On Wednesday, May 6, 2020 the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) held a special online course for all active students of ICRS. In this session, Prof. Michael Northcott delivered material about academic integrity in relation to the importance of avoiding plagiarism in academic life. In the opening of this online course, ICRS Director Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir mentioned that this is part of ICRS’s program to equip students in writing their papers, dissertation proposals, or even the dissertations themselves. Furthermore, this kind of course provides support to students in this time of pandemic, currently forced to conduct their study and research in their homes. Opportunities to meet, even if online, can help to raise the spirits of students struggling with the completion of their studies. Students enthusiastically welcomed this opportunity to meet.
Prof. Northcott emphasized that academic integrity is very important to academic life as students are required to write and produce knowledge which cannot be separated from the existing research. No research project is truly novel in terms of the inseparability of that research or writing with the works of previous scholars. Therefore, it is important for every student to acknowledge the scholars whose work has inspired their own. Students must position their writing and research in relation to the gap of the existing literature.
Northcott argued that as it concerns academic integrity, the moral aspect of academic life is more important than the knowledge. For this reason, ever student should avoid plagiarism, acknowledging the works of previous scholars and therein “giving praise” to them and their works. Each student must recognize that they are not yet established scholars but are “standing on the shoulders of giants” who support their research.
Whether paraphrasing, quoting, or summarizing the thoughts of another scholar, these should be accompanied by a clear references and citations. Prof. Northcott also shared the six principles of academic integrity drawing from “The Netherlands Code of Conduct for Academic Practice”. These six principles are: honesty and scrupulousness, reliability, verifiability, impartiality, independence, and responsibility.
Lastly, Prof. Northcott concluded his presentation with an insightful final remark. Northcott suggested that academic integrity, practiced by avoiding plagiarism and acknowledging and making clear references to the work of the scholars who inspire us, is like smiling to them and in doing so will bring positive energy and positive circumstances for students in their writing and research.