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Academic Dishonesty

Both Undergraduate and Graduate students are expected to pursue their academic careers with honesty and integrity. The value of an academic degree is dependent on the integrity of the work done for the degree. Academic honesty is thus important to all students, as well as all faculty.

"Scholastic dishonesty" includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. More information is available on UTPB Scholastic Dishonesty.

  A. Cheating 

Cheating is any act of dishonesty in which a student attempts to present a level of knowledge or skill they have not actually attained. It includes, but is not limited to, the following behaviors:  

  1. Copying from another student’s work during an exam, test, or assignment.
  2. Using unauthorized materials or assistance during any academic activity, including exams and quizzes.
  3. Allowing others to cheat by not taking reasonable steps to prevent the use of unauthorized help.
  4. Failing to follow instructions provided by the test administrator.
  5. Possessing unauthorized materials during a test, such as notes or “crib sheets,” unless explicitly permitted.
  6. Using, buying, selling, or stealing any part of an unadministered test, test key, homework solution, or other graded material without proper authorization.
  7. Collaborating or seeking help from others during an exam or assignment without explicit permission.
  8. Sharing exam content with students who will take the test at a later time.
  9. Preserving or distributing exam content when the instructor has prohibited its removal or sharing.
  10. Substituting for another person or allowing someone to substitute for oneself in a course, test, or assignment.
  11. Offering payment or coercion to obtain unauthorized academic materials or information.
  12. Falsifying academic work, including research data or lab reports.
  13.   Tampering with or damaging property to gain an unfair academic advantage.
  14. Misrepresenting facts, such as falsifying grades or résumés for academic or financial gain or to harm another student.
  15. Attempting or assisting in any of the above acts.

  B. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious form of academic dishonesty and intellectual theft. It violates fundamental principles of academic integrity and involves presenting another person’s work as one’s own, whether by appropriation, purchase, gift, or any other means. Submitting such work for academic credit without proper acknowledgment constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Failure to credit sources in order to present someone else’s work as one’s own.
  2. Submitting work completed by another person as if it were one’s own.
  3. Using unpublished material—such as another student’s work—without proper attribution.
  4. Intentional plagiarism, which is the deliberate use of another’s words, ideas, or data without proper citation through quotation, reference, or footnote.
  5. Inadvertent plagiarism, which occurs through careless or improper citation, failure to follow documentation rules, or lack of attention in research and writing.
  6. Paraphrased plagiarism, where ideas are reworded without acknowledging the original source, leading the reader to believe they are original.
  7. Plagiarism mosaic, which involves blending copied material with original content without proper citation.
  8. Insufficient acknowledgment, where attribution is partial or incomplete, failing to fully credit the original source.

   C. Collusion
Collusion refers to unauthorized collaboration with another person in the preparation of academic work submitted for credit. It also includes working with others to plan or commit any act of scholastic dishonesty, in violation of academic integrity policies.

Further information on "Student Code of Conduct" is available on the Dean of Students website.