Academic Integrity

Students:  Please read the entire document and the examples provided.  If you must turn in a signature on this form for a course at C of I, you can get to the form by following the links at the bottom of this and the following page.

The College of Idaho Catalogue states that our College community is "committed to the principle that academic honesty and integrity are important values in the educational process and that violations in this area should be dealt with in an appropriate and effective manner."  Academic integrity enhances the value of every student's work, bolsters the status of the College, and thus increases the prestige of every degree earned at this institution.

What academic integrity is:  Academic integrity is a commitment by students to do their own work to the best of their ability, and to encourage others toward that same end.  It is also a commitment on the part of faculty to support and assist students to improve and grow in their academic ability.

What academic dishonesty is:  According to the Catalogue, academic dishonesty "includes, but is not limited to, cheating on exams or assignments, plagiarism, ghost writing, interference, buying or using a term paper-exam-project that was not composed by the student turning it in, use of crib notes or information stored in a computer during an exam, taking an exam for another student, collaboration on take-home exams where it has been forbidden, or furnishing false or misleading information on any official college form.”  While the “borrowing” of ideas, words, or images may have become more common in the world outside of the academy, within it cheating or the stealing of the ideas of others remains a most serious matter.

Plagiarism:  Plagiarism is the most common form of academic dishonesty.  Please read the following definition carefully, for you will be held accountable to these standards.  According to the Catalogue, "plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's product, words, ideas, or data as one's own work.  When a student submits work for credit that includes the product, words, ideas, or data of others, the source must be acknowledged by the use of complete, accurate, and specific references, such as footnotes.  By placing one's name on work submitted for credit, the student certifies the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments.  A student will be charged with plagiarism if there is not an acknowledgment of indebtedness.  Acknowledgment must be made whenever:

1.  one quotes another person's actual words or replicates part of another's product;

2.  one uses another person's ideas, opinions, work, data, or theories, even if they are completely paraphrased in one's own words;

3.  one borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials."

Paraphrasing:  Paraphrasing presents a particular problem for many students, either because they paraphrase incompletely, thus plagiarizing, or because they rely too heavily upon the words and ideas of others.  Brief passages of paraphrased words are acceptable only with complete and specific acknowledgment of  the source of the words and ideas.  Beware, however, that the more one paraphrases another's work, the less one produces original work -- which is the aim of most all academic assignments.  Therefore, it is best to vigorously limit paraphrasing and avoid including large chunks of paraphrased material in an academic paper.

Academic integrity in cyberspace:  Many useful materials are available on the World Wide Web, CD-ROMs, and other electronic sources.  There is also a great deal of inaccurate, misleading, amateurish and thus largely worthless information.  Students should use even greater caution on the computer than with printed materials.  At the same time, full and proper acknowledgment of the use of any sources is equally necessary for both. It is ALWAYS plagiarism to cut and paste material from electronic sources into your own work without quotation marks and citation of the source.

Questions:  This policy cannot deal with every  circumstance.  If you have questions about the application of this policy, the instructors will be glad to assist you.  However, please first read carefully the examples of plagiarism that follow on the next page.

Consequences:  Academic dishonesty, in any form, will result in serious consequences, ranging from failure on the assignment in question, to failure for the course, to referral to the Student Judicial Council and possible expulsion from the College.  The seriousness of the punishment is left to the discretion of the course instructor in the first instance, and possibly the Student Judicial Council subsequently.

Click here for page two:  examples of plagiarism and improper paraphrasing.