professional and scholar

know the standards of your profession

• Have you read the ethical code of conduct for your profession?
• How long are you required to keep lab records? data? notes?
• Can you photoshop an image to remove material that is hard to explain?
• How much can you modify an image to claim it as your own?
• What are the appropriate ways to acknowledge the work of others?
• Does your profession use citations, endnotes, footnotes, program notes, wall credits, or acknowledgements to give credit?
• What famous violations shaped the code of conduct in your field?
• What governing body enforces these codes?
• What issues of academic integrity are controversial in your discipline?
• What are typical sanctions for violations?
• In your discipline, what factors determine the order of authorship on papers?

If you drew a blank on the answers to these questions you need to talk to your professors and advisors. Suggest a brown bag seminar on this topic so that your fellow students can learn about these issues along with you.

learn the appropriate means of citing research

Do you know the methods of citation acceptable for papers in your field? Is it MLA? APA?

Do you keep research notes in a way that prevents you from making attribution error? Often plagiarism results when students keep sloppy notes.

For more styles than a Vogue magazine see the libraries comprehensive listing of style manuals.

The site includes general style manuals for APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles. Check out the manuals for specific science disciplines (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Health Sciences, Mathematics, Patents/Trademarks, and Physics)