Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a core value of the University of Calgary. At UCalgary, academic integrity is a commitment to, and the demonstration of, honest and responsible scholarship. Maintaining academic integrity while earning your degree represents your true academic accomplishments.
Have questions about academic integrity at UCalgary?
Academic integrity is more than just plagiarism. Download our student handbook to learn more about academic integrity or email us if you have any questions!
Contact information
Lee-Ann Penaluna
Coordinator, Academic Integrity Programs
askacademicintegrity@ucalgary.ca
Support across campus
Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
Libraries and Cultural Resources
Academic Integrity in your final exams: Frequently asked questions
There are two main types of online tests and exams:
- Open book/ take home tests: Instructors often give this type of test when they are more interested in seeing you think critically or apply content from the course.
- Online tests and exams: Often scheduled at a specific time and more likely to mirror what you may be used to for an in-person exam, just taken online.
No. Each instructor and each exam may have its own unique set of guidelines. This will include whether you can access your class notes, textbooks, or other online resources or whether you can move backwards and forwards freely between test sections and questions.
To avoid surprises on the day of your test and to ensure that you avoid unintentional academic misconduct, it’s important not to apply the guidelines of one exam to another without first checking with the instructor who set the exam.
To ensure that you are fully prepared check that you know what the guidelines are for each of your exams.
- Timing: when does the exam take place and how long do you have to complete the exam?
- Access: is there an exam window? When does it open and when does it close?
- Resources: what resources are you allowed to access during the exam? Has your instructor made it clear whether you can access your class notes, your textbooks, or other online resources? If you aren’t sure, ask your instructor as soon as possible.
No. For some instructors open book may mean you can only use your lecture notes. For other instructors they may allow notes and textbooks but not online resources. Some instructors may allow you to use all of them.
Always check with your instructor about what the permitted resources are in an open book test or exam.
Yes. If you use any sources (articles, websites, books etc.) you must always quote, paraphrase or summarise the source and include the in-text citation and reference, just like you would in any of your academic papers.
This depends on your instructor. It’s unlikely that your instructor will allow you to seek support from a writing tutor for exams. Writing tutors will not review a take-home exam unless you bring written permission from your instructor.
Workshops
Attend one of our interactive workshops to help build your citation skills and learn how to appropriately collaborate with your peers.
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Plagiarism and Strategies to Avoid It
Are you worried about unintentionally plagiarising? This workshop will define plagiarism, explain the differences between quoting, summarising and paraphrasing the work of others and will provide you with a number of strategies for using sources effectively in your own academic writing.
Academic Integrity: Collaborating with Peers
Students are tasked with working collaboratively in courses, yet are also required to submit individual assignments whilst in group-work situations. Understanding the subtle differences between learning collaboratively with other students and ensuring that you are submitting work that fairly demonstrates your own competence is important to your success in university.
Academic Integrity: Online Learning
Taking exams and quizzes online, participating in online discussion forums and the increased use of social media platforms all provide opportunities for unintentional academic misconduct to take place when learning online. This workshop explores a range of potential academic misconduct scenarios that students may encounter.
Have questions about academic integrity?
Join this free, self-guided D2L course to improve your understanding of academic integrity and learn how to avoid plagiarism, unauthorized assistance and more during your studies.
Please note that you must be signed into D2L first in order to view the enrolment page.
Enrolled in online courses this term? If you're unfamiliar with online learning, we're here to help. Learn more about Academic Integrity in online learning.
Student Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedure
We’re a diverse community and your interpretation of academic integrity may be different from your peers, depending on where you’re from and/or what institution(s) you previously attended. It’s vital for you to understand what academic integrity means at the UCalgary and how to ensure you uphold it. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the Student Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedure.
Support for staff and faculty
Instructor-requested workshops
Highlight and encourage academic integrity with your students by integrating a bespoke academic integrity workshop into your course. Workshops can be tailored to your specific requirements and can range from 15 minutes to 90 minutes.
Instructors can email leeann.penaluna@ucalgary.ca to request a workshop.
Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
Instructors and TAs can access a variety of webinars and articles to learn how they can support students, get strategies for detecting and preventing violations, and promote academic integrity in their courses.
Resources: Writing Support
- MLA (8th Ed.): Citation style typically used in English and Film
- APA (7th Ed.): Citation style typically used in Education, Communication, Business and Nursing
- APA (6th Ed.): Citation style typically used in Education, Communication, Business and Nursing
- Chicago: Citation style typically used in History
- CSE: Citation style typically used in the Sciences
- IEEE: Citation style typically used in Engineering
- Vancouver: Citation style typically used in Biomedical Sciences
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Common Grammatical Issues
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Revision & Editing
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Essays
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Presentations
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Reports
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Reviews