Academic Integrity Policy

  1. The Academic Integrity Policy defines the standards of academic behaviour, aims at zero tolerance and maintains a commitment to the values and high standards of academic culture.
  2.  The Academic Integrity Policy is intended for students, academic staff, managers and staff of the University's structural units, as well as other interested parties.
  3. The Academic Integrity Policy has been developed in accordance with current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, normative legal acts of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter - MSHE RK) and internal documents of NJSC "Al-Farabi Kazakh National University" (hereinafter - University).
  4. The Academic Integrity Policy applies to any violations of academic integrity by students, faculty, or staff of the University. If there is a violation of academic and non-academic (unethical) behaviour, the Policy and the norms of the Academic Code of Ethics, the Code of Corporate Culture for Faculty and Staff of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and/or the Code of Honour for Students of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University shall be applied simultaneously.

  1. Academic freedom - a set of powers given to the subjects of the educational process to independently determine the content of education in the disciplines of the elective component, additional types of training and organisation of educational activities to create conditions for the creative development of students, instructors and application of innovative technologies and teaching methods.
  2. Academic integrity is a set of moral norms, principles and values that guide the behaviour of every member of the university community, including such principles as avoidance of cheating and plagiarism, adherence to academic standards, honesty and integrity in research and publications.
  3. A Qualification Examination is a procedure to determine the extent to which students have mastered the scope of courses and/or modules and other learning activities in the curriculum.
  4. Final Examination is a control of the academic achievements of the students in order to assess the quality of their mastery of the programme of study conducted during the period of interim attestation in the form of an examination, if the discipline is studied over several academic periods, the final examination may be conducted on the part of the discipline studied in the given academic period.
  5. Educational programme (EP, formerly “speciality”) – the approved set of modules or course units required for the award of a particular degree/diploma.
  6. Transcript is a document containing a list of courses and/or modules completed and other learning activities for the relevant period of study, including credits and grades.
  7. The curriculum (C) is an academic document that regulates the structure and volume of the EP by cycles of disciplines, specifying the list and minimum credit volume of compulsory component disciplines and all types of practices, final certification. It is approved by the Academic Council of the University.

  1. The organisation of the educational and research process at the University is based on the following principles:
  2. Integrity - honest, decent performance of assessed and unassessed learning activities by learners;
  3. Implementation of protection of the rights of the author and his successors in title – recognition of authorship and protection of works that are subject to copyright through the correct transmission of others' speech, thoughts and indication of the sources of information in the works being assessed;
  4. Openness - transparency, mutual trust, open exchange of information and ideas between learners and instructors;
  • respect for the rights and freedoms of students – the right to free expression of opinions and ideas;
  1. Equality –each student ensures compliance with the rules of academic integrity and equal responsibility for their violation.
  2. The teaching staff of the University shall:
  3. Ensure a consistently high quality of learning;
  4. Ensure the availability of teaching and learning material in the disciplines taught;
  • to carry out all forms of control objectively;
  • accept criticism from colleagues and students and use it to improve themselves.
  1. The University administration should implement measures to ensure maximum transparency, openness, objectivity and accessibility of the educational process.
  2. The University does not tolerate any form of discrimination, including on social, racial, gender, ethnic or religious grounds.
  3. The university is committed to inclusive education and equal access to education for all groups.

  1. Plagiarism – an intentional or negligent, complete or partial unlawful use, misappropriation or disposal of the protected results of someone else's work, results of academic, scientific, research, journalistic and analytical activities, which is accompanied by giving others false information about oneself as the actual author.
  2. Cheating – dishonest behaviour on the part of a student or an employee which involves copying someone else's intellectual product.
  3. Duplication – the presentation of the same work under different assessment and requirements, including passing it off as one's own, in part or in full, any work that has previously been assessed in another course without prior permission from the faculty, even if the student is the author.
  4. Falsification – forging academic records or other documents; data (observations in a scientific experiment, falsified record, survey results); signatures in academic work; deliberate falsification or defacement of academic work.
  5. Concealment – the omission and concealment of information about the dishonest presentation of fictitious information in an academic product; the substitution of data and the results of studies and experiments; the presentation of false information obtained in the course of research.
  6. Collusion – a mutual agreement between subjects of the educational process to perform any academic work to be checked and assessed for another student.
  7. Other forms of inappropriate academic behaviour – any other conduct that is contrary to the principles of decency, honesty, integrity, openness, and respect and is regarded as manifestations of deception, falsification, and violation of another person's rights in academic activities.

  1. Admission to the University is based on the principles of academic honesty and includes the following:
  2. checking applicants' files for the necessary certificates, their compliance with the date of application and the minimum entry threshold score;
  3. checking applicants' applications for admission to the University to ensure that the date of submission corresponds to the established admission period for applicants;
  4. preparation of the enrolment order at the University (compliance with the established deadlines and procedures for enrolment of students).

  1. The organisation of the educational process at the University is based on the principles of academic integrity and includes the following:
  2. A procedure for registration and individual choice of subjects by learners, with the possibility of a summary, learning outcomes, prerequisites and post-requisites of the discipline;
  3. Electronic enrolment and registration of students in accordance with the number of academic streams and groups set by the University;
  4. the procedure for reading the syllabus of the discipline and the specified academic and non-academic course requirements;
  5. A policy for assessing learning outcomes with the possibility for students to challenge assessment criteria that have been used without the students' prior knowledge;
  6. the procedure for proctoring and citing works;
  7. the procedure and mechanism for the re-crediting of credits taken at other HEIs, with the students presenting supporting documents;
  8. issuing enrolment orders (enrolment, transfer and graduation) against the certificates and transcripts issued;
  9. Educational support for students with a deeper interest in learning or science and, conversely, academic difficulties or low motivation, including support for those with special educational needs;
  10. The presence of vocational training components in the educational programmes, taking into account the mechanism of interaction with the corporate and/or industrial sectors;
  11. The procedure and mechanism for recording learning outcomes, academic and non-academic rewards and sanctions on students' transcripts;
  12. Inclusion of the discipline "Legal Basis for anti-corruption enforcement" in educational programmes;
  13. Updating the list of topics of students' graduation theses with anti-corruption themes, taking into account the specifics of educational programmes;
  14. organising students' access to study materials, infrastructure, internal University documents regulating academic and non-academic activities of students;
  15. a mechanism for social and psychological support, assistance in organising vocational practice and employment, maintaining a balance between training and free time for students.

 

  1. The organisation of monitoring and assessment of students' learning achievements at the University is based on the principles of academic honesty and includes the following:
  2. The timely posting of current grades and absences in the e-journal;
  3. A sample analysis of the IS Univer to identify whether points have been added/changed, or whether omissions have been removed/added;
  4. procedures for checking and assessing the quality of teaching in each discipline on a semesterly basis;
  5. A sample analysis of a particular student's performance in different disciplines in order to identify significant deviations;
  6. developing internal documents regulating the development of examination materials and the conduct of examinations;
  7. Analysing the effectiveness of the forms of assessment used to assess students' achievements;
  8. Selective examination of written examination papers (availability of ciphers or open examination);
  9. random verification of appeal records;
  10. Maintaining records of final grades (examination records) against specific students' transcripts (blind sampling);
  11. procedure for information security of test development tools, confidentiality and autonomy of compilation, storage, transmission conditions;
  12. The list of administrative rights for managing the testing system, the mechanism for generating score sheets, the transfer of grades to the transcript, the autonomy and security of the software;
  13. audio and video recording of the final assessment procedure;
  14. encryption and objective verification of students' examination papers;
  15. Examination of individual students' work (blind sampling and plagiarism checks);
  16. preparing plagiarism audit reports for academic papers;
  17. Analysing the results of the final assessment and the students' current performance on a sample basis to identify sharp discrepancies and their validity;
  18. interviewing external members of the appraisal panel to determine compliance with the established procedure;
  19. Conducting and analysing a survey on learner satisfaction, including the organisation of final examinations (fees, purchase of gifts, etc.) and the availability of hired performers and intermediaries;
  20. checking the University's social media accounts for hired performers and intermediaries;
  21. monitoring the state of academic integrity at the University by conducting a sociological survey among students and teaching staff.

  1. The transfer of students to vacant educational grants at the University is implemented on the basis of the principles of academic integrity and includes the following:
  2. timely notification to students of the availability of vacant educational grants in the IS Univer, on the University's website and social media pages, etc;
  3. holding a competition for the award of vacant educational grants;
  4. posting information on applicants for vacant educational grants in the IS Univer and on the University's website;
  5. conducting a survey of learners on their awareness of the availability of vacant educational grants and the accessibility of participation in the competition.

 

 

  1. The conduct of research (experimental-research) activities at the University shall be carried out on the basis of the principles of academic integrity and shall include the following:
  2. adhering to the principles, norms and standards of ethics of research and scholarship as set out in the Code of Ethics for Scientists;
  3. Involvement in scientific expertise, taking into account the expertise of the scientist and the trainee in accordance with paragraph 8 of the Code of Ethics for Scientists;
  4. checking completed studies for plagiarism;
  5. A sample analysis of the scientific soundness of publications in which scientific research has been published;
  6. The value of the results achieved compared to the amount of funding allocated.

    1. An instructor who has documented a violation of academic integrity on the part of a student is required to submit a report to the Dean of the Faculty for consideration at a meeting of the Faculty Ethics Commission.
    2. Violations of academic integrity committed by learners shall be subject to review at meetings of the Ethics Commissions of the faculties. Failure to inform a learner of the requirements of this Policy and the Final Examination Regulations may not constitute grounds for the cancellation of a disciplinary sanction.
    3. All violations of academic integrity committed by the students during the examinations as well as violations of the Final Examination Rules (taking unauthorised aids into the examination room, including mobile phones, even when not in use, etc.) shall be recorded by authorised persons (room attendants, members of the examination or monitoring commissions).
    4. Information on recorded instances of academic integrity violations by the student shall be entered on his/her transcript and shall be subject to mandatory transfer to another HEI in case of transfer from the University.
    5. Faculty, staff and students experiencing academic dishonesty and inappropriate academic behaviour shall submit a reasoned statement to the Head of the relevant Faculty detailing the facts of the irregularity.
    6. The Dean of the Faculty is obliged to review the application and organise a discussion of the incident at the Faculty Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission is authorised to make a reasoned recommendation on the type of disciplinary sanction to be imposed, depending on the severity of the violation, up to and including expulsion of the student or termination of the employment contract with the instructor r or staff member.
    7. Allegations of inappropriate academic conduct by the heads of faculties, employees and heads of structural units of the University shall be considered by supervising members of the Board and by the University-wide Ethics Commission.
    8. Any person against whom a breach of academic integrity is being considered has the right to challenge his or her involvement in the breach with appropriate evidence, including witnesses.
    9. Disciplinary sanctions for breaches of academic integrity shall be issued by order of the President of the Board-Rector.
    10. Students expelled from the University for academic misconduct shall not be reintegrated into the University's student body
    11. Insructors and staff whose employment contract has been terminated due to academic misconduct shall not be rehired by the University.
    12. The students, faculty and staff of the University should continuously improve the mechanisms for implementing the educational process in order to minimise the conditions for potential risks of academic integrity violations and have a duty to discourage academic integrity violations in the university community in every possible way.