At Syracuse University, academic integrity is expected of every community member in all endeavors. Academic integrity includes a commitment to the values of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, and respect. These values are essential to the overall success of an academic society. In addition, each member of the university community has a right to expect the highest standards of academic integrity from all other community members. An individual’s academic dishonesty threatens and undermines the central mission of the University. It is unfair to other community members who do not cheat, because it devalues efforts to learn, to teach, and to conduct research. Academic dishonesty interferes with moral and intellectual development, and poisons the atmosphere of open and trusting intellectual discourse. Syracuse University’s academic integrity policy and procedures are administered by the Academic Integrity Office in the Division of Academic Affairs, and all schools and colleges (see supplemental policy and procedures for the College of Law).
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY EXPECTATIONS
Academic integrity is violated by any dishonest act which is committed in an academic context including, but not limited to the following:
Use of Sources Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s language, ideas, information, or original material without acknowledging the source. Examples of plagiarism:
- Paper is downloaded from an Internet source and/or obtained from a paper mill.
- Paper contains part or all of the writings of another person (including another student), copied without citation.
- Paper contains passages that were cut and pasted from an Internet source, without citation.
While students are responsible for knowing how to quote from, paraphrase, and cite sources correctly, the ability to apply that information in all writing situations is an advanced literacy skill acquired over time through repeated practice. When a student has attempted to acknowledge sources but has not done so fully or completely, the instructor may determine that the issue is misuse of sources or bad writing, rather than plagiarism. Factors that may be relevant to the determination between misuse of sources and plagiarism include prior academic integrity education at Syracuse University, and the program level of the student.
Course Work and Research
- The use or attempted use of unauthorized aids in examinations or other academic exercises submitted for evaluation;
- Fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data, results, sources for papers or reports; in clinical practice, as in reporting experiments, measurements, statistical analyses, tests, or other studies never performed; manipulating or altering data or other manifestations of research to achieve a desired result; selective reporting, including the deliberate suppression of conflicting or unwanted data;
- Copying from another student’s work;
- Actions that destroy or alter the work of another student;
- Unauthorized cooperation in completing assignments or examinations;
- Submission of the same written work in more than one course without prior written approval from both instructors.
Communications
- Violating the confidentiality of an academic integrity investigation, resolution, or documentation;
- Making a false report of academic dishonesty;
- Dishonesty in requests for make-up exams, for extensions of deadlines for submitting papers, or in any other matter relating to a course.
Representations and Materials Misuse
- Falsification of records, reports, or documents associated with the educational process;
- Misrepresentation of one’s own or another’s identity for academic purposes;
- Misrepresentation of material facts or circumstances in relation to examinations, papers, or other academic activities;
- Sale of papers, essays, or research for fraudulent use;
- Alteration or falsification of University records;
- Unauthorized use of University academic facilities or equipment, including computer accounts and files;
- Unauthorized recording, sale, purchase, or use of academic lectures, academic computer software, or other instructional materials;
- Expropriation or abuse of ideas and preliminary data obtained during the process of editorial or peer review of work submitted to journals, or in proposals for funding by agency panels or by internal University committees;
- Expropriation and/or inappropriate dissemination of personally-identifying human subject data;
- Unauthorized removal, mutilation, or deliberate concealment of materials in University libraries, media, laboratories, or academic resource centers.
COURSE-SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
A. The instructor of record is responsible for determining and communicating course-specific academic integrity expectations. Instructors of record are responsible for stating, in writing, course-specific expectations, particularly those regarding use of sources and collaboration.
B. Students are responsible for consulting their instructors for any clarification needed on academic integrity standards, including those set forth in this policy and those that are course-specific.
C. Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another in an act of academic dishonesty. Collusion is distinct from collaborative learning, which may be a valuable component of scholarly development. Acceptable levels of collaboration vary in different courses, and students are expected to consult with their instructor if they are uncertain whether their cooperative activities are acceptable.
TRANSCRIPT NOTATIONS
When an “F” grade for course failure is imposed for an academic integrity violation, the grade on the transcript will be marked with the notation “(X).” The failing grade is counted toward the GPA. If the “(X)” notation is applied for a first violation, it will be removed only upon the student’s completion of an educational program and full compliance with all consequences associated with the violation. After the “(X)” notation is removed, the student may petition to flag the failing grade. If the “(X)” is applied for a subsequent violation, the notation will be permanently retained on the transcript.
