FORMING A CULTURE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AMONG HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS THROUGH THE SYSTEM OF SOCIOLOGICAL AND HUMANITARIAN DISCIPLINES

Abstract

The article is dedicated to substantiating the role of sociological and humanities disciplines as a value-worldview foundation for shaping the culture of academic integrity among higher education students. The authors argue that academic integrity must not be reduced to formal administrative requirements or technical plagiarism detection, but should be understood as a fundamental ethical value that determines the formation of a responsible individual capable of serving societal ideals throughout their career.
The study demonstrates that the formation of an ethically oriented specialist begins within university classrooms, where the regime of academic integrity serves as an effective instrument for confirming an individual’s readiness to adhere to high professional standards. Such an approach guarantees that individual academic achievements gradually transform into sustained public trust in educational institutions. A significant legislative dimension is addressed: Ukraine adopted the Law “On Academic Integrity” on December 18, 2025, signed by the President on January 29, 2026, transitioning from declarative to imperative legal regulation for all participants of the educational process.
The methodological framework of the research is based on a combination of systemic, axiological, comparative, structural-functional and hermeneutical approaches. Their integration allows a comprehensive analysis of sociological and humanities disciplines as a holistic mechanism for cultivating academic integrity.
The central contribution of the study lies in the systematic analysis of specific disciplines. Sociology occupies the leading position as the science that reveals the nature of social norms, institutions and social control mechanisms. The sociological approach enables students to transform their perception of academic rules from a set of formal prescriptions to understanding them as living social phenomena based on collective responsibility and mutual trust. Through the sociological lens, students learn to evaluate academic plagiarism not merely as a regulatory violation, but as a social dysfunction that undermines the authority of educational institutions. Philosophy develops critical thinking and understanding of authorship as an extension of the creator’s personality, making plagiarism equivalent to a loss of subjectivity. Logic, through its fundamental laws of identity, contradiction, excluded middle and sufficient reason, provides the intellectual framework for honest argumentation and authentic reasoning. The History of State and Law reveals that integrity was historically a necessary condition for the functioning of social institutions. Psychology promotes internalization of ethical norms through a deontological approach, forming psychological immunity against deviant practices. Deontology directly connects classroom behavior with future professional responsibility, cultivating an internal moral censor that prevents ethical compromise.
The authors conclude that strengthening the sociological and humanitarian component is a strategic instrument for ensuring the quality of higher education, guaranteeing the preparation of morally mature specialists ready to serve society. Prospects for further research are related to the development of specific pedagogical methods and integrative educational models ensuring more systematic implementation of academic integrity principles through sociological and humanities disciplines, including research on the effectiveness of project-based learning, case studies, and role-playing activities.