Academic Dishonesty (Unethical Practices)

Definition 

Alfred University values integrity of all types - scholarly (research), personal and academic. As a result, the Faculty at Alfred University have set high standards for academic integrity and severe penalties for deviations, broadly called academic dishonesty, from these standards. 

Unethical conduct or academic dishonesty is defined as any action that enables students to receive credit for work that is not their own. Such conduct will not be tolerated in any form. Academic dishonesty can occur both in and outside the classroom, studio, or lab. This might involve venues as varied as student publications, art exhibits, and public presentations 

In the context of tests, quizzes, examinations, or other in-class work, dishonest practices include but are not limited to:

• Marking an answer sheet in a way designed to deceive the person correcting it
• Possession of unauthorized material that could be used during a quiz, test, or examination for the purposes of cheating
• The unauthorized use of books or notes during a quiz, test, or examination
• The hiding or positioning of notes or other tools for the purposes of cheating on a quiz, test, or examination
• Possession or knowledge of any examination prior to its administration
• Looking at someone else's quiz, test, or examination without the express permission of the instructor
• Any form of unauthorized communication during a quiz, test, or examination. This includes use of any electronic communication devices without the consent of the instructor. Such devices include--but are not limited to--cellular phones, Bluetooth, computer internet, recording devices, and PDA, CD and MP3 players.

In the context of writing assignments, research projects, lab reports, and other academic work completed outside the classroom, dishonest practices, commonly referred to as plagiarism, include but are not limited to:

• Lack of adequate and appropriate citation of all sources used
• The appropriation of another’s ideas, analysis, or actual words without necessary and adequate source citations, either deliberately or inadvertently
• The copying, purchase, or other appropriation of another person’s academic work with the intention of passing it off as one’s own original production
• The creation of a document by more than one student that is then submitted to the instructor as the original creation of only one student, without the express permission of the instructor
• Submitting the same piece of work to more than one instructor without the express permission of ALL instructors involved

Guidelines for Avoiding Dishonest Behavior

The following guidelines are included to assist students in avoiding dishonest behavior in their academic work, particularly in writing assignments, research projects, and lab reports.

1. Students’ written work should reflect their own personal preparation for the assignment, such as reading books and articles, performing research on the internet and in electronic databases, and taking notes in class and during the research process.
2. Students should avoid using the actual words of the authors of their sources whenever possible, opting instead to demonstrate an understanding of the authors’ ideas by rewriting them in their own words.
3. All ideas and analyses that are derived from other authors must be attributed to those authors in the form of appropriate source citations, even when their own words are not used. Source citations usually take the form of footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations in addition to a formal bibliography and/or works cited page at the end of the writing assignment. The format for these source citations depends on the conventions of each academic discipline: consult your instructor as to the appropriate form to use.
4. When the use of an author’s specific text is unavoidable or necessary, that material must be identified as a direct quotation and must either be surrounded by quotation marks or formatted as a block quotation. Appropriate source citations must follow all quotations, as per the instructions above.
5. Circumstances when direct quotation is necessary or desirable include:
   1. The wording of the text is essential to the student’s own analysis.
   2. The text exemplifies the author’s particular perspective.
   3. Quoting the text is a more efficient way of presenting the author’s ideas than a more elaborate and lengthy paraphrase would be.
      
      It should be noted that lengthy quotations or their overuse is neither desirable nor appropriate in most instances and should be avoided. Additionally, over-reliance on lengthy quotations can be considered a form of plagiarism.
6. Some instructors find collaborative assignments useful. Students may be allowed to collaborate in shared assignments only with the specific permission of the instructor. In those circumstances, the limits to the collaboration will be established by the instructor and students should be aware that they are responsible for maintaining the appropriate limits to that collaboration.

Procedures

Instructors who believe an unethical practice has occurred should take the following steps:

1. The instructor will advise the student orally or by email as soon as possible after the offense is observed. This will allow simple misunderstandings and misinterpretations to be resolved.
2. If the instructor remains convinced that an offense has occurred, a written statement of the offense will be sent to the student in hard copy and by e-mail. The statement will include whatever penalty the instructor considers appropriate; a copy will be sent to the instructor's dean, the student's dean or program chair, and, if the recommended penalty is dismissal, the Provost.
3. The academic dean or program director of the student's college/program should advise the student of appeals procedures which are available.

A student charged with an unethical practice may appeal to the appropriate program committee. 

Any student dismissed from a Graduate program may request reconsideration or appeal of the matter by the student's Dean for presentation to the Graduate Program's Scholastic Standards Committee; such requests to be made within 14 days of the notice of dismissal.