Integrity:
“the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness”

As a USAO student, you are responsible for knowing and abiding by the University’s Academic Code of Conduct. You can find a copy of the Code in your Student Handbook.

Academic dishonesty includes:

• plagiarism
• fabrication
• cheating
• forgery & altering documents

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Plagiarism. Everyone seems to think they know what it is – using someone else’s work without giving the author credit – but more students are turned in for plagiarism than for any other offense. And it’s so easy not to plagiarize: just cite your source whenever you use material you didn’t write on your own. Use quotation marks when you quote directly from someone else. Give credit when you paraphrase.

Fabrication is making it up. Examples include false citations, making up graphs or statistics that aren’t actually supported by existing research, or claiming that you researched for a paper or a speech when you didn’t.

Cheating is acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage. In other words, presenting material as proof that you have learned the information when, in fact, you have not: copying someone else’s work and turning it in as your own, letting someone else do your work for you, copying off someone else on a test or letting someone else copy off your test, signing someone else’s name on an attendance sheet, changing a grade on a paper and resubmitting it.

Forgery is the unauthorized alteration of a record or document for the purpose of presenting inaccurate information, including the writing of someone else’s name on a record or document. Examples of forgery include altering official academic records, making an unauthorized signature for a faculty member or other University official, and falsifying information on an official academic document.

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Penalties for Academic Dishonesty

• “F” on an assignment
• “F” in the course
• Suspension from the University (usually for one trimester) with a note on your transcript saying you were suspended for academic dishonesty
• Expulsion from the University with a note on your transcript saying you were expelled for academic dishonesty: Expulsion means you cannot return to USAO.