Promoting ethical behavior and how junior investigators perceive academic integrity: Critical approach

Academic integrity can be considered a form of social contract among academic community members. Thus, it occupies a prominent position in any research project. However, there has not been, so far, a standard definition for this term on which a student or researcher can rely. In addition, having been associated with some cultural variables and individual differences makes it, generally and from an academic perspective, difficult to define. Consequently, how to handle or cope with violations of academic integrity has become more complex. Therefore, ethical thinking skills will be discussed in this paper by reviewing some aspects and significant facets of academic integrity, determining the cultural effect on it, and suggesting two approaches to how to deal with cases of academic dishonesty. These approaches are: the punitive approach, and the educational one.