Commitment to honest, fair, and responsible scholarship

Producing and presenting work that is authentically your own

Giving proper credit for others’ ideas, words, data, and creative works

Protects the value of qualifications and credentials

Builds trust in research and learning communities

Develops ethical habits for professional life

Honesty

Trust

Fairness

Respect

Responsibility

Courage

Verbatim copying without quotation marks and citation

Patchwriting (minor word changes while keeping structure/ideas)

Paraphrasing too closely to the original source

Submitting someone else’s paper or purchased work (contract cheating)

Using AI-generated text without disclosure when prohibited or required

Unauthorized notes, devices, websites, or communication during exams

Looking at another student’s work or sharing answers

Getting exam questions in advance or using leaked materials

Impersonation (having someone take an exam for you)

Making up data, sources, citations, or results

Altering data, images, or findings to mislead

Misreporting methods, procedures, or sample sizes

Working together when individual work is required

Sharing files, code, or solutions beyond permitted limits

Dividing tasks and submitting merged work as independent work

Reusing your prior work without permission or proper citation

Submitting the same assignment to multiple courses without approval

Citing sources you did not consult (“citation padding”)

Misrepresenting what a source claims

Missing required page numbers, authors, dates, or other key details

Using images, figures, music, or datasets without permission/credit

Sharing course materials (slides, tests) against policy

Lack of required consent/approval (e.g., human subjects)

Unethical data collection, privacy violations, or misuse of confidential info

Reduced or zero marks on the assignment/exam

Failing grade for the course

Requirement to redo work or complete integrity training

Formal warnings and records on file

Probation, suspension, or expulsion

Loss of scholarships, awards, leadership roles, or honors

Damage to reputation and credibility

Loss of research opportunities, funding, or publication retractions

Employment or licensing consequences in regulated professions

Stress, loss of trust, and strained peer/instructor relationships

Undermining fairness for other students

Direct quotations (exact words)

Paraphrases and summaries of others’ ideas/arguments

Facts, statistics, datasets, and results that are not common knowledge

Images, tables, figures, diagrams, code, and multimedia

Ideas obtained from lectures, slides, or class discussions (when required)

Widely known facts within a discipline and easily verifiable

Rule of thumb: if in doubt, cite

Use quotation marks for short quotes; block quotes for longer ones (style-dependent)

Include page/paragraph/line numbers when the style requires

Quote accurately; use ellipses/brackets only for legitimate edits

Read, understand, close the source, then write in your own structure and words

Preserve meaning while changing phrasing and sentence organization

Cite the source even if fully paraphrased

Avoid “thesaurus swaps” that keep the original structure

Condense main points without excessive detail

Cite sources for summarized claims and overarching arguments

Use signal phrases (e.g., “Smith argues…”) to attribute ideas

Balance your analysis with evidence; avoid “quote dumping”

Explain relevance: interpret the source in your own words

APA (common in social sciences)

MLA (common in humanities)

Chicago/Turabian

IEEE/Vancouver (common in engineering/medicine)

In-text: identifies the source at the point of use

Reference list/bibliography: full publication details for retrieval

Ensure every in-text citation has a matching reference entry (and vice versa)

Images/figures

Websites

Lecture materials

AI tools (when permitted)

Keep full bibliographic details from the start

Use reference managers (e.g., Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley)

Store PDFs/links and notes to avoid lost citations

Start early to reduce last-minute pressure

Break tasks into milestones: research → outline → draft → revise

Build time for citations and proofreading

Separate:

Record source details immediately (author, year, page, URL)

Write from your outline, not by copying from sources

Use placeholders for citations during drafting (e.g., “(Author, Year, p. X)”)

Avoid mixing copied phrases into paraphrases

Compare your paraphrase to the original:

If wording must remain similar, convert to a direct quote with citation

Confirm all borrowed content has an in-text citation

Confirm reference list entries are complete and correctly formatted

Ensure page numbers/DOIs/URLs are correct where required

Treat similarity reports as a revision tool, not a guarantee

Review highlighted sections:

Clarify what is permitted (discussion vs shared writing)

Keep version history and contributions (Google Docs, Git, tracked changes)

Do not share completed solutions when not allowed

Check course policy on AI assistance and disclosure requirements

Use AI for allowed tasks (e.g., brainstorming, outlining) with transparency

Verify facts and citations; do not fabricate references

Preserve your authentic voice and original analysis

Consult instructors/TAs for unclear collaboration or citation rules

Use writing centers and librarians for research/citation guidance

Request extensions when overwhelmed rather than cutting corners

Is the work genuinely mine, with appropriate credited support?

Did I avoid reusing past work without permission/citation?

Are all quotes in quotation marks/block format with page numbers if needed?

Are all paraphrases genuinely reworded and cited?

Are figures/tables/code credited and permitted to use?

Do all in-text citations appear in the reference list?

Is the required style applied consistently?

Did I verify that every cited source was actually consulted?

Did I follow rules on collaboration, AI tools, and permitted materials?

Did I include any required disclosures (AI use, data handling, contributions)?