All students are expected to adhere to basic standards of academic honesty and integrity. All work submitted is expected to be the student’s own thought and expression unless another source is acknowledged and appropriately referenced. Violation of academic honesty is regarded as an extremely serious offense. Discovery of such a violation may result in an “F” grade for the course, and possible termination as a student at the University, or revocation of a degree previously granted. In any case, members of the Teaching Faculty are obligated to report all apparent violations of academic honesty to the Program Chair and Office of Student Services.
Plagiarism is literary theft, or offering the words or ideas of another as if they were one’s own, with no acknowledgment of the source. Whenever the ideas or words used are taken from a source, this source must be given credit. This applies not only to direct quotations, but also to indirect quotations (in which the original statement is paraphrased). Sources that must be given credit include published books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc., as well as other types of media (such as Internet sources, film, video, television, radio, audio recordings, and other electronic resources, as well as lectures and the work of other students). The principle also holds true for less direct borrowings, if the ideas in question are distinctive to the source as opposed to being considered common knowledge. (This is often a matter of judgment; when in doubt, students are advised to err on the side of giving too many citations, rather than too few.) The prohibition of plagiarism applies to dissertations, theses, projects, term papers, class reports, take-home examinations, and any other work (whether in writing or in another media for communicating ideas) intended to fulfill requirements for a class or degree program.
The University recognizes that plagiarism is culturally defined. Consequently, students not experienced in the U.S. educational system may be asked to rewrite plagiarized work without the assumption of dishonest intent on the student’s part. Nevertheless, under no circumstances is plagiarized work acceptable, and all students are expected to learn what constitutes plagiarism in the U.S. educational context.
Cheating involves the use of any kind of assistance (e.g., written, oral, aural, or visual or artificial intelligence [AI] e.g. ChatGPT ) that has not been specifically authorized. Students are not to receive assistance from others with their coursework unless it has been clearly specified that a certain form of assistance is permissible (e.g., in the preparation for, as distinct from the actual writing of, the examination), or that an assignment is to be a collaborative effort.
All student work must be original and intended for the particular course for which the student submits an assignment unless previously approved by the course instructor. Turning in an assignment created for another course is a form of self-plagiarism and is subject to the university’s plagiarism policies.
If it is determined that cheating or academic dishonesty has taken place, consequences may be as follows:
The faculty member will report the incident to the Dean of Academic Affairs and the Associate Vice President of Student Services. A letter regarding the academic dishonesty will be placed in the student’s file and a copy will be sent to the student.
The student may be penalized:
Students wishing to appeal an academic honesty violation should contact the Associate Vice President of Student Services for assistance with facilitation. Appeals must be made in writing within two weeks of notification and will be reviewed by the Council for Student Success and Academic Affairs (COSA). The decision of COSA is final and will be communicated to the student in writing. If the instructor involved is currently serving on COSA, the Dean of Academic Affairs will appoint another faculty person to replace the instructor involved for the discussion and vote on the appeal.
How can we avoid plagiarism?
Solution for this problem:
Use proper citations
Do not let more than 15% of your paper be direct quotes.
Provide original work for each assignment
In addition to the tips listed above, there are also websites that you can utilize to help check your work for plagiarism. They are: