Violations of Academic Integrity

Our reputation and intellectual freedom at Oklahoma State depend on an uncompromising commitment to the ideal of academic integrity. We're committed to instilling and upholding integrity as a core value at OSU.

Violations of Academic Integrity

Oklahoma State University’s Academic Integrity policy identifies behaviors that violate the fundamental values of academic integrity. These behaviors are described below:

Unauthorized Collaboration: Completing an assignment or examination with other students, turning in work that is identical or very similar to others’ work, or receiving help on assignments without permission of the instructor. This may also include excessively relying upon and borrowing the ideas and work of others in a group effort.

Plagiarism: Presenting the written, published or creative work of another as the student’s own work. Whenever the student uses wording, arguments, data, design, etc., belonging to someone else in a paper, report, oral presentation, or other assignment, the student must make this fact explicitly clear by correctly citing the appropriate references or sources. The student must fully indicate the extent to which any part or parts of the project are attributed to others. The student must also provide citations for paraphrased materials. The following are examples of plagiarism:

Copying another student’s assignment, computer program or examination with or without permission from the author.
Copying another student’s computer program and changing only minor items such as logic, variable names, or labels.
Copying or paraphrasing material from an Internet or written source without proper citation.
Copying words and then changing them a little, even if the student gives the source.
Verbatim copying without using quotation marks, even if the source is cited.
Expressing in the student’s own words someone else’s ideas without giving proper credit.
Turning in a paper obtained in part or in full from a "term papermill."

Multiple Submissions: Submitting substantial portions of the same academic work for credit to more than one class (or to the same class if the student repeats a course) without permission of the instructors.

Cheating on Examinations: Gathering unauthorized information before or during an examination from others, using notes or other unapproved aids during an examination, failing to observe the rules governing the conduct of examinations (for example, continuing to work on an examination after time is called at the end of an examination), or having another student to take an examination for the student.

Fabricating Information: Making up references for a bibliography, falsifying laboratory or research data (for example, tampering with experimental data to obtain “desired” results or creating results for experiments that were not done), or using a false excuse for an absence or an extension on a due date.

Helping Another Person Cheat: Providing information about an examination to another student (for example, sending an electronic message with answers during an examination), giving unauthorized help on assignments, or failing to prevent misuse of work by others (for example, allowing another student to copy an examination, assignment, or computer program). A student must take reasonable care that examination answers are not seen by others or that term papers or projects are not plagiarized or otherwise misused by others. This category also includes taking an examination on behalf of another student.

Unauthorized Advance Access to Examinations: Obtaining an advance copy of an examination without the instructor’s permission or getting questions and answers from someone who took the examination earlier.

Altering or Destroying the Work of Others: Changing or damaging computer files, papers or other academic products that belong to others.

Fraudulently Altering Academic Records: Altering graded papers, computer materials/records, course withdrawal slips, or academic documents. This includes forging an instructor or adviser signature and altering transcripts.

Instructors may identify other behaviors that violate academic integrity.