The following policy on undergraduate academic, scholarly, and professional integrity was originally formulated by the University’s Academic Integrity Taskforce. It was adopted by the University Senate on May 1, 2023.

This appendix of The Student Code describes the policy, the types of acts that shall be considered academic, scholarly, and professional misconduct by undergraduates, and it presents the process for resolving complaints of academic, scholarly, and professional integrity misconduct.

Purpose:

To ensure a commitment to academic, scholarly, and professional integrity in all levels of the university community.

Such a commitment ensures that:

1. all individuals accept full responsibility for their own work and ideas;
2. all academic/scholarly credit awarded to an individuals represents the work of that individual;
3. no student benefits from an unfair advantage;
4. faculty, staff, advisors and others who support the intellectual development of students are committed to fostering, guiding, and monitoring students for adherence to all principles of academic and scholarly integrity;
5. the grades earned, the degrees or certificate conferred were appropriately earned by the individual;
6. the reputation of the University with respect to academic and scholarly integrity are protected
7. faculty, staff, and students adhere to the professional standards of conduct specific to each program offered at the university;
8. this policy is used consistently across the University, including undergraduate and graduating students and schools/colleges.

Applies To:

This policy applies to all members of the University Community engaged in academic and scholarly efforts in, but is not limited to, the following contexts in undergraduate and graduate education:

1. courses, including online courses (e.g., assignments, exams, projects, thesis);
2. experiential and service-learning courses and activities;
3. study abroad programs;
4. clinical and practice placements, internships, and externships;
5. program assessments (e.g., comprehensive exams, thesis, program reviews);
6. research, including undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral scholar, and faculty research; and
7. processes involving submitting information (i.e., admissions, for scholarships/fellowships, for competitions, for awards, or other university programs); and
8. professional events and conferences

All members of the University community are responsible for ensuring that the principles of academic and scholarly integrity are upheld. This policy applies to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, with the exception of PharmD students in the School of Pharmacy and professional students with degrees conferred by the Schools of Dental Medicine, Medicine, or Law.

This policy does not apply to legal, regulatory, or compliance requirements that fall outside the Academic, Scholarly, Professional Integrity and Misconduct Policy. In addition, this policy does not remove any reporting requirements to the appropriate oversight authority in instances of noncompliance or alleged noncompliance.

Definitions:

Academic Integrity: a commitment by the University Community to uphold just and ethical behaviors, which includes truthfulness, fairness, and respect (ICAI, 2021).

Scholarly Integrity: a commitment by the University community to both research integrity and the ethical understanding and skill required of researchers/scholars in domestic, international, and multicultural contexts. It is also intended to address ethical aspects of scholarship that influence the next generation of researchers as teachers, mentors, supervisors, and successful stewards of grant funds.” (p. xix, Council of Graduate Schools, 2012).

Professional Integrity: Standards of behavior defined by the various professions in which students are prepared through their degree or certificate programs.

Academic, Scholarly, Professional Integrity and Misconduct: Academic, Scholarly, and Professional Misconduct is defined as unethical academic and scholarly behavior during a course (e.g., on an assignment or exam), as part of other degree requirements (e.g., requirements regarding placement, capstone or comprehensive exams, or placement exams), or at other times during undergraduate, graduate, or professional study and performance, including during engagement in fieldwork, clinical placements, or research. These behaviors include:

1. Cheating: Unauthorized acts, actions, or behaviors in academic or scholarly areas.

   Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:

   1. providing or receiving help on an assignment or exam intended to reflect the individual student’s work product when not authorized to do so by the instructor.
   2. buying, selling, circulating, or using a copy of instructional materials, assignment or test, including uploading such information to online services, or using materials prepared by services that sell or provide papers or other course materials.
   3. asking someone to complete an assignment, exam, or other requirement on your behalf or completing an assignment, exam, or requirement for another student.
   4. Failure to disclose unauthorized assistance on work submitted for evaluation, i.e., assistance obtained outside channels approved by instructors, that is used to complete a course, program, or degree requirement. This includes assistance from other students, teaching assistants, Quantitative Learning Center, Writing Center, or mediated support from the Center for Students with Disabilities.
2. Plagiarizing: Using one’s own previously published, presented, or disseminated material, or another person’s language/text, data, ideas, expressions, digital/graphic element, passages of music, mathematical proofs, scientific data, code, or other original material without authorization of the originating source or proper acknowledgement, attribution, or citation of the originating source.

   Examples of plagiarism include but are not limited to:

   1. submitting as one’s own any work (in whole or part) completed by another individual, including any work that has been purchased from an individual, commercial research firm, or obtained from the internet.
   2. submitting for evaluation or credit any work that was previously used or submitted for credit in another course or as part of a degree requirement (e.g., a thesis or dissertation) without authorization to do so from the instructor. (This includes self-plagiarism in the form of re-using, in part or whole, the content of a paper from another class or context.).
   3. submitting any work prepared for or used in a previous publication, academic competition, clinic, or other activity (e.g., grant or application submission) without prior approval and full disclosure or when permitted by established editorial or other policy. (This includes self-plagiarism in the form of using, in part or whole, the content of a paper that was previously published without attribution).
   4. unauthorized use of previously completed work or research for a thesis, dissertation, or publication.
3. Misrepresenting: Deliberately knowing and providing false or misleading information, including information about oneself or others. Examples of misrepresenting include but are not limited to:
   1. engaging in “any omission or misrepresentation of the information necessary and sufficient to evaluate the validity and significance of research, at the level appropriate to the context in which the research is communicated” (D. Fanelli, Nature 494:149; 2013).
   2. making unauthorized alterations to any document or digital file pertaining to academic or scholarly activity, including assignments, exams, and research data.
   3. Page 2 making up information for the purpose of deception (e.g., fabrication of data in research).
   4. making false, inaccurate, or misleading claims or statements, including claims/statements made when asking for assistance (e.g., requesting an extension on an assignment), applying for admission to an undergraduate or graduate program, applying for a scholarship or an academic, scholarly, or research award, or submitting manuscripts for publications.
   5. allowing someone to use one’s identity or using someone else’s identity for academic or scholarly advantage (e.g., signing in electronically for an absent student).
   6. accepting credit for work for which the individual did not contribute (e.g., misrepresenting an individual’s role in a group assignments).
4. Noncompliance: Failure to conform with codified and publicly available academic, scholarly, or professional standards, processes, or protocols.

   Examples of noncompliance include but are not limited to:

   1. not attending to the professional standards governing the professional conduct of students in particular fields (e.g., pharmacy, nursing, education, counseling, and therapy).
   2. violating protocols governing the use of human or animal subjects.
   3. breaching confidentiality in academic and scholarly activity (e.g., disclosing the identity of study participants).
   4. disregarding the applicable university, local, state, or federal regulations that guide academic or scholarly activities.

Instructor: any faculty, teaching assistant, or any other person (e.g., lab supervisor, clinical supervisor, professional staff) authorized by the University to provide educational services (e.g., teaching, research, advising).

Policy Statement: All members of the university community, including administrators, faculty, staff, and students, have a shared responsibility to uphold the highest ethical standards of academic, scholarly, and professional integrity and to report any violations of those standards of which they are aware.