Academic integrity policies in a computing education context

Abstract

Academic integrity policies embody widely accepted principles of ethics and behaviour, instantiating in their codes the standards and processes that apply to the institutions enacting them. Application of these principles to the field of computing, which has a variety of distinguishing practices and characteristics, is a non-trivial endeavour. Indeed, a number of computing departments have created their own policies that extend, replace, or interpret their institutional policies in the context of computing education and research. The emphases, development, implementation, and dissemination of institutional, departmental, and even class-level policies vary dramatically among universities and colleges. This paper is offered as a practical guide for computing academics and administrators to better understand their existing policies, how to apply them, and what is involved in crafting and revising them. Included are numerous examples of application of the principles and of policy options that span the needs of a wide range of institutions.