Various ways in which academic integrity can be violated are
described below. The comments and examples within each section provide
explanations and illustrative material, but do not exhaust the scope of
possible violations. For context and specific details, the University Code of
Student Conduct (http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~polcomp/judaff/docs/UCSC.pdf)
as well as the Office of Student Conduct (http://judicialaffairs.rutgers.edu)
websites should be consulted.
A. Cheating
Cheating is the use of impermissible and/or unacknowledged
materials, information, or study aids in any academic activity. Using books,
notes, calculators, conversations with others, etc., when their use is
restricted or forbidden, constitutes cheating. Similarly, students may not
request others (including commercial term paper companies) to conduct research
or prepare any work for them. Students may not submit identical work, or
portions thereof, for credit or honors more than once without prior approval of
the instructor to whom the work is being submitted for the second or subsequent
time.
B. Fabrication
Fabrication is the falsification or invention of any
information or citation in an academic work. "Invented" information
may not be used in any laboratory report or other academic work without
authorization from the instructor. It is improper, for example, to analyze one
sample in an experiment and "invent" data based on that single
experiment for several more required analyses. Students must also acknowledge
the actual source from which cited information was obtained. A student should
not, for example, reproduce a quotation from a book review and claim that the
quotation was obtained from the book itself.
C. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of
another as one's own in any academic work. To avoid plagiarism, every direct
quotation must be identified by quotation marks, or by appropriate indentation,
and must be cited properly according to the accepted format for the particular
discipline. Acknowledgment is also required when material from any source is
paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words. To
acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: to paraphrase Plato's
comment... and conclude with a footnote or appropriate citation to identify the
exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does
not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased
material. Information that is common knowledge, such as names of leaders of
prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc., need not be cited; however, the
sources of all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are
not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. In
addition to materials specifically cited in the text, other materials that
contribute to one's general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in
the bibliography.
Sometimes, plagiarism can be a subtle issue. Students should
be encouraged to discuss any questions about what constitutes plagiarism with
the faculty member teaching the course.
D. Denying others access to information or material
It is a violation of academic integrity to deny others
access to scholarly resources or to deliberately impede the progress of another
student or scholar. Examples of violations of this type include giving other
students false or misleading information; making library material unavailable
to others by stealing or defacing books or journals; deliberately misplacing or
destroying reserve materials; and altering someone else's computer files.
E. Facilitating violations of academic integrity
It is a violation of academic integrity for a student to aid
others in violating academic integrity. A student who knowingly or negligently
facilitates a violation of academic integrity is as culpable as the student who
receives the impermissible aid, even if the former student does not benefit
from the violation.
