Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Students, in the process of learning, acquire ideas from many sources and exchange ideas and opinions with classmates, professors, and others. This occurs in reading, writing, and discussion. Students are expected—often required—to build their own work on that of other people, just as professional researchers and writers do. Giving credit to someone whose work has helped one is courteous and honest. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is a form of fraud. Proper acknowledgement marks the difference.

The definition of plagiarism that has been adopted by the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies is as follows:

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as though it were one’s own. More specifically, plagiarism is to present as one’s own a sequence of words quoted without quotation marks from another writer; a paraphrased passage from another writer’s work; creative images, artwork, or design; or facts or ideas gathered, organized, and reported by someone else, orally and/or in writing and not providing proper attribution. Since plagiarism is a matter of fact, not of the student’s intention, it is crucial that acknowledgement of the sources be accurate and complete. Even where there is no conscious intention to deceive, the failure to make appropriate acknowledgment constitutes plagiarism. Penalties for plagiarism range from failure for a paper or course to dismissal from the University.

A hallmark of the educated student is the ability to acknowledge information derived from others. SCPS expects that a student will be scrupulous in crediting those sources that have contributed to the development of his or her ideas. In particular, it is the responsibility of the student to learn the proper forms of citation. Plagiarism consists in presenting ideas and words without acknowledging their source and is an offense against academic integrity.

Any of the following acts constitutes a crime of plagiarism:

Using a phrase, sentence, or passage from another person’s work without quotation marks and attribution of the source.
Paraphrasing words or ideas from another’s work without attribution.
Reporting as your own research or knowledge any data or facts gathered or reported by another person.
Submitting in your own name papers or reports completed by another.
Submitting your own original work toward requirements in more than one class without the prior permission of the instructors.
Other offenses against academic integrity include the following:
Collaborating with other students on assignments without the express permission of the instructor.
Giving your work to another student who then submits it as his or her own.
Sharing or copying answers from other students or any form of technology during examinations.
Using notes or other sources to answer exam questions without the instructor’s permission.
Secreting or destroying library or reference materials.
Submitting as your own work a paper or results of research that you have purchased from a commercial firm or another person.
Particular emphasis is placed on the use of papers and other materials to be found on the World-Wide Web, whether purchased or freely available. In addition to having access to the same search engines as students, faculty also have at their disposal a number of special websites devoted to detecting plagiarism from the web. Plagiarism and other cases of academic fraud are matters of fact, not intention. It is therefore crucial that you be diligent in assuring the integrity of your work:
- Use quotation marks to set off words not your own.
- Learn to use proper forms of attribution for source materials.
- Do your own original work in each class, without collaboration, unless otherwise
  instructed.
- Do not use published sources, the work of others, or material from the web without attribution.
- Ask your professor or preceptor if you have questions about an assignment or the use of sources.

SCPS Code of Conduct

The SCPS Code of Conduct prohibits the following and students may be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action shall not be limited to these offenses:

Cheating
Plagiarism
Forgery or unauthorized use of documents
False form of identification

The above academic integrity violations will be handled within the School of Continuing and Professional Studies by the faculty and Program Directors as the first step of the disciplinary process.

Academic Integrity Disciplinary Procedures

Faculty who suspect a violation of the Statement of Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
policy must notify the Program Director before a final resolution is agreed upon. A program designee must notify a student that it is believed the student has violated the SCPS Statement on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism. Students should be advised of the Informal Process and the Formal Process regarding Academic Integrity. Issuance of a grade does not preclude later investigation into academic honesty and subsequent revision of grade, if necessary.

Informal Process:
The faculty member or program designee must notify and present the reason for suspi-
cion and the evidence to the student and ask the student to respond to the charge of
violating the policy. If the student accepts responsibility and signs a statement saying such, the faculty member may do the following depending on the level of the violation:

Provide a warning to the student
Ask the student to redo the assignment
Issue a grade of 0 on the assignment
Issue a grade of F on the assignment
Issue a grade of F in the course
Recommend suspension or dismissal from program to Program Director

Students may not withdraw from a course once there has been an allegation of plagia-
rism.

Academic Integrity Process:
The only reason to use the formal process is because the student has not accepted responsibility and the faculty member believes there is evidence otherwise. If it goes to formal process, it is not to argue the sanction, but to further investigate if the student violated policy. Sanctions cannot be appealed.

Formal Process:
If after the informal process has been utilized, however, the student does not accept responsibility for violating the policy, the student has the right to an investigation. The faculty member should not issue a grade on the assignment or issue a grade of Incomplete for the course until the case has been resolved.

The student can request an investigation within 20 days of being notified that they are suspected of violating the policy to be conducted by the Program Director and Academic Chair. The Program Director and Academic Chair will meet with the faculty member, gather all evidence, and meet with the student independently to determine if the case will be dismissed or if a sanction would be issued. The Program Director or Academic Chair must be involved in the review of the case if the sanction is suspension or dismissal. In the case of a sanction of suspension or dismissal from the University, the student would be allowed to follow the same procedures for a Hearing and a Disciplinary Panel as in student conduct.

Standards of Classroom Behavior and Conduct Beyond Academic Integrity
The primary responsibility for managing the classroom environment rests with the faculty. Students who engage in any prohibited or unlawful behavior that results in disruption of a class may be directed by the faculty member to leave the class for the remainder of the class period. Longer suspensions from a class, or dismissal on disciplinary grounds, must be preceded by a student conduct procedure.

Mutual Respect
Students have the right to expect to be treated with fairness, professionalism and respect by faculty and staff. All such rights are necessarily balanced with mutual responsibilities, though. Students should likewise offer their peers, faculty and staff alike the same consideration. Disagreements over ideas, life styles and cultures can and should be resolved by open and respectful discussion, whether in or out of the classroom. Likewise, if students have concerns to raise or complaints to make to faculty or staff, they should do so in a similarly open and respectful way and expect to be treated in kind. Treating others in an aggressive, disruptive, bullying or demeaning way not only undermines the integrity of the learning environment for everyone, it also creates unacceptable working conditions for staff and faculty. Such conduct may lead to disciplinary action.

Further Reading
For University Policy on matters including but not limited to non-academic grievances,
sexual harassment, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), disciplinary
sanctions and discipline withdrawal, and patents, please consult the NYU-SCPS webpage
http://www.scps.nyu.edu/about-scps/