Academic dishonesty is an act of professional misconduct or dishonesty that includes such actions as plagiarism; presenting false information on credentials, grants, tenure, promotion, etc; and other misrepresentations of one's professional accomplishments and work.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of presenting ideas, images, words, or data from another source as one's own without full acknowledgment, with or without the consent of the original author.

This definition covers all published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed, or electronic form, and includes work generated wholly or in part using generative artificial intelligence. Plagiarism can also include re-using one's own published work without citation.

An individual will avoid being charged with plagiarism if they properly credit a source when:

  1. quoting a source's actual words, including words from a generative Al source;
  2. using a source's ideas, opinions, or theories, including those from a generative Al source, even if they are completely paraphrased in one's own words;
  3. borrowing facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials, including those generated by an Al, unless the information is common knowledge.

These guidelines should be followed for all source types, including books, newspapers, pamphlets, journal articles, websites, Al-generated content, and other online resources. The above list is for illustration only. It should not be construed as restrictive or as an exhaustive enumeration of the various forms of plagiarism that constitute violations of the academic honesty policy.

Fabrication and Falsification

Fabrication is "making up data or results and recording or reporting them."1 The following list is for illustration only. It should not be construed as restrictive or as an exhaustive enumeration of the various forms of fabrication that constitute violations of the academic honesty policy.

  1. Citing information that was not taken from an indicated source.
  2. Listing fabricated sources or sources that were not consulted in a bibliography.
  3. Inventing data or other information for research or other academic projects.

Falsification is "manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record."1 Examples include but are not limited to changing raw values in a data set or manipulating figures to yield desired results.

Academic dishonesty, plagiarism, data fabrication and falsification are unacceptable within the University community. Those who engage in such conduct are subject to discipline. To report an instance of academic dishonesty on the part of a faculty member, individuals should contact the Office of the Provost.

Daniel A. Wubah, Ph.D.
University President

Robyn L. Davis, Ph.D.
President, APSCUF-MU

1 Research Misconduct, 45 C.F.R.§689 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-8/chapter-Vl/part-689?toc=1