Academic Integrity

Policies, Procedures, and Resources for Students

• Research Time Management
• Plagiarism Avoidance Skills
• Know Your Citation Styles 
• Get Your Bibliographic Management Software

More Student Resources

For students, the concept of 'academic integrity' seems a bit vague. If you asked someone what an academic integrity violation was, they probably would be unable to answer. If you asked that same person, 'would you ever cheat on a test?' or 'have you ever copied someone else's research report and turned it in as your own work?' or 'have you ever cut and pasted a sentence or a paragraph into a research paper and not credited the original source?', they would hopefully say, 'No way -- that would be wrong!'

Time Pressures and Ignorance

Most academic integrity violations, including plagiarism, occur when the pressures of time make it seem easier to bend the rules a bit. Other factors include ignorance: maybe you never had to follow proper citation guidelines before; maybe the concept of 'paraphrasing' has always been difficult for you; maybe, like some people who illegally download and share music files, you just don't see that the fuss is all about.

Regardless of the reasons, this site has been established to help everyone, students, faculty and the university in general, do a better job of modeling good academic behavior. A lot depends on your own moral compass; do what's right and you'll be ok.