Academic Writing in Teaching Research Integrity - Key Elements of Online Course Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Oct 15, 2026

Academic writing serves as a core foundation for responsible research practice and includes essential abilities such as clear expression, critical analysis, correct citation, and plagiarism avoidance. The paper presents key elements for designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course that develops academic writing skills for Bachelor’s students. A model of research integrity competency, covering values and principles, research practice, publication and dissemination, and violations, informed the course structure, which ran as a small private course and received positive student feedback.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Online course design for academic writing and research integrity

Research integrity competency profile model

Course implementation, activities, and evaluation

Conclusion and recommendations

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1602](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1602) Academic Writing in Teaching Research Integrity Mateja Dagarin Fojkar*1 and Sanja Berčnik2 • The primary aim of this paper is to present the key elements that characterise online course design, addressing the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course for Bachelor’s degree students that focuses on developing their academic writing skills. These skills are essential for university students as they provide the knowledge necessary to express themselves effectively, analyse texts, think critically, cite correctly, and avoid plagiarism. Academic writing is also the foundation for responsible research practice. The Research Integrity Competency Profile Model, which includes four main areas, namely values and principles, research practice, publication and dissemination, and violations, was created prior to the design of the course and the skills students need to acquire at the Bachelor’s level for successful academic writing were identified. A small private online course was carefully designed in 2020. It consisted of a variety of assignments, including interactive elements such as quizzes, videos, and work in international interdisciplinary groups. The participants of the course were 36 students from Slovenia, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. The course lasted four weeks and covered topics such as literature analysis, writing a research paper, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, and citation styles, among others. The course was launched in 2021 for two consecutive instances. The participating students evaluated the course positively, describing the assignments as motivating, useful, and well-structured. However, they concluded that they need more practice in this area, and we suggest that a university course be established to provide all students with the necessary academic writing skills. Keywords: academic writing, citation, online teaching, plagiarism, research integrity 1 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; [Mateja.Dagarin@pef.uni-lj.si](Mateja.Dagarin@pef.uni-lj.si). 2 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Akademsko pisanje pri poučevanju raziskovalne integritete Mateja Dagarin Fojkar in Sanja Berčnik • Glavni cilj prispevka je predstaviti ključne elemente, ki so značilni za oblikovanje spletnih tečajev, vključno s procesi oblikovanja, izvajanjain vrednotenja spletnega tečaja za študente dodiplomskega študija, ki se osredinja na razvijanje veščin akademskega pisanja. Te spretnosti so za univerzitetne študente bistvenega pomena, ker zagotavljajo znanje, potrebno za učinkovito izražanje, analizo besedil, kritično razmišljanje, pravilno citiranje in preprečevanje plagiatorstva. Akademsko pisanje jetudi temelj za odgovorno raziskovalno prakso. Model kompetenčnega profila raziskovalne integritete, ki vključuje štiri glavna področja, tj.: vrednote in načela, raziskovalno prakso, objavljanje in diseminacijo ter kršitve, je bil oblikovan pred zasnovo tečaja, pri čemer so bile definirane spretnosti, ki jih morajo študentje pridobiti na dodiplomski ravni za uspešno akademsko pisanje. Leta 2020 je bil skrbno zasnovan manjšizasebni spletni tečaj. Sestavljen je bil iz različnih nalog, vključno z interaktivnimi dejavnostmi, kot so: kvizi, videoposnetki in delo v mednarodnih interdisciplinarnih skupinah. Tečaja se je udeležilo 36 študentov iz Slovenije, Nizozemske in iz Češke. Trajal je štiri tedne in je med drugimobravnaval teme, kot so: analiza literature, pisanje raziskovalnega prispevka, izogibanje plagiatorstvu, parafraziranje in slogi citiranja. Tečaj se je začel izvajati leta 2021 v dveh zaporednih časovnih obdobjih. Sodelujoči študentje so tečaj ocenili pozitivno ter naloge opisali kot motivirajoče, uporabne in dobro strukturirane. Ugotovili so tudi, da natem področju potrebujejo več prakse, zato predlagamo, da se vzpostavi univerzitetni predmet

FAQs

What is the primary aim of the paper?

To present key elements that characterize online course design for developing Bachelor’s students’ academic writing skills, including how such a course is designed, implemented, and evaluated.

Which topics and learning activities does the online course include?

The course covers literature analysis, writing a research paper, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, and citation styles, using assignments with interactive components such as quizzes, videos, and group work.

How did participants evaluate the course?

Students evaluated the course positively, describing the assignments as motivating, useful, and well structured, while concluding they need more practice in academic writing.

Oct 15, 2026

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