Academic integrity in creative arts and media

Academic integrity in the creative arts and media is a comparatively under-researched area. The creative arts and media are distinguished from other academic disciplines by the use of nontext assessment items such as audiovisual works, performances, and compositions, and by the assessment of creativity and creative process as well as final product. Creative arts and media courses show low rates of detected cheating; however, this may be due to underdetection and a lack of tools for analyzing nontext work. A set of lenses for integrity in creative arts and media is proposed, including academic, moral/ethical, professional, copyright, terms of use, and social/cultural. Practices of attribution in creative arts and media are likewise complex as established academic referencing systems are designed for text-based work. Given the lack of similarity detection tools for creative nontext work, it is necessary to consider academic integrity in designing creative arts and media assessment. While authentic and staged assessment may not prevent academic integrity breaches, they can provide additional opportunities to identify integrity issues. As creative assessment, authentic assessment, and digital communication and production literacies become increasingly favored and used across noncreative disciplines, there is an urgent need to reconcile text-centered definitions of academic integrity with current creative practices and technological affordances. Creative arts and media educators should review current definitions and guidance for academic integrity in creative arts and media to ensure that students are guided and prepared for creative practice with integrity beyond institutional contexts.