Academic Integrity: Your Role

Learn the ASU policy

The ASU Academic Integrity Student Policy explains your obligations and responsibilities regarding academic integrity. Even if you unknowingly violate a standard of academic integrity, you are still held responsible, so be proactive and learn the policy.

The policy also details the process used when investigating allegations of misconduct.

Know what constitutes an academic integrity violation

Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to cheating, fabrication, tampering, plagiarism or aiding and/or facilitating such activities. At the graduate level, it is expected that you will be familiar with these issues and take personal responsibility in your work.

Own your work

When does your name go on a shared piece of scholarship? When does your advisor or faculty colleague have the right to put their name on your work? Talk to your department chair or graduate director if you are unsure or feel bullied into putting a faculty member’s name on your research paper when it is not deserved or appropriate.

If you are concerned about raising eyebrows in your unit, ask your graduate director to host a brown bag session with faculty and graduate students to discuss the ethics of authorship. This will create a shared understanding of appropriate norms.

Use ASU resources

To navigate the maze of policies, procedures, and issues, visit the Provost’s website about Academic Integrity.
ASU Libraries hosts a comprehensive website on academic integrity with resources for learning and teaching.

As a teaching assistant, your responsibility is to:

Educate students on the ASU integrity policy and the expectations in your assignments, class, lab or other ASU settings. Use Faculty Resources to help you start a conversation with your class. Your syllabus provides the foundation.

Take care with your assignments

Be careful about where you obtain assignments and exams. A cautionary tale: A professor was sanctioned after students in his class found that the test he gave them was lifted from an online test. Learn assessment techniques and other teaching strategies that make it difficult for students to cheat.

Use plagiarism detection software

Notify students in advance and use Turn It In within your Canvas course.

Learn your department and college academic policy

Disputes over academic integrity violations are resolved at the college level. Be prepared before you have to deal with a violation. Talk to your professor or graduate advisor about how violations are handled in your department.

Enforce academic integrity standards

If you ignore suspected violations, you send a message to students that this behavior is acceptable. See the process for handling allegations at Allegations of Academic Dishonesty.

Know the standards of your profession

Each profession and discipline has its own standards of conduct. Part of becoming a member of a profession is learning the standards of behavior expected for the highest level of conduct in your discipline. Discuss the research conduct expectations in your discipline with your advisor and faculty.

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?
Does your profession use citations, endnotes, footnotes, program notes, wall credits, or acknowledgments 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 don’t know 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 citation style

See the ASU libraries’ comprehensive listing of citation style manuals. This site includes general style manuals for APA, MLA, Chicago and Turabian styles, as well as links to manuals for specific science disciplines.

Policies, Forms and Deadlines