ACADEMIC INTEGRITY GUIDELINES

Statement:

Plagiarism and cheating in any form, whether intentional or unintentional, are unacceptable in Council Rock School District.

Definitions:

Academic Integrity is a commitment to the values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility in the academic process.

Academic Integrity Committee is a committee of school personnel who serve in the review and/or appeal process

Academic Misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, falsification, multiple submission, complicity or interference.

• Cheating – Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance (e.g., copying, using crib sheets, stealing exams, using electronic aids/devices, Internet sources, using aids like Cliff’s Notes instead of reading the original work) in any academic work or examination.  Using or attempting to use any unauthorized materials, information or study aids in an examination or academic work.                   

• Plagiarism – Representing the ideas or language of others as one’s own.                   

o         Using text from another source (e.g. web sites, books, journals, newspapers, etc.) without documenting the source

o         Using a direct quotation from a text without quotation marks, even if the source has been cited correctly

o         Paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas or text of another work without documenting the source

o         Substituting a word or phrase for the original while maintaining the original sentence structure

o         Citing sources incompletely with intention to deceive

o         Using graphics, visual imagery, video or audio without permission of the author or acknowledgment of the source

o         Translating text from one language to another without citing the original work

o         Obtaining packaged information (e.g. foreign language translation or a completed paper from an on-line source) and submitting it as one’s own work without acknowledging the source

• Falsification – Falsifying or inventing any information, data or citation in any academic work.

• Multiple Submission – Submitting substantial portions of any academic exercise more than once without prior authorization and approval of the teacher.   
• Complicity – Facilitating any of the above actions or performing work that another student then presents as his or her own work (e.g., copying someone’s homework or allowing someone to copy homework).                

• Interference – Interfering with the ability of a fellow student to perform his or her assignments (e.g., stealing notes or tearing pages out of books).  

Teacher Responsibilities for Avoiding Academic Misconduct: 

·         To create a learning environment that supports academic integrity

·         To educate and hold students accountable for complying with the Council Rock Academic Integrity Guidelines.

Student Responsibilities for Avoiding Academic Misconduct:

• To read, understand, and follow the Council Rock School District Academic Integrity Guidelines.

• To authenticate any assignment submitted to a teacher.  Students must be able to produce proof that the submitted assignment is actually their own work. Authentification of an assignment may include:

o         Keep copies of all drafts of work.

o         Keep photocopies of research materials (including downloads from web sites).

o         Keep notes, note cards, source cards.

o         Keep logs of work on assignments and papers.

o         Save drafts or versions of assignments electronically under individual file names.

The inability to authenticate work is sufficient grounds for a charge of plagiarism.

·         To provide proper documentation by including one or more of the following:

o         Following the district-approved documentation format per teacher direction.

o         Submitting an "acknowledgments page" (when applicable) to credit help given by others (e.g., help that has been approved by the teacher giving the assignment).

o         Using in-text or in-project documentation (e.g., media presentation) accurately and appropriately.

o         Using Works Cited and/or Works Consulted pages accurately and appropriately.

o         Submitting only his or her own work.

Academic Misconduct Consequences:

• The penalty for intentional academic misconduct is a grade of zero (0), as well as administrative referral.
• The second offense will result in a referral to the Academic Integrity Committee who will determine the consequences, which may include failure of the course. 
• The penalty for unintentional academic misconduct may result in a grade of zero (0), as well as administrative referral.  More than one instance of unintentional academic misconduct in the same course will result in a referral to the Academic Integrity Committee.
• Academic misconduct in the Elementary Performance Assessment, the Middle Level Literacy Portfolio, and the Graduation Project will result in documentation that the project requirement has not been satisfied. At the high school level, documentation will be noted on the student's transcript. In some situations additional penalties may apply.

Adapted, with permission, from the Academic Integrity Policies of Springfield Township High School and Fairleigh Dickenson University

Developed by a representative committee July, 2005.