Developing a multipronged academic integrity policy writing tool for secondary schools

Abstract

Academic integrity is best achieved by creating a culture at schools. Developing and implementing an academic integrity policy is one of the key elements of creating a culture of academic integrity. It is well established that developing and implementing effective academic integrity policies have clear implications for upholding academic integrity at schools. In this respect, developing and implementing an academic integrity policy should be among the top priorities of educational institutions. Academic integrity policy development is a challenging process that takes time and requires expertise and the collaboration of all stakeholders at the school. Moreover, this challenge may be one of the reasons why schools refrain from developing their policies. K-12 schools, motivated to create a culture of academic integrity in their settings, may need a roadmap or guideline during the process. From this standpoint, this study set out to identify the core themes of a multipronged academic integrity policy, reveal the qualifications of each theme and, based on this data and develop an online academic integrity policy writing tool that K-12 schools can use to develop their academic integrity policies.