Scholastic Dishonesty

At UTPB, we hold students to a high standard of academic integrity. If scholastic dishonesty is discovered by an instructor, disciplinary action may be taken, ranging from failure on the assignment up to and including suspension from the University. UTPB offers several different programs and tools to help students avoid plagiarism and collusion. For more information about academic and scholastic integrity, please contact: deanofstudents@utpb.edu.

Report Academic Dishonesty

• Cheating
• Plagiarism
• Collusion
• Falsifying academic records
• Any act intended to gain an unfair academic advantage, such as:
  • Submitting the same or substantially similar work for multiple courses without prior instructor approval
  • Providing false or misleading information to obtain an extension or postponement for an exam, quiz, or assignment
  • Attempting to commit any of the above actions

These behaviors undermine academic integrity and are subject to disciplinary action.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.