Academic Integrity - Appendix

Examples of Academic Dishonesty 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of appropriating or imitating the language, ideas, or thoughts of another and presenting them as one's own or without proper acknowledgment. This includes submitting a paper or part of a paper written by another person as one's own, whether that material was officially published in another format, stolen, purchased, or shared freely. It also includes submitting a paper containing insufficient citation or misuse of source material. 

False Citation

Listing an author, title, or page reference as the source for obtained material, when the material actually came from another source or from another location within that source, is a breach of academic integrity. This includes attributing fabricated material to a real or fictitious source.

Duplicate Submission

Submitting one work in identical or similar form to fulfill more than one requirement without prior approval of the relevant faculty members is a breach of academic integrity. This includes using a paper for more than one course or submitting material previously used to meet another requirement.

Cheating on Examinations

Cheating on examinations by copying material from another person or source or by gaining any advance knowledge of the content or topic of an examination without the permission of the instructor is another breach of academic integrity. In the case of take-home examinations, the guidelines under collaboration (below) apply; failure to follow those guidelines constitutes academic dishonesty.

Group Work and Collaboration

Collaboration on a paper, test, lab, homework, or any other assignment is only allowed with the express permission of the instructor. Violations involving multiple students and group work include: Copying any part of an assignment, including answers, graphs, figures, and data; sharing a paper or assignment with another student without the instructor’s permission; and getting credit for a project when they did not contribute to the work.

Unintentional Plagiarism

Unintentional plagiarism is also a breach of academic integrity. Unintentional plagiarism, also known as patch writing, frequently occurs when students depend too heavily on textual material to make a point rather than making the point themselves and using the text to support it. In such cases, students cite the sources they have used, but do not correctly paraphrase the source material. They often also fail to indicate where paraphrased source material begins and ends. Unintentional plagiarism can also result from excessive collaboration when students fail to give adequate credit to others with whom they have worked. In all cases, unintentional plagiarism leaves the reader unsure of whose ideas are being presented, or leads them to assume that the words and ideas of others are those of the author. See the Writing Lab page on Academic Dishonesty for more information and guidelines to proper citation.

Other Examples of Academic Dishonesty

•    Providing false information to an instructor (e.g. falsely claiming sickness or a family death)
•    Forging a signature on an academic document
•    Falsifying a transcript or other university document
•    Intentionally sabotaging the academic work of another student
•    Intentionally disrupting the conduct of an exam to gain or provide an academic advantage
•    Intentionally preventing other students from accessing resources for an assignment
•    Offering a professor a bribe for a higher grade

 

Possible Consequences of First Report of Academic Dishonesty

Consequences that may be imposed by the instructor on the first report of academic dishonesty:
•    Reducing the grade of the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, with the opportunity to rewrite;
•    Reducing the grade of the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, without the opportunity to rewrite;
•    Failing the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, with the opportunity to rewrite;
•    Failing the student on the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, without the opportunity to rewrite;
•    Reducing the student’s grade for the course;
•    Failing the student for the course.