Section 1
Introduction
HKBU aims at developing all aspects of the Whole Person through education. Our students are expected to not only learn well and excel in their studies, but also become responsible global citizens of the 21st century. The first Graduate Attribute (GA) of HKBU, Citizenship, refers to grooming our students to be “responsible citizens with an international outlook and a sense of ethics and civility” (HKBU Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, 2021). A high standard of academic integrity is therefore expected from both our staff and students in all areas of their academic work.
Academic integrity embraces the fundamental values of Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, and Courage (adpated from International Center for Academic Integrity, 2021).
Honesty | Being truthful about the work, ideas and opinions that you borrow |
Trust | Building a community where you treat everyone with respect and fairness |
Fairness | Doing your own work and never taking words or ideas from their rightful owners or any sources and presenting them as if they were your own |
Respect | Valuing diverse opinions and acknowledging the ideas you borrow through proper citation |
Responsibility | Upholding academic integrity standards and holding yourselves accountable for your own work and actions |
Courage | Exercising courage to resist the temptation to plagiarise
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On the contrary, academic misconduct involves:
“all actions which contravene academic integrity. These include breaches of examination regulations, cheating, plagiarism, impersonation, purchase of examination materials, data falsification and other acts which dishonestly use information to gain academic credit” (National Academic Integrity Network, 2021, p. 10).
HKBU emphasises the importance of academic integrity in students’ whole person development and future careers. Students are therefore expected to uphold academic integrity at all times.
The consequences of cheating in examinations*, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty include reduced or failure grades, suspension of study, or even academic dismissal.
It is students’ responsibility to:
- understand what academic integrity is and take diligent care to avoid dishonest behaviors and/or actions;
- ensure that the material(s) submitted for assessment is/are their own work and present their findings or data in an honest manner;
- properly cite or reference the sources of their work; and
- seek advice, clarifications, or assistance from their instructors when in doubt.
Collusion involves:
- jointly producing an assignment by two or more students and presenting it as your own work;
- lending your work to (an)other student(s); or
- allowing (an)other student(s) to copy your work.
Ghost writing involves:
- having someone do the work (partially or in full) on your behalf.
Essay and paper mills involve:
- purchasing or downloading ready-made/machine-generated assignments from websites/online platforms that sell and compile assignments.
Research fraud involves:
- intentionally distorting the research process by, for instance, fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data or methods.
*Breach of exmination regulations and cheating in examinations
(Please refer to Section 5 Examination Regulations of the General Regulations for Undergraduate Degree Programmes/ Section 6 Examination Regulations of the General Regulations for Professional Doctorate Degree/ Taught Postgraduate Degree/ Diploma/ Certificate Programmes for the handling and penalty for such cases. The exam regulations also apply to taught courses for research postgraduate studies.)