AI policy is now a priority at every UK university. This framework shows what good looks like.
New Release · 2026

AI & Academic Integrity
The Five-Stage Framework

A practical, principled guide for students, educators, and institutions navigating the most critical challenge in higher education today.

Dr. Chikezie Okike
Dr. Chikezie Okike PhD, MBA · Operations Management Scholar · London, UK
📖 Buy on Amazon ↓ Free Framework Guide
Information Managers Ltd · London · 2026
AI & Academic
Integrity
The Five-Stage Framework for Ethical AI Use in Higher Education
5. DOCUMENTYou: transparency · AI: formatting
4. CREATEYou: design · AI: implementation
3. SYNTHESIZEYou: insights · AI: flow
2. ANALYSEYou: analyst · AI: critic
1. EXPLOREYou: understanding · AI: clarification
Dr. Chikezie Okike · PhD, MBA · Information Managers Ltd
3
Professor Endorsements
5
Stage Framework
15+
Years Academic Research
2
Formats Available
Who This Book Is For

Written for everyone who
works with AI in academia

🎓
Students

Navigate AI with confidence

Understand where the ethical boundaries are — and how to use AI to enhance, not replace, your intellectual work.

  • Know exactly what is and isn't acceptable
  • Use AI to learn faster, not to cheat
  • Protect your academic integrity
  • Apply the Five-Stage Framework in coursework
👩‍🏫
Educators & Lecturers

Guide students effectively

Move beyond detection tools to a principled approach that actually works — for you and your students.

  • A framework you can teach and apply
  • Respond to AI misuse with confidence
  • Update your assessment practices
  • Lead your department's AI conversation
🏛️
Administrators & Policy Makers

Build institutional policy

The first UK-focused framework designed for practical adoption at the institutional level — ready to implement today.

  • A structured policy development guide
  • Covers ethical, legal and academic dimensions
  • Supports QAA alignment
  • Basis for staff training and student guidance
The Challenge

AI has transformed higher education
faster than our policies could keep up

Universities UK identified AI adoption as the most significant challenge to institutional integrity since essay mills. Yet most institutional responses focus on detection — which misses the point entirely.

🚫

Detection tools don't work reliably

AI detectors produce false positives, false negatives, and cannot distinguish between ethical and unethical use — leaving both students and staff in an impossible position.

❓

Students don't know where the line is

Without clear guidance, students make costly mistakes — not always out of dishonesty, but out of genuine confusion about what is acceptable in each context.

📋

Institutions lack a coherent framework

Most policies were written reactively. They ban or warn, but they don't provide a constructive, principled structure that staff and students can actually follow.

💡

This book provides the answer. Instead of focusing on detection and prohibition, the Five-Stage Framework gives students, educators, and institutions a clear, principled structure for engaging with AI ethically — distinguishing between AI as a learning tool and AI as a replacement for intellectual labour.

The Five-Stage Framework

A structured approach to
ethical AI use in academia

Each stage defines the roles of the human and the AI tool — keeping the intellectual work where it belongs, while allowing AI to add genuine value.

1

EXPLORE

The foundation of all learning. You develop a genuine understanding of the topic, question, or problem. AI assists by clarifying concepts, answering factual questions, and surfacing relevant material — but the intellectual curiosity and direction remain yours.

You: Understanding & Direction AI: Clarification & Discovery
2

ANALYSE

You take the role of the analyst — evaluating sources, questioning assumptions, identifying gaps and contradictions. AI acts as a critical sounding board, challenging your interpretations and highlighting alternative perspectives.

You: Analyst & Evaluator AI: Critic & Challenger
3

SYNTHESIZE

You draw connections, develop original insights, and construct your argument. AI can assist with the logical flow and structure of ideas — but the insights, conclusions, and original thinking are entirely yours.

You: Insights & Original Thinking AI: Flow & Structure
4

CREATE

You design the work — its structure, argument, voice, and purpose. AI can assist with implementation details such as formatting, code, or visual arrangement. The creative vision, authorial voice, and academic judgement are yours.

You: Design & Vision AI: Implementation Support
5

DOCUMENT

You take full responsibility for transparency — declaring where and how AI was used throughout the process. AI can assist with formatting references and citations. Honest documentation is the cornerstone of academic integrity.

You: Transparency & Accountability AI: Formatting & Citation Support

Download a one-page summary of the Five-Stage Framework — free.

Get the Free Framework Summary
Inside the Book

Comprehensive, practical,
and immediately applicable

1

The AI Integrity Problem

A clear-eyed account of how AI has disrupted academic norms and why existing responses have fallen short.

2

The Five-Stage Framework Explained

A full chapter on each stage — with examples, scenarios, and guidance for applying the framework in practice.

3

Student Guidance

Practical advice for students on how to use AI tools ethically across different assessment types and disciplines.

4

Educator Strategies

How to redesign assessments, update marking criteria, and have productive conversations with students about AI.

5

Institutional Policy Development

A step-by-step guide for universities and business schools developing or revising their AI use policies.

6

Case Studies & Scenarios

Real-world examples illustrating how the framework applies across disciplines, levels, and institutional contexts.

What Professors Are Saying

Endorsed by leading academics
from world-class institutions

"
Taken together, these texts make a constructive contribution to maintaining academic standards while recognising that AI may also be used as a learning tool in some contexts. They merit consideration by institutions and teams reviewing policy, assessment practice, and student guidance in a rapidly changing area.
KF
Professor Kieran Fernandes
Executive Dean
Durham University Business School
"
This is a major contribution in an era where academic institutions across the globe are and continue to wrestle with concerns and issues relating to plagiarism, authorship, and originality due to generative AI. This book and the workbook should be prominent in student and staff induction pack, classrooms and libraries.
PK
Professor Prema Kirubakaran
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor of AI & Quantum Computing
Nile University of Nigeria
"
As someone who has sat on academic misconduct panels, I found many integrity breaches in quantitative and professional disciplines do not arise from malicious intent but from uncertainty about boundaries. This book addresses that uncertainty directly. The book and workbook would translate well into teaching materials, workshops, or policy guidance.
EA
Professor Emmanuel Adegbite
Professor of Accounting
University of Nottingham
Dr. Chikezie Okike
Dr. Chikezie Okike PhD, MBA
About the Author

Dr. Chikezie Okike

Dr. Chikezie Okike is a scholar of Operations Management with over 15 years of experience in higher education research, teaching, and academic leadership. His work sits at the intersection of management practice, educational policy, and emerging technology.

Drawing on extensive experience in UK higher education, Dr. Okike developed the Five-Stage Framework as a practical, principled response to a challenge that institutions were addressing with policies rather than understanding. AI & Academic Integrity is published by Information Managers Ltd, London.

PhD MBA Operations Management Higher Education acadama.com
Institutional Adoption

Adopted and recommended
by academic institutions

Universities, business schools, and student unions are adopting the Five-Stage Framework as the basis for their AI integrity policies and recommended reading lists. Join the growing community of institutions leading on this issue.

🏛️

Is your institution interested in adopting this framework?

We work with universities, business schools, student unions, and academic integrity offices to support curriculum adoption, staff training, and policy development based on the Five-Stage Framework.

Contact Us About Adoption →
📚

Curriculum Adoption

Add the book as a recommended or required text for undergraduate, postgraduate, or professional development programmes.

🏫

Policy Development

Use the Five-Stage Framework as the basis for your institution's AI integrity policy. Guidance and support available.

👥

Bulk Orders

Institutional pricing available for bulk orders of 20+ copies. Contact us at enquiries@acadama.com for details.

Free Resource

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Framework Summary

Get a one-page summary of the Five-Stage Framework — ready to share with your students, team, or institution.

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Get the Book

Available now on Amazon

📱

eBook

ISBN: 978-1-919-5589-2-9
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📗

Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-919-5589-1-2
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Published by Information Managers Ltd, London · enquiries@acadama.com · www.acadama.com