Academic Integrity
At Smith, we share a common commitment to “doing the right things, the right way.” We expect that students will behave with integrity, especially as it pertains to their academic performance, and hold them accountable for violations. This doesn’t just benefit our students now – it will one day benefit their careers, corporations and communities.
The Dean’s Office is committed to creating and promoting of a culture of integrity at Smith. We support and enforce the principles of academic integrity prescribed by the University of Maryland’s Office of Student Conduct. Smith students abide by the University of Maryland Honor Pledge:
I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination.
What is Academic Dishonesty?
Under the Code of Academic Integrity, there are five types of academic dishonesty: cheating, fabrication, facilitation, plagiarism, and self-plagiarism.
Cheating
"Fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in any academic course or exercise in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage and/or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic course or exercise."
Self-Plagiarism
"The reuse of substantial identical or nearly identical portions of one’s own work in multiple courses without prior permission from the current instructor or from each of the instructors if the work is being submitted for multiple courses in the same semester."
Fabrication
"Unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic course or exercise."
Facilitation
"Knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty."
Plagiarism
"Representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in an academic course or exercise."
Citing Sources
A key element to maintaining academic integrity is to cite sources. You will need to cite sources for any information or ideas you use that are not your own and are not common knowledge. We have created a tutorial that will walk you through some of the main elements required in citing non-original ideas and text.
Acceptable Levels of Collaboration
Business school is by nature a collaborative endeavor – especially at Smith, where we’re proud of our warm and supportive community. Sometimes collaboration is encouraged, sometimes it is permitted, and sometimes it constitutes cheating. How does a student know what is okay and what violates the Honor Pledge?
Smith’s Academic Integrity Task Force found that many students are unclear about what kinds of collaboration are acceptable, since this differs between faculty members, courses and individual deliverables within a course. To help students understand what levels of collaboration are acceptable on a particular deliverable, the Task Force developed the following icons and descriptions.
- Open notes. You may use notes from class.
- Discussion with peers, but individual deliverable. You may discuss this deliverable with others, but all the work you turn in must be your own.
- Use of the internet (phone, tablet, desktop). You may use any online resource. However, you must be sure to cite your sources to avoid plagiarism.
- Group creation of deliverable. Everyone in the group should contribute some work to this deliverable.
- Open book. You may use your textbook.
If you don’t see these icons in your syllabi, ask your professor to identify the acceptable levels of collaboration for his or her deliverables.
Your professor should also identify the approved method for citing sources in his or her course. If this information is not in the course syllabus, please ask your professor.
Questions?
Take the Academic Integrity Tutorial through the Office of Student Conduct.