Developing a Holistic Islam-Based Academic Integrity Model for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions
Wan Mohd Khairul Firdaus Wan Khairuldin, Wan Nur Izzati Wan Nor Anas,
Muhammad Afham Suhaimi, Muhammad Amnan Idham, Abdul Hanis Embong, Shahir Akram Hassan
This paper investigates the critical issue of academic integrity within Malaysian higher education institutions, focusing on the challenges and strategic solutions to address these concerns. Despite various efforts by the government to strengthen the integrity of public servants, integrity issues and management inefficiencies remain alarming, especially among academics, who are crucial to the educational hierarchy. Instances of declining academic discipline, ethical violations in authorship, supervision issues, and teaching and learning (PdP) challenges highlight these integrity problems. Following the previous studies, the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) introduced integrity guidelines for academics at all Malaysian institutions. However, the increase in integrity and ethical issues among academicians raises questions about the effectiveness of these guidelines. The main objective is to develop a comprehensive integrity model to improve current guidelines. This study adopts a documentary research approach and utilizes content analysis as the analytical method. This study proposes a holistic, Islam-based academic integrity model as an enhancement to the existing guidelines, drawing on the integrity practices of classical and contemporary Islamic scholars in writing, teaching, and management. The findings are expected to significantly enhance academic integrity in Malaysia and provide a robust foundation for future integrity policies, aligning with the government’s Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) focused on strengthening integrity in Malaysia.
Keywords: Academic integrity, Higher education, Malaysia, Islamic integrity, Ethical Language
