPPHEAE)
2010 to 2013
http://plagiarism.cz/ippheae
(1) Austria, (2) Belgium, (3) Bulgaria, (4) Cyprus,
(5) Czech Republic, (6) Germany, (7) Denmark,
(8) Estonia, (9) Finland, (10) France, (11)
Greece, (12) Hungary, (13) Ireland, (14) Italy,
(15) Latvia, (16) Lithuania, (17) Luxembourg,
(18) Malta, (19) Holland, (20) Poland, (21)
Portugal, (22) Romania, (23) Slovakia, (24)
Slovenia, (25) Spain, (26) Sweden, (27) United
Kingdom
South East European Project on Policies
for Academic Integrity (SEEPPAI)
2016 to 2017
http://www.plagiarism.cz/seeppai
(1) Albania, (2) Bosnia and Herzegovina, (3)
Croatia, (4) Montenegro, (5) the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, (6) Serbia

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IPPHEAE And SEEPPAI Findings
There is some good practice in every country (33 so far)
There is more work to do in every country
Much good practice is led by individual academics who
want to make a difference

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IPPHEAE Findings (2010 to 2013)
Academic integrity policies generally lacked maturity
Overall, United Kingdom higher education institutions had
the most mature academic integrity policies
but the maturity of policies was not consistent across the UK
Policies not always follows
Definitions of plagiarism and penalties awarded differed widely

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IPPHEAE Findings (2010 to 2013)
There was a lack of statistics available regarding plagiarism
and academic misconduct
Austria and Sweden were the only countries with national
statistics
Institutions consistently lacked useful statistics regarding
plagiarism and academic misconduct cases

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IPPHEAE Findings (2010 to 2013)
Some countries denied that they had any problems with
academic integrity
For example:
“We don’t have plagiarism here” Estonia

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SEEPPAI Findings (2016 to 2017)
Most findings consistent with IPPHEAE findings, particularly regarding
academic integrity processes
Some further key challenges for the SE Europe region include:
Contract cheating (ghost writing)
Examination cheating
Bribery and financial corruption
Lack of student education regarding plagiarism and academic writing
Lack of support for teaching staff with continued professional development

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Student Comments From SEEPPAI Focus
Groups
“They (teachers)
are lazy to do good
exams where
students can’t
cheat”
“We have teachers who even don’t
read the papers. One teacher slept on
the exam!”
“I think that the
cheating in schools
resembles the state
in the entire country
– cheating on
political and
structure level,
that’s kind of part of
our culture.”

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IPPHEAE And SEEPPAI Findings
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
UK
Austria
Sweden
IrishRep
Malta
Slovakia
Cyprus
Finland
Netherlands
CzechRep
Slovenia
Denmark
Belgium
Bosnia&Herz
Estonia
Greece
Lithuania
Macedonia
Croatia
Poland
Albania
Portugal
Latvia
Serbia
Germany
Hungary
Romania
Spain
France
Italy
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Bulgaria
Research
Training
Knowledge
Communication
Prevention
Software
Sanctions
Policies
Transparency
Academic Integrity Maturity Model
Dr. Irene Glendinning

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Positive Action Within Europe

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Good Examples From SEEPPAI Research
Universities (and/or individual faculties) adopting processes
from more mature institutions
The use of software tools to detect plagiarism, either across
whole institutions or by individual teachers
The use of spoken examinations to check that students
understand their subject
Supporting PhD students to spend time abroad on placement
and bring new ideas and good practice back with them

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https://www.academicintegrity.eu
Newly launched European platform for exploring
academic integrity issues
Currently involves 12 European partners
Led from Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic
Develops resources and materials to support academic
integrity initiatives
European Network for Academic Integrity
(ENAI)

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https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz
3rd International Conference, Plagiarism across
Europe and Beyond
24 - 26 May 2017, Brno, Czech Republic
The theme is “sharing innovative practices in academic
integrity”
ENAI Supported Conference

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Academic integrity is a
global problem

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We need strong
academic integrity
leadership

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We need to encourage
ethical values throughout
the education system

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Promoting Awareness Of Contract Cheating And
Academic Integrity In The United Kingdom
Staffordshire University
University of Northampton

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#excelwithintegrity
#defeatthecheat
It is time to decide how to act