Information for Course Syllabi
One of the best ways to encourage academic integrity is by including a specific statement in your syllabus on this topic. If your syllabus does not currently include a statement on academic integrity, we encourage you to incorporate the text below (or a modified version thereof; there is no need to include a citation). In addition, if there are specific policies that apply to your course (e.g., regarding group work, collaborative assignments, citation requirements for textbooks and/or class notes, etc.), these should be described in your statement. There are also separate statements regarding selling notes/study guides and online course materials that you may wish to incorporate in your syllabus as well, if appropriate.
- Academic Integrity: As a student at IU, you are expected to adhere to the standards contained in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (Code). Holding all students to the standards outlined in the Code ensures the value of the degree that you are earning from IU and is valuable training for maintaining ethical standards in the work that you will do in the future for yourself or an employer. Academic misconduct is defined as any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of the institution. Academic integrity violations include: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating academic dishonesty. When you submit an assignment with your name on it, you are signifying that the work contained therein is yours, unless otherwise cited or referenced. Any ideas or materials taken from another source must be fully acknowledged. Students should not share their completed work with any other students. If plagiarism or other cheating occurs, both students involved will be considered responsible even if the student sharing their work was unaware that academic misconduct would occur or had occurred. Ignorance of what constitutes academic misconduct or plagiarism is not a valid excuse. In addition, submitting content generated by another person or via an artificial intelligence program (such as ChatGPT, Bard, Google Translate, Dall-E, etc.), and posting questions from quizzes/exams or assignments or downloading answers from online sources are all considered academic misconduct. All suspected violations of the Code will be reported to the Dean of Students (Office of Student Conduct) and handled according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct in this course may include a failing grade on the assignment, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. If you are unsure about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or exam, be sure to seek clarification from your instructor in advance.
- Generative AI: According to the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, plagiarism is “presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as the submitting student’s own. A student must not present ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use without fully acknowledging the source, unless the information is common knowledge.” Cheating is “using, providing, or attempting to use or provide unauthorized assistance, materials, information, or study aids in any form.” (II: Responsibilities B,4,a and c) Your use of anyone else’s (or any AI system’s) words, graphic images, calculations, or ideas should be properly cited. AI generators/programs such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, QuillBot, Spinbot, Dall-E, etc. should not be used for any work for this class without explicit permission of the instructor and appropriate attribution. AI text generators should not be used for:
- Creating or revising drafts
- Editing your work
- Reviewing a peer's work
The use of generative AI platforms will be considered plagiarism and/or cheating and will be reported to the Dean of Students (Office of Student Conduct) and handled according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct in this course may include a failing grade on the assignment, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. Contact your instructor if you have questions.
- Note Selling: Various commercial services have approached students regarding selling class notes/study guides to their classmates. Selling the instructor’s notes/study guides or uploading course assignments to these sites (even after the course has ended) in exchange for access to materials for other courses is not permitted. Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students (Office of Student Conduct) as academic misconduct. Sanctions for academic misconduct for this action may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides or assignments have been being uploaded, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s notes/study guides individually or on behalf of one of these services using IU email or via Canvas, may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result.
- Online Course Materials: The instructor teaching this course holds the exclusive right to distribute, modify, post, and reproduce course materials, including all written materials, study guides, lectures, assignments, exercises, and exams. Some of the course content may be downloadable, but you should not distribute, post, or alter the instructor’s intellectual property. While you are permitted to take notes on the online materials and lectures posted for this course for your personal use, you are not permitted to re-post in another forum, distribute, or reproduce content from this course without the express written permission of the instructor.
- GroupMe and Other External Messaging Platforms: Please note that you may receive emails from other students about joining GroupMe, Discord, or similar external group messaging platforms for individual classes via Canvas. Even though invitations to join the group may be issued through Canvas, they do not imply the endorsement of the course instructor. While platforms like GroupMe, Discord, etc. can be an effective way of contacting classmates and clarifying information related to the course, they can also be source of unauthorized information sharing or collaboration among students. Collaborative effort on assignments, quizzes, and exams, including sharing or discussing answers when the instructor has not expressly authorized collaboration, is considered cheating. If academic dishonesty occurs via GroupMe or a similar messaging platform, everyone involved in the thread may be found responsible for academic misconduct since membership in the group suggests that that they have been able to view the information shared.