Academic integrity

The Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman pays considerable attention to compliance with the rules and principles of academic integrity in the educational and scientific process. The implementation of such principles of academic integrity means that in the process of studying and research, students and academic staff adhere primarily to the principles of honest, responsible work and study.

In order to disseminate practical knowledge and skills in implementing the basic principles of academic integrity, the University conducts trainings, seminars, and conferences. Details in the section “Measures to promote the principles of academic integrity”).

The formation of the academic integrity system at KNEU took place in accordance with the stages of formation of the legislative framework at the national level. The basic regulatory documents at the University are: Code of Corporate Culture (Code of Ethics); Regulations on Academic Integrity and Ethics of Academic Relations; Regulations on the Ethics Commission; Regulations on the Academic Integrity Promotion Group; other regulatory documents on the implementation of relevant types of educational and scientific activities in higher education institutions, which also reflect issues of academic integrity.

Key documents on academic integrity and ethics of educational activities

The norms and recommendations reflected in them are taken into account in the Regulations on the organization of the educational process. Participants of the educational process should be a model of ethical behavior and help others to develop such behavior. It is important to prevent and avoid violations of ethical standards due to conflicts of interest, refrain from any form of corruption, comply with the requirements of legislation, regulations and generally accepted rules of conduct, and resolve conflict situations constructively, in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect, substantively and fairly.

In 2019, the University developed a draft Code of Academic Integrity, which defines the standards for conducting educational and scientific activities based on full compliance with the basic moral and legal norms of academic behavior. In 2020, the Regulation on Academic Integrity was adopted. Together with the University's Code of Ethics and other documents governing the policy of ensuring academic integrity in the University's educational and scientific activities, the Regulations on Academic Integrity ensure compliance with the principle of zero tolerance for any violations of academic integrity.

In accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, academic integrity is a set of ethical principles and rules defined by law that should guide participants in the educational process during learning, teaching and conducting scientific (creative) activities in order to ensure confidence in learning outcomes and/or scientific (creative) achievements.

Academic integrity is based on 6 simple and clear values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage. Respect for one's own opinion begins with respect for the opinions of others, and respect for one's own text begins with respect for others.

Honesty in learning and teaching is a basic condition for building trust among all those involved in the educational process. Courage is the ability to act with integrity in the face of fear or pressure and to demand of yourself what you expect from others. These postulates are the basis for the functioning of the university community on the basis of trust, mutual respect and honor.

Maintaining academic integrity

Academic integrity by research and teaching staff involves:

• citing sources of information when using ideas, statements, and data;
• compliance with copyright law;
• providing reliable information about research results and their own pedagogical (scientific, pedagogical, creative) activities;
• control over the observance of academic integrity by students.

Compliance with academic integrity by students includes:

• independent completion of academic tasks, tasks of current and final control of learning outcomes (for persons with special educational needs, this requirement is applied taking into account their individual needs and capabilities)
• references to sources of information when using ideas, statements, and data;
• compliance with copyright law;
• providing reliable information about the results of their own educational (scientific, creative) activities, research methods and sources of information.

A violation of academic integrity is considered to be:

academic plagiarism is the publication (in part or in full) of scientific (creative) results obtained by other persons as the results of their own research (creativity) and/or reproduction of published texts (published works of art) of other authors without attribution; a form of academic plagiarism is self-plagiarism, which consists in reproducing one's own previously published texts without reference to the source of information;

fabrication - falsification of research results, references, or any other data related to the educational process;

deception - providing deliberately false information about one's own educational (scientific, creative) activities or the organization of the educational process;

cheating is the use of external sources of information without proper authorization in the assessment of learning outcomes;

bribery - providing (receiving) by a participant in the educational process or offering to provide (receive) funds, property or services of a tangible or intangible nature in order to obtain an unlawful benefit in the educational process.

Responsibility for violation of the principles of of academic integrity

For violations of academic integrity, academic staff of educational institutions may be held academically liable for the following:

• refusal to award a degree or confer an academic title;
• deprivation of the awarded academic degree or academic title;
• deprivation of the right to participate in the work of statutory bodies or to hold statutory positions.

In case of violation of academic integrity, students may be brought to the following academic liability:

• repeating an assessment (test, exam, test, etc.)
• repeating a course of study;
• expulsion from an educational institution (except for persons receiving general secondary education).