Academic Integrity

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic Integrity is defined as the honest and responsible pursuit of scholarship. Academic integrity is characterized by

  • completing exams and other academic assignments in an honest way
  • presenting truthful and accurate data and research information in academic assignments
  • avoiding plagiarism by properly incorporating and acknowledging sources

Practice

Which of the following is NOT a vital characteristic of academic integrity?

  1. doing your own work on assignments
  2. correctly citing sources in a research paper
  3. completing all work without assistance or help from a TA
  4. presenting accurate and truthful data
  5. following assignment and exam instructions

Academic Dishonesty

In all academic work, students are expected to submit materials that are their own and are to include attribution for any ideas or language that are not their own. Examples of dishonest conduct include, but are not limited to:

  • Cheating including giving and receiving information in examinations.
  • Falsification of data, results or sources.
  • Collusion, such as working with another person when independent work is assigned.
  • Plagiarism.
  • Submitting the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission (self-plagiarism).

Cheating

Cheating is the most well-known academically dishonest behavior. Cheating includes more than just copying a neighbor’s answers on an exam or peeking at a cheat sheet or storing answers on your phone. Giving or offering information in examinations is also dishonest. Turning in someone else’s work as your own is also considered cheating.

Collusion

Collusion, such as working with another person or persons when independent work is assigned, is considered academic dishonesty. While it is fine to work in a team if your professor specifically requires or allows it, be sure to communicate about guidelines on permissible collaboration if you are unsure (including how to attribute the contributions of others).

True Story: In 2012, 125 Harvard students (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Harvard_cheating_scandal) were investigated for working together on a take-home final exam. The only rule on the exam was not to work together. Almost half of those students were determined to have cheated, and forced to withdraw from school for a year.

Falsifying Results and Misrepresentation

Falsifying results in studies or experiments is a serious breach of academic honesty. Students are sometimes tempted to make up results if their study or experiment does not produce the results they hoped for. But getting caught has major consequences.

Misrepresenting yourself or your research is, by definition, dishonest. Misrepresentation might include inflating credentials, claiming that a study proves something that it does not, or leaving out inconvenient and/or contradictory results.

True Story: An undergraduate at the University of Kansas claimed to be a researcher and promoted his (unfortunately incorrect) research on how much a Big Mac would cost if the U.S. raised minimum wage. His study was picked up by the Huffington Post, NY Times, and other major news outlets, who then had to publish retractions.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when you present another person’s ideas, intentionally or unintentionally, as your own. In the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, Joseph Gibaldi likens plagiarism to “intellectual theft,” because it “gives the impression that you wrote or thought something that you in fact borrowed from someone, and to do so is a violation of professional ethics” (165). It is your responsibility as the student to avoid plagiarizing. As a scholar you are expected to credit the sources of the ideas that you use in your own work.

How Can You Avoid Academic Dishonesty?

  • Start your assignments early and stay on track with due dates.
  • Ask for help from your professor.
  • Join a study group.
  • Take careful notes as you do your research and organize your sources.
  • Work with a Librarian or the Writing Center to integrate and cite your sources and avoid plagiarism.
  • Prioritize your integrity!

Know What Needs a Citation

The key to avoiding plagiarism is to make sure you give credit where credit is due. This may be credit for something somebody said, wrote, emailed, drew, or implied. You need to give credit to:

  • Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
  • Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person face-to-face, over the phone, or in writing
  • Exact words or a unique phrase that you copy
  • Diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials that you reprint
  • Any electronically available media, including images, audio, video, or other media, that you reuse or repost.

Ultimately, you must cite any source of information you use in your paper that doesn’t originate with you. You do NOT need to cite:

  • your own ideas and opinions
  • your own words
  • common knowledge

Examples of common knowledge include:

  • Basic facts: there are 365 days in a year, the earth orbits the sun, the molecular structure of water (H2O), etc.
  • Very well-known quotes: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” or “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” You still have to use quotation marks and indicate who said the quote (Romeo in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and John F. Kennedy, respectively), but you do not need to include the source in your bibliography.
  • Subject-specific common knowledge: There is information in specific disciplines or branches of knowledge that is considered common knowledge. A good indicator of what constitutes common knowledge is if you see the information in 4 or 5 articles or books and it does not need a citation. Until you become familiar with what is considered common knowledge in your major area of study, it is best to play it safe and cite your sources or ask your professor.

Practice

What needs a citation?

  1. 86% of internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints.
  2. The Supreme Court ruling for Brown v. the Board of Education states, “Racial discrimination in public education is unconstitutional.”
  3. Paris is the Capital of France.
  4. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America.
  5. Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
  6. 52, 950 unaccompanied homeless youth were supported through school based programs in 2008-09.