Exploring Academic Integrity in Your Research: A Tutorial

Academic Dishonesty 

Academically dishonest behaviors can include:

• Various types of cheating
• Falsification of results
• Impersonation or misrepresentation of oneself
• Working with others without permission
• Plagiarism

What these behaviors look like change as the tools we use to access and share information change. For example, using an instant messaging platform to study with peers across sections would likely be appropriate, but posting questions from the quiz you have taken to a group text or sharing your homework for others to copy would be an act of academic misconduct. Posting your instructor’s assignment or exam questions to a commercial study site like Chegg or Course Hero is another example of academic misconduct. Instructors are aware of, track, and report the full range of academic misconduct behaviors.

Each of these behaviors have repercussions beyond the classroom, as some of the cases below illustrate. The professional organizations for most careers have codes of ethics professionals must adhere to which mirror much of the information in this module.

In the following sections, we’ll discuss each of the five behaviors above in-depth.  Please ask your instructor directly if you have any questions about what does or does not constitute academic misconduct—they are committed to your learning, and actively support academic integrity!

Image: Student walks past south facade of Knight Library in the snow. Photo credit: UO Libraries.