Academic Dishonesty

Download Academic Dishonesty Statement

This document represents the position of the School of Health Science and Wellness at Northwest Missouri State University on the subject of academic integrity. This document is consistent with the University's overall procedures and penalties for academic honesty, which state, in part, that "it is the responsibility of every student to avoid dishonest practices" (Undergraduate Catalogue, page nos. depend on year of catalogue). Therefore, before you submit written work or complete other forms of assessment, you should take the time to understand what academic dishonesty is and how to avoid it. By signing this document, you acknowledge that you have read and understand both the School's statement on academic honesty (i.e., this document) and the University's statement and policy on academic dishonesty (Undergraduate Catalogue). You also agree to abide by these guidelines and to personally take responsibility in all Psychology courses, to learn, understand, and use APA format when citing your sources, and/or to personally take responsibility in Sociology courses to learn, understand, and use the format required by your instructor.

This document is based on information from The George Washington University, the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Information Systems (Northwest Missouri State University), and www.TurnItIn.com (retrieved November 18, 2003).

What constitutes academic dishonesty?

Academic dishonesty can occur in many forms. According to the University's policy on academic dishonesty:

There are eight broad areas of academic dishonesty: (1) obtaining unauthorized aid or information; (2) giving unauthorized aid or information; (3) committing plagiarism from written, electronic, or Internet sources; (4) misrepresenting facts or data; (5) offering bribes; (6) using library resources unethically; (7) using computer resources unethically; and (8) knowingly assisting in any of the above practices. (Undergraduate Catalogue).

Academic dishonesty, therefore, includes but is not limited to:

• Lying or cheating of any kind.
• Receiving from any source -- without express permission from the instructor -- answers to or information related to any academic assignment (e.g., papers, examinations, lab reports, etc.) This may include but is not limited to
  • Working on an assignment with anyone else unless you receive express permission from your instructor that you may work with others.
  • Receiving or using copies of tests or other assignments from any source unless instructed to do so by your instructor.
  • Submitting the same paper in more than one class (whether submitted in concurrent or different semesters) without the written permission of both instructors.
• Giving answers to others on individual homework assignments or tests (see #1 above). Anytime you share your work or any "unauthorized aid or information" with anyone else to review and/or copy you have cheated--even if you have done all your own work!
• Plagiarism. You plagiarize anytime you steal or represent someone else's work/ideas/words as your own. This can occur intentionally (e.g., when you put your name on a paper that was created by someone else) or unintentionally (e.g., when you fail to cite the source(s) for your information). According to www.TurnItIn.com, plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
  • use of information from any source without crediting the source;
  • presenting as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source;
  • turning in someone else's work as your own;
  • failing to put a quotation in quotation marks and failing to cite your sources;
  • giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation;
  • paraphrasing words or ideas from someone else without citing your sources;
  • changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit;
  • copy or paraphrase so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not.
    
    You must use the rules delineated in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th Edition) for crediting sources in any work you do unless otherwise stipulated by your instructor. This includes any academic assignment (e.g., class papers, discussion questions posted on the Internet/Northwest Online, powerpoint presentations, audiotape/videotape presentations, etc.). You are responsible for crediting your sources by obtaining and applying current APA guidelines. You can find abbreviated tutorials for referencing help at the Owens Library website and at APAStyle.org.
• Intentionally fabricating or using unauthorized data in any academic exercise.