Creative Opportunities for Academic Integrity

Janet Gray

Academic Integrity and You, a Student Guide to the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure, a brochure TCNJ distributes to all students, sets out the college's policies about honesty in academic work.  Here are some of the key points:

...Every member of our TCNJ community is responsible for embracing the five fundamental values that define academic integrity:  honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility....

   Academic dishonesty is any attempt by the student to gain academic advantage through dishonest means; to submit, as his/her own, work which has not been done by him/her; or to give improper aid to another student in the completion of an assignment.  Such dishonesty would include, but is not limited to, submitting as his/her own, a project, paper, report, test, or speech copied from, partially copied, or paraphrased from the work of another (whether the source is printed, under copyright, or in manuscript form).  Credit must be given for words quoted or paraphrased.  The rules apply to any academic dishonesty, whether the work is graded or ungraded, group or individual, written or oral.

What is plagiarism and how do you avoid it?   Read this now, and contact me if you have any questions.

The college's guidelines for academic integrity apply in all my classes.  When violations occur, I respond based on the consequences prescribed by the college's policy.

However, the guidelines can  discourage students from exploring uncommon sources, learning through dialogue, or collaborating on academic projects--modes of work I encourage.  Listed below are some punishable violations and the corresponding creative options, including how to use those options in ways consistent with academic integrity.

. . . Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following:

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED, however, to draw on many kinds of sources, as long as you credit the source and clearly distinguish between the material drawn from the source and your own response to the information, ideas, etc. presented by the source.  (See the University of Indiana's webpage on plagiarism for guidance in quoting, paraphrasing, and citing correctly.)

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED to find ways of linking the concepts and projects among different courses.  You may submit a combined project as long as all instructors involved are willing to give their written permission, and the final product meets the COMBINED requirements of both assignments (e.g., one five-page paper plus one ten-page paper combine to a 15-page paper).

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED to talk with others (friends, instructors, family) about your projects as you develop them, as long as you give credit in the essay for any portion of the project to which people other than yourself contributed. 

YOU ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED to consider the possibility of collaborative work (in which all partners would share in the research and writing and would receive the same grade), AS LONG AS you seek my permission before beginning the project, AND the collaborative project meets the combined requirements for the number of people collaborating (e.g., two people working together on a four-page assignment = one eight-page paper).

YOU ARE ENCOURAGED to use the internet as a research tool, as long as you carefully consider the nature of the source, clearly distinguish between material drawn from the source and your own response to the material, and follow the same guidelines for quoting, paraphrasing, and citing that apply to all other kinds of sources.  (See the University of Indiana's webpage on plagiarism for guidance in quoting, paraphrasing, and citing correctly.)

DON'T RISK IT:  Consequences of academic dishonesty

Questions?  E-mail me:  gray@tcnj.edu                            My home page