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Avoiding Academic Dishonesty  |  Citation  |  Writing Instruction | Ethics

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life! OK, maybe it isn't quite that dramatic...but no matter what your major is, we all come to college to further our education and help to guarantee a prosperous and secure future (and to hopefully be rich or famous or rich AND famous one day!) At this point, you may be asking yourself, "OK, but what does any of this have to do with academic integrity?"

EVERYTHING! You see, the standard of integrity by which the students and faculty members operate heavily determines the quality of an academic institution and ultimately the value of your degree. Maintaining a high level of integrity is essentially the backbone of every great institution of higher education around the world. Hey, we haven't been around since 1766 for nothing!

Today, people often glamorize college education as merely a step toward achieving one's career or professional aspirations, and the value of the actual learning process gets lost. Because of this perception, students sometimes get caught up in focusing on a high GPA for a medical school application or an internship and sacrifice their integrity. While cheating or plagiarizing may pay off in the immediate circumstance, you are only cheating yourself in the long run – well, yourself and everyone else who earns a degree from Rutgers, both past and future.

Academic dishonesty is an unfortunate part of any academic institution, and many students do not comprehend how serious and permanent it can be until after the fact. In some cases, students do not even realize that what they are doing constitutes a violation of academic integrity, but others know their actions are ethically questionable and proceed anyway. Read One Student’s Story and learn first-hand how academic dishonesty affected a Rutgers student.

The unfortunate part is that many students who cheat do not even attempt to communicate their problems to a professor or advisor before resorting to an act of academic dishonesty. Don’t let this happen to you – keep the lines of communication open between you and your instructors, and educate yourself about academic integrity. Below you’ll find links to dozens of resources to guide you.

Avoiding Academic Dishonesty
One Student's Story

Understanding the Academic Integrity Policy

A Guide to Academic Integrity

Multiple Submission: A Violation of Academic Integrity 

Examples of Plagiarism

Rutgers University Libraries: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity at Rutgers University (an interactive tutorial)

Rutgers University Libraries: Don't Plagiarize! Document Your Research

Pearson Prentice-Hall: Understanding Plagiarism

Indiana University: Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It

American Historical Association: Reflections on Plagiarism – Part I

American Historical Association: Reflections on Plagiarism – Part II

Citation
Rutgers University Libraries: Refworks

Modern Language Association: Frequently Asked Questions About MLA Style

American Psychological Association: APA Style Tips

University of Chicago: The Chicago Manual of Style Online

Easybib: Free Automatic Bibliography Composer

Writing Instruction
Rutgers Learning Centers

Rutgers Writing Center

Ethics
Journal of College and Character