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.

How do I know what counts as "academic misconduct"?

The "Academic Misconduct Code" describes 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 Misconduct 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.

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.

Click here for examples of these four kinds of plagiarism.

What happens when a student is accused of academic misconduct?

At the University of Oklahoma, a student accused of academic misconduct has a right to a hearing if he or she wants one. Misconduct cases are heard by a board made up of three professors and two students. Accused students have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, to present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and even hire an attorney or seek representation from UOSA counsel. There is also a right of appeal. Accused students have all these rights because the penalties for academic misconduct can be quite severe.

What are the penalties for academic misconduct?

There are two parts to the penalty in any misconduct case: 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 community service 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.

For more information . . .

For information on admonitions and how to contest them, go to RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT CODE. For additional information on the misconduct system, click on the integrity MENU PAGE.

To obtain a hard copy of the Academic Misconduct Code, together with the Student Code and other important University regulations, contact Campus Judicial Coordinator Justin McFeeters, 338 Cate Center (325-1540).  To obtain free assistance with a pending academic misconduct case, contact the UOSA General Counsel, 114 Ellison Hall (325-5474). To ask a question or make a suggestion about the OU academic misconduct system, contact Assistant Provost Greg Heiser, 104 Evans Hall (325-3221), gheiser@ou.edu.

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