Academic integrity means honesty and responsibility in scholarship. Professors have to obey rules of honest scholarship, and so do students. Here are the basic assumptions about academic work at the University of Oklahoma:

(1) Students attend OU in order to learn and grow.
(2) Academic assignments exist for the sake of this goal.
(3) Grades exist to show how fully the goal is attained.
(4) Thus, all work and all grades should result from the student's own effort to learn and grow. Academic work completed any other way is pointless, and grades obtained any other way are fraudulent.

Academic integrity means understanding and respecting these basic truths, without which no university can exist. Academic misconduct -- "cheating" -- is not just "against the rules." It violates the assumptions at the heart of all learning. It destroys the mutual trust and respect that should exist between student and professor. Finally, it is unfair to students who earn their grades honestly.

The "Academic Integrity Code" and related documents describe in detail a student's rights and responsibilities as a member of the OU academic community. (Rules and procedures are somewhat different for the Health Sciences Center, the College of Law, and courses offered off-campus). The Code defines academic misconduct simply as any act which improperly affects the evaluation of a student's academic performance or achievement. Just as professionals are expected to know the rules of their profession, students have to know what counts as misconduct. Claiming ignorance of the rules is not a defense. So when in doubt, ask your professor!

Here are some issues that come up frequently. These are merely examples and do not limit what counts as misconduct under the Academic Integrity Code:

CHEATING AND UNAUTHORIZED MATERIAL ON EXAMINATIONS. Tests test how well the student has learned. Therefore, unless the professor specifies otherwise, all examinations are to be completed by the student alone, without extraneous assistance of any kind. That means no help is to be given to or received from other persons during the test; no books, notes, calculators, or other materials of any kind are to be consulted; and if a calculator or other hand-held electronic device is permitted to be used for mathematical calculations, no other information may be programmed into or retrieved from the device. Whenever the professor permits an exception to any part of these rules, the exception applies only as far as specified by the professor. Such exceptions must be expressly permitted and cannot be presumed from prior exceptions on other tests.

IMPROPER COLLABORATION. Collaboration means working together. Many classes emphasize working with a partner or in groups. Permission from the professor to "work together" on a homework, project or paper is not permission to violate the rules of integrity by presenting another student's work as your own. Unless the professor specifies otherwise, it is assumed that all work submitted for a grade will be the product of the student's own understanding, and thus expressed in the student's own words, calculations, computer code, etc. When a student's work is identical or very similar to someone else's at points where individual variations in expression would be expected, it is reasonable for the professor to conclude that academic misconduct has occurred.

SUBMITTING THE SAME ASSIGNMENT FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES. Submitting the same assignment for a second class violates the assumption that every assignment advances a student's learning and growth. Unless the second instructor expressly allows it, submitting an assignment already submitted for another class is a form of academic misconduct.

FABRICATION, FORGERY, ALTERATION OF DOCUMENTS, LYING, ETC., IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ACADEMIC ADVANTAGE. It's wrong to lie to an instructor in order to get an excused absence, an extension on a due date, a makeup examination, an Incomplete, admission to a class or program, etc. It's wrong to forge an instructor's signature on drop slips, or anywhere else for academic advantage. It's wrong to falsify transcripts and diplomas. It's wrong to fake data, for example in an assigned lab project, or fabricate quotations or sources for a paper. The one who lies to get out of a difficult situation usually feels that there's nothing personal about it. The one who gets lied to feels differently. All of these actions destroy the institution's integrity and eat away at the expectation of mutual trust among all members of the academic community.

ASSISTING OTHERS IN MISCONDUCT. Helping someone else cheat is itself an Integrity Code violation. So is providing someone with a paper or homework, or any other form of help, where you know, or reasonably should know that the other student will use it to cheat.

ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT MISCONDUCT. Trying to cheat is misconduct, even if the attempt is discovered before it is completed. For example, possession of unauthorized notes in an examination is misconduct, even if they have not yet been used. Asking others for help in cheating is misconduct even if nobody responds and no cheating ultimately occurs.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, HACKING, ETC. It is an Integrity Code violation to steal or destroy other students' work if the attempt is motivated by the desire to gain an academic advantage for oneself. The same is true for gaining unauthorized access to faculty offices, email accounts, or course management services in order to alter grades, access examinations, or otherwise gain improper academic advantage.

INTIMIDATION AND INTERFERENCE WITH INTEGRITY PROCESSES. Interfering with the proper functioning of the Academic Integrity Code is also a violation of the Code. For example, it is a violation to threaten or bribe someone to prevent that person from reporting misconduct or testifying in a hearing. The Student Code may also apply to such conduct.

Here is OU's basic assumption about writing: all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words.
That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's a form of academic misconduct called plagiarism. Within the academic community and specifically at the University of Oklahoma, the following rules apply:

1. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS AND PRESENT THEM AS YOUR OWN WRITING. It is the worst form of plagiarism to copy part or all of a paper from the Internet, from a book, or from another source without indicating in any way that the words are someone else's. To avoid this form of plagiarism, the paper must BOTH place the quoted material in quotation marks AND use an acceptable form of documentation to indicate where the words come from.

2. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS, EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE SOURCE, UNLESS YOU ALSO INDICATE THAT THE COPIED WORDS ARE A DIRECT QUOTATION. Simply documenting the source in a footnote or bibliography isn't good enough. You must also indicate that the words themselves are quoted from someone else. To avoid this form of plagiarism, put all quoted words in quotation marks or use equivalent punctuation.

3. IT IS PLAGIARISM TO COPY WORDS AND THEN CHANGE THEM A LITTLE, EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE SOURCE. Repeating someone else's writing in different words so it's not a direct quotation is called "paraphrasing." Paraphrasing is fine when you indicate the source and the new expression is actually your own. When it's not -- when the expression remains substantially similar to the source as a whole or in one of its parts -- it's plagiarism. Even if not specifically prohibited by the instructor, "writing" a paper by copying words and then altering them violates OU's basic assumption about writing and may easily result in a charge of academic misconduct. To count as "your own words," your paper must be so significantly different from your sources that a reasonable reader would consider it a new piece of writing. If it's not -- if "your writing" is substantially similar to somebody else's where individual variations would be expected, it's plagiarism.

4. EVEN IF YOU EXPRESS THEM IN YOUR OWN WORDS, IT IS PLAGIARISM TO PRESENT SOMEONE ELSE'S IDEAS AS YOUR OWN. It is plagiarism to present someone else's original arguments, lines of reasoning, or factual discoveries as your own, even if you put the material in your own words. To avoid this form of plagiarism, cite the source.

THE RULES AGAINST PLAGIARISM APPLY TO ALL ASSIGNMENTS. Take-home tests, comprehensive examinations, "review of the literature" sections of theses or dissertations, and all other assignments are subject to these rules. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying unquoted, uncited material..

"BUT I DIDN'T MEAN TO CHEAT." Misconduct occurs whenever a reasonable student would understand that the action constitutes misconduct. Unfamiliarity with the Integrity Code or an instructor's failure to specifically prohibit misconduct is not a defense. What a reasonable student would understand may be a question to be decided in a hearing. Genuine ignorance usually affects the level of a student's culpability, not the existence of the offense.

Integrity matters to all students, so the University of Oklahoma maintains an academic integrity system with the help of the student Integrity Council. The system lets anyone -- not just professors -- report cheating. The system also protects the due process rights of students and provides for student-run hearings in contested cases. To report misconduct or to learn about a student's rights in this system, see http://integrity.ou.edu.

Once a problem is found, the student may receive an "admonition" (warning) from the professor, or the case may be referred for review as an Integrity Code violation. Admonitions are for lesser offenses only and may result only in a grade reduction that does not exceed the value of the assignment. A student who receives an admonition may contest it by contacting the Integrity Council office. Alleged Code violations may be investigated by the Integrity Council and may result in a hearing. If a Code violation is established, there are two parts to the penalty: the grade penalty and the university penalty. The grade penalty is imposed by the instructor. It can range from a lower grade on the affected work to an F for the course. In some cases, the professor may require extra work before the course can be completed. The University penalty is imposed separately from the grade penalty. University penalties range from a "censure" (an official reprimand, recorded as a note in the student's file), to classes or tutorials on integrity-related topics, to suspension for one or more semesters, to expulsion in the case of repeat or especially bad offenses. Suspensions and expulsions are also noted on the student's transcript. At the University's option, transcript notations can be temporary or permanent. Even if it is not noted on the transcript, a Code violation becomes part of the student's record. Students intending to apply to post-graduate programs such as law school or medical school should be particularly aware of disclosure requirements for those programs.

A first-time infraction may lead to an "admonition" or warning from the professor. In that case, there may be a grade penalty up to a zero on the assignment, but no further penalty. More serious or repeat infractions may be referred to the Integrity Council as a suspected violation of the Academic Integrity Code. There are two parts to the penalty for any Code violation that is established: the grade penalty from the professor and the institutional penalty from the University. The grade penalty can range from a lower grade on the affected work to an F for the course. In some cases, the professor may require extra work before the course can be completed. The University penalty is imposed separately from the grade penalty. University penalties include a censure (an official reprimand recorded as a note in the student's file), integrity training, suspension for one or more semesters, and expulsion. Suspensions and expulsions are noted on the student's transcript. At the University's option, transcript notations can be temporary or permanent.