Rutgers University Interim Academic Integrity Policy

Effective September 1, 2011
 
As an academic community dedicated to the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge, Rutgers University is committed to fostering an intellectual and ethical environment based on the principles of academic integrity. Academic integrity is essential to the success of the university's educational and research missions, and violations of academic integrity constitute serious offenses against the entire academic community. This academic integrity policy is designed to guide students as they prepare assignments, take examinations, and perform the work necessary to complete their degree requirements.
 
The principles of academic integrity require that a student:

• properly acknowledge and cite all use of the ideas, results, or words of others.
• properly acknowledge all contributors to a given piece of work.
• make sure that all work submitted as his or her own in a course or other academic activity is produced without the aid of unsanctioned materials or unsanctioned collaboration.
• obtain all data or results by ethical means and report them accurately without suppressing any results inconsistent with his or her interpretation or conclusions.
• treat all other students in an ethical manner, respecting their integrity and right to pursue their educational goals without interference. This requires that a student neither facilitate academic dishonesty by others nor obstruct their academic progress.
• uphold the canons of the ethical or professional code of the profession for which he or she is preparing.

 
Adherence to these principles is necessary in order to ensure that:

• everyone is given proper credit for his or her ideas, words, results, and other scholarly accomplishments.
• all student work is fairly evaluated and no student has an inappropriate advantage over others.
• the academic and ethical development of all students is fostered.
• the reputation of the university for integrity in its teaching, research, and scholarship is maintained and enhanced.

Failure to uphold these principles of academic integrity threatens both the reputation of the university and the value of the degrees awarded to its students. Every member of the university community therefore bears a responsibility for ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld.

The university administration is responsible for working with faculty and students to foster a strong institutional culture of academic integrity, for providing effective educational programs that create an understanding of and commitment to academic integrity, and for establishing equitable and effective procedures to deal with allegations of violations of academic integrity.  

The faculty shares with the administration the responsibility for educating students about the importance and principles of academic integrity. Faculty members [For purposes of the Academic Integrity Policy, the term faculty member includes not only tenured, tenure-track, and nontenure-track faculty members, but also part-time lecturers, coadjutants, teaching asistantships, staff members, and administrators who are serving as the instructor of record in a course; i.e., the instructor responsible for assigning final course grades.] are expected to inform students of the particular requirements regarding academic integrity within their specific courses, to make reasonable efforts to minimize academic dishonesty, and to respond appropriately to violations of academic integrity. Faculty members are strongly encouraged to provide a statement concerning academic integrity and a link to the Academic Integrity Policy on their course syllabi.

Students are responsible for understanding the principles of academic integrity and abiding by them in all aspects of their work at the university. Students are also encouraged to help educate fellow students about academic integrity and to bring all alleged violations of academic integrity they encounter to the attention of the appropriate authorities.

To promote a strong culture of academic integrity, Rutgers has adopted the following honor pledge to be written and signed on examinations and major course assignments submitted for grading: On my honor, I have neither received nor given any unauthorized assistance on this examination (assignment). In addition, students are required to take an online tutorial and pass an online examination on academic integrity in their first semester at Rutgers and to affirm periodically that they understand the Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy and will abide by it in all their academic work.  

The complete Academic Integrity Policy can be found at: http://judicialaffairs.rutgers.edu/files/documents/AI_Policy_Effective_9_01_2011.pdf.