SCUPI

On the afternoon of October 18, the Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute held a seminar themed “Setting Sail with Integrity: A Guide to Academic Standards and the Proper Use of Resources” at the Integrated Building C in the Jiang’an Campus. Teacher Zhou Qin, a subject librarian from the library of Sichuan University, shared insights aimed at helping students cultivate academic integrity and master academic writing techniques.

1. Uphold the Red Line of Academic Integrity

Ms. Zhou shared the importance of academic integrity, explaining its definition and significance, and emphasizing its central role in research, learning, and academic communication. She pointed out that academic integrity requires scholars to uphold honesty, fairness, and responsibility, strictly adhering to ethical standards in scientific research while avoiding misconduct such as plagiarism, data falsification, and improper authorship. She noted that academic integrity impacts one’s academic reputation and development and is the cornerstone of fostering a healthy academic environment and driving scholarly progress.

To help students recognize and prevent academic misconduct, Ms. Zhou used specific examples to analyze common violations, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, improper authorship, and duplicate submissions. To avoid such issues, she recommended respecting intellectual property, citing sources properly, and using plagiarism-checking software to ensure originality.

2. Master Academic Writing Standards

Ms. Zhou then provided guidance on writing academic papers, covering each stage from topic selection, literature review, proposal writing, data collection and analysis, to revision and finalization. She highlighted the importance of a well-structured paper, detailing the specific requirements for each section—title, abstract, keywords, main body, references, and appendices. Ms. Zhou emphasized that following a structured writing process is key to producing high-quality academic papers.

3. Make Full Use of  Academic Resources

The library of Sichuan University offers a wealth of academic resources. And Ms. Zhou encouraged students to make full use of them. She introduced the library’s services, including borrowing physical books, accessing extensive electronic databases, and using professional research assistance like literature retrieval, resource searching, and paper-writing guidance.

Ms. Zhou also explained the procedures and applicability of interlibrary loan and document delivery services, aiding students in acquiring resources not available in the library. She recommended several free platforms and open-access journals to broaden students’ academic perspectives. Moreover, Ms. Zhou highlighted the importance of creating one’s own repository of knowledge and study environment.

This seminar was part of a series of activities during the Academic Integrity Month at SCUPI, aimed at providing comprehensive and systematic academic guidance to students, fostering academic integrity, and enhancing academic skills. Students are now motivated to uphold high standards of academic conduct, make full use of resources, and continue to improve their academic abilities and research skills in the future.