Academic Integrity
Students must comply with all University standards of academic integrity. As stated on the undergraduate and graduate bulletin, "Claims of ignorance, of unintentional error, or of academic or personal pressures are not sufficient reasons for violations of academic integrity." If a student is discovered to not comply with academic integrity standards, the student will be reported to the Office of Graduate Admissions or the Dean of Undergraduate Studies Office (whichever applies) AND receive either a warning, be told to rewrite the plagiarized material, receive a lowering of a paper or project grade of at least one full grade, receive a failing grade for a project containing plagiarized material or examination in which cheating occurred, receive a lowering of course grade by one full grade or more, or a failing grade for the course depending on the infraction.
Types of violations detailed in the undergraduate and graduate bulletin include:
- Plagiarism: Presenting as one's own work, the work of another person (for example, the words, ideas, information, data, evidence, organizing principles, or style of presentation of someone else). Plagiarism includes paraphrasing or summarizing without acknowledgment, submission of another student's work as one's own, the purchase of prepared research or completed papers or projects, and the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else. Failure to indicate accurately the extent and precise nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences for violating University regulations.
Examples of plagiarism include: failure to acknowledge the source(s) of even a few phrases, sentences, or paragraphs; failure to acknowledge a quotation or paraphrase of paragraph-length sections of a paper; failure to acknowledge the source(s) of a major idea or the source(s) for an ordering principle central to the paper's or project's structure; failure to acknowledge the source (quoted, paraphrased, or summarized) of major sections or passages in the paper or project; the unacknowledged use of several major ideas or extensive reliance on another person's data, evidence, or critical method; submitting as one's own work, work borrowed, stolen, or purchased from someone else. - Cheating on Examinations: Giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include collaboration of any sort during an examination (unless specifically approved by the instructor); collaboration before an examination (when such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the instructor); the use of notes, books, or other aids during an examination (unless permitted by the instructor); arranging for another person to take an examination in one's place; looking upon someone else's examination during the examination period; intentionally allowing another student to look upon one's exam; the unauthorized discussing of the test items during the examination period; and the passing of any examination information to students who have not yet taken the examination. There can be no conversation while an examination is in progress unless specifically authorized by the instructor.
- Unauthorized Collaboration: Collaborating on projects, papers, or other academic exercises which is regarded as inappropriate by the instructor(s). Although the usual faculty assumption is that work submitted for credit is entirely one's own, standards on appropriate and inappropriate collaboration vary widely among individual faculty and the different disciplines. Students who want to confer or collaborate with one another on work receiving academic credit should make certain of the instructor's expectations and standards.
- Multiple Submission: Submitting substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once, without the prior explicit consent of the instructor(s) to whom the material is being (or has in the past been) submitted.
- Falsification: Misrepresenting material or fabricating information in an academic exercise or assignment (for example, the false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of experimental or computer data, etc.)
- Sabotage: Destroying, damaging, or stealing of another's work or working materials (including lab experiments, computer programs, term papers, or projects).