Subject Guide
Academic Integrity in Social Work
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is conducting your research, teaching, and other academic responsibilities in an honest, responsible, and ethical manner. Plagiarism, cheating, lying or misrepresenting research outcomes, are examples of failure to conduct academic work with integrity. For more information, see the School of Social Work MSW Student Guide and the University of Michigan's Office of Research web page on Research Integrity.
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National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of EthicsThe NASW Code of Ethics covers academic integrity in several of its sections:
4.04 Dishonesty, Fraud, and Deception: "Social workers should take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only for work they have actually performed and to which they have contributed."
4.08 Acknowledging Credit: "Social workers should honestly acknowledge the work of and the contributions made by others."
5.02 Evaluation and research: "Social workers should report evaluation and research findings accurately. They should not fabricate or falsify results and should take steps to correct any errors later found in published data using standard publication methods." -
CSWE National Statement on Research Integrity in Social WorkSection 6 of this statement:
"Social work researchers must never fabricate data or publish data that are known to be fabricated or otherwise compromised in nature or engage in plagiarism. All ideas and phrasing not originating with the author or co-author should be appropriately acknowledged in publication or results."
Section 8 adds: "...social work researchers have an obligation to work hard to prevent research misconduct, to report such misconduct when it occurs, and to support colleagues who attempt to do both despite the personal and professional risks involved." -
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Core CompetenciesCSWE Core Competencies state the results both students and employers can expect from an accredited social work education program outline values and ethical behavior expectations related to research practice.
From competency 1: Social workers demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication.
From competency 4: Social workers know the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and culturally informed and ethical approaches to building knowledge. -
The American Psychological Association (APA) Code of EthicsSection 8.11 of the APA Code of Ethics states:
"Psychologists do not present portions of another's work or data as their own, even if the other work or data source is cited occasionally."
Academic Integrity
Why Should I Care About Academic Integrity?
Besides these expectations from professional organizations, why should you care about completing your work at the University of Michigan School of Social Work in an honest manner? One of the reasons is because you may be faced with some of the following sanctions.
- You could be suspended, with or without conditions
- You could fail your assignment.
- You could fail your course.
- You could receive a notation in either your unofficial or official transcript.
- You could be permanently expelled from school.
- Your degree could be withheld or revoked.
Lack of academic integrity or unwittingly plagiarizing during your academic career can also catch up with you long after you leave this MSW program.
- Senator John Walsh, Democrat from Montana and appointed to replace Senator Max Baucus early in 2014, decided not to run for this seat in the next election due to a scandal showing he plagiarized the 2007 paper he submitted for his Master's degree from the U.S. Army War College, according to a New York Times article. As a result of this plagiarism incident, Walsh's political career is likely over.
Research Ethics
In addition to citing appropriately to give credit for other's work and accurately reporting data and other research results, social work researchers are careful to protect participants in their research, especially any vulnerable populations. This applies to academic and evaluation research alike. The NASW Code of Ethics, Section 5.02 addresses this at length, concluding that: "Social workers should educate themselves, their students, and their colleagues about responsible research practices."
The following book chapter provides examples and further explanation of the elections of Section 5.02.
Reamer, F. (2010). Ethical issues in social work research. In Thyer, B. The handbook of social work research methods (pp. 564-578). 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781544364902