2.30. Academic integrity rules
2.30.1. Academic integrity is the fundamental principle of the educational process at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
2.30.2. Academic integrity is a combination of moral norms, principles and values, which determine behavior of each member of the university community, including such principles as avoiding fraud and plagiarism, commitment to academic standards, honesty and integrity in scientific research and publications.
2.30.3. Academic integrity is the key value in the scientific and educational process of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
2.30.4. The principles of academic integrity:
- conscientiousness is honest, decent performance by students of all types of academic work, regardless of them being assessed and not;
- protection of the rights of the author and his/her assignees is recognition of the authorship and protection of works that are subject of copyright by correctly transmitting someone else's speech, thoughts and by indicating sources of information in evaluated works;
- openness is transparency, mutual trust, open exchange of information and ideas between students and instructors;
- respect for the rights and freedoms of students – the right to express freely opinions and ideas;
- equality – each member of the university community should ensure compliance with the rules of academic integrity and equal responsibility for their violation.
2.30.5. The main goal of implementation of the academic integrity rules is to strengthen the culture of academic integrity in the academic community of KazNU, to cultivate in faculty members, staff and students of KazNU zero tolerance to any violation of academic integrity.
2.30.6. Each member of the university community must strictly observe the rules of academic integrity, thereby ensuring prevention of violations of academic integrity.
2.30.7. The university community obligates all instructors and students to perform all types of academic activity without any manifestations of dishonesty and with recognition of contribution of others to the creation of any product of intellectual activity.
2.30.8. Being one of the key values, academic integrity is crucial for successful implementation of the university’s mission to prepare competitive highly qualified specialists for development of the country.
2.30.9. Any deviation from the principles of academic integrity is considered as misconduct that undermines the fundamental foundations of the university activity, therefore all faculty and staff members, the university administration are obliged to cultivate in students the commitment to academic integrity.
2.30.10. Each faculty and staff member of the university bears a personal moral, ethical and professional responsibility for the commitment in his/her daily activities to the principles of decency, honesty, openness and respect for each member of the university community.
2.30.11. All faculty members of the university should inform students in advance about the principles of academic integrity and unacceptable forms of academic behavior.
2.30.12. Each faulty member in the course of teaching his/her discipline must make sure that all students are familiar with the policy of academic integrity, and if possible organize an appropriate discussion of it with the students.
2.30.13. Students are full-fledged members of the university community and the main participants of the educational process, so they must know their rights and obligations.
2.30.14. Students must know the requirements for conducting scientific research and publications, for any form of knowledge assessment (exam, test, term paper, graduate qualification work, etc.), for teamwork, etc.
2.30.15. Students should evaluate in terms of academic integrity the appropriateness of their assistance and help to other learners.
2.30.16. Students are required to know the requirements for preparation of educational and scientific documentation, including the obligatory indication of the sources used.
2.30.17. Students in their carrying out all types of educational and scientific activities must adhere to ethical norms, stated in these rules, or to instructions of instructors and supervisors.
2.30.18. Any violation of academic integrity should be immediately recorded with subsequent transfer of information about it to the authorized persons.
2.30.19. Violations of academic integrity include:
- plagiarism – use of someone else's text, ideas, work as one's own without indicating true authorship (without reference to sources), or the use of borrowed materials with references in such a form and volume that cast doubt on the independence of the work performed. Falsification of references is also seen as a form of plagiarism;
- non-independent fulfillment of tasks – use of assistance of an outsider person or persons, leading to the loss of independence and originality of the completed task, which makes it impossible to assess achievement of the expected learning outcomes by the student;
- dishonesty during exams – use / transfer of any unpermitted aids during examination (information on electronic, paper or any other media), use / transfer of information by students using any form of communication (verbally, in written form, electronically or in any other form), сopying someone else's work, receiving / assisting in order to improve the results of exams, receiving / transmitting unauthorized access to exam questions and assignments, transferring information about the examination work to the members of the examination committee in order to obtain the desired grade and any other actions that are intended to prevent an objective assessment of the actual academic achievements of the particular student;
- forgery – presentation of someone else's finished work received or acquired from another person or organization as the student’s own work; also intentional giving of own work to another person for using as the material to be used for subsequent evaluation of other person’s learning outcomes. Presence during the exam of other person instead of the student, who must pass the exam, is also considered a forgery;
- re-use of the work performed during studying of one academic discipline for obtaining a grade for another discipline;
- fabrication of data – falsification, distortion or fiction in using any information or quotes in an educational or scientific work. Includes fictitious sources, voluntary inaccurate quoting, falsification of numerical or other data, etc.;
- deliberate opposition to academic activities of other persons (students or faculty members) – actions that impede access of other persons to the necessary resources or facilities, or cause direct detriment to their successful activities. Includes unwanted interventions in laboratory experiments and studies, provision of false information, intentional deceiving of work or study colleagues, including joint projects, creating interference in group work, restricting access to library resources, changing or destroying computer files, etc.;
- bribes, gifts or threats – students, faculty and staff are prohibited to use any of these type of force in any form to influence the results of assessment of any academic activity;
- other forms of inappropriate academic behavior – any other types of behavior that contradict the principles of decency, honesty, openness and respect and could be regarded as manifestations of fraud, falsification and violation of the rights of another person in academic activity.
2.30.20. These Rules apply to any violations of academic integrity by students, faculty or staff members.
2.30.21. In case, when there is a violation of the norms of academic and non-academic behavior, there are applied both these Rules and norms of the Code of Corporate Culture of the KazNU Faculty and Staff Member or the Code of Honor of the KazNU Student.
2.30.22. The instructor, who recorded a violation of academic integrity committed by a student during the study of a particular discipline, which might be considered rather as an involuntary mistake, than a deliberate violation of the principles of academic integrity, can allow the student to retake the task or re-perform the work within the framework of this course. Nevertheless, he has the right to assess this task or work with an unsatisfactory grade, if this is prescribed by the academic policy of this discipline.
2.30.23. In the case of forgery, an unsatisfactory grade must also be given to the student who gave his/her work to another person to receive a grade on the discipline.
2.30.24. In any case, the instructor, who recorded a violation of academic integrity by a student, is required to submit an appropriate report to the dean of the faculty for consideration at a meeting of the faculty ethics commission.
2.30.25. All violations of academic integrity committed by students during examinations, as well as violations of the Rules for conducting final assessment (delivery of unpermitted aids to examination rooms, including cell phones, even not used) should be recorded by the authorized persons (proctors, members of examination or monitoring commissions) and lead to unsatisfactory final assessment on the discipline in accordance with the Rules for conducting final assessment.
2.30.26. Repeated violation of academic integrity during examinations might cause the expulsion of the student from the university.
2.30.27. All violations of academic integrity committed by students should be pursued at meetings of faculty ethics commissions.
2.30.28. A student cannot declare not knowing the requirements of the Academic integrity rules and the Rules for conducting final assessment as an argument for avoidance of disciplinary action, since knowledge of the principles of academic integrity and commitment to them is the main responsibility of each student.
2.30.29. Information about the facts of violation of academic integrity by the student is recorded into his/her transcript and must be forwarded to another institution of higher education in case of the student’s transfer for further study from Al-Farabi KazNU to this institution.
2.30.30. Faculty and staff members and students, who have faced academic dishonesty and inappropriate academic behavior, should submit a well-founded statement with detailed description of violation facts to the head of the relevant faculty.
2.30.31. Dean of the Faculty is obliged to review the statement and organize discussion of the incident at a meeting of the faculty ethics commission.
2.30.32. The ethics commission has the authority to make a motivated recommendation about proposed disciplinary action, depending on the severity of the violation, up to the expulsion of the student or termination of the employment contract with the faculty or staff member.
2.30.33. The supervising pro-rectors and the university ethics commission consider statements about the improper academic behavior of faculty senior management, staff and heads of structural units of the university.
2.30.34. Anyone who is being examined against academic integrity violation has the right to challenge his or her involvement in the violation, if there is relevant evidence, including bringing in witnesses.
2.30.35. Disciplinary penalties for violations of academic integrity are issued by order of the rector of university.
2.30.36. Al-Farabi KazNU students, faculty and staff members are obliged to prevent violations of academic integrity in the university community.
2.30.37. Al-Farabi KazNU faculty and staff members should constantly improve mechanisms of delivery of the educational process in order to minimize conditions for the emergence of potential risks of violation of academic integrity.
2.30.38. Students who are expelled from the university for violations of academic integrity are not permitted to re-enroll to Al-Farabi KazNU.
2.30.39. Faculty and staff members, whose contracts of employment were terminated because of improper academic behavior, are not permitted to re-employ at the university.