The Importance of Academic Integrity

Human societies are built on trust. The more complex the society, the greater level of trust required. When you consult a doctor, you probably did not know her or him personally when she or he was in medical school. You didn't watch as he or she learned surgery or diagnostic skills. You see the diplomas on the walls and you trust that this individual is equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to help you regain your health. You trust that the medical school took steps to make sure its students actually learned and did not cheat their way to a degree. 

MIT's name is known around the world. When in the future people see your MIT diploma or Brass Rat you want them to trust that you did your work with integrity, that you have actually mastered your chosen field, not squeezed past the requirements dishonestly.

Consider these scenarios:

• Suppose you are scheduled for surgery.  The day before the operation, you discover that your surgeon misrepresented his training and credentials. The state medical board is investigating his practice. How much confidence would you have in his knowledge and competence?  What if this was the structural engineer who designed the long bridge you cross every morning? What if it was your lawyer? Your accountant? 
• Imagine you are taking an exam and you notice other students cheating. What would you do? What if you knew that a fellow student had plagiarized his/her paper and the professor was unaware of it? Would you feel that this is right or wrong? Would you report it to the instructor? How would you feel if these students earned a higher grade in the course than you did when your work was completed independently and honestly?
• You are considering graduate school at University X. You read newspaper articles that expose the falsification of research data from top University X faculty. Other articles suggested a certain institutional complacence about academic integrity at University X. Would you still want to apply for admission to University X? If you were a student at University X when these articles were published, how would you feel? If you were a graduate of University X, would you be concerned about the validity of your degree and the reputation of your alma mater?

As you explore this section, think about these scenarios and recognize academic integrity's significance at MIT—and its relevance to “real world” situations. Learn how to spot academic integrity violations and how to avoid them entirely.

Definitions

Beside the positive definition of academic integrity as "a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values (see What is Academic Integrity?)" lies the negative definition. Academic integrity is the absence of plagiarism and cheating.

However, the meaning of terms like plagiarism and cheating can vary widely across cultures, academic fields, and among individuals. It's crucial to know what MIT means by these terms. Failure to understand MIT's expectations in this regard often contributes to cases of academic dishonesty brought before the Committee on Discipline. 

Here are MIT's definitions.

Plagiarism

One of the most common of violations, plagiarism involves submitting, proposing, or “passing off” someone else's academic work as your own.   This includes, but is not limited to:

Failure to credit source

Using an author's published or unpublished work, in whole, in part, or in paraphrase, without fully and properly crediting the author. This includes reproducing material from a journal, newspaper, encyclopedia, email message, or any other source without proper citation or acknowledgement. 

Example: Nellie copied several passages from a research paper published in 1990 by her 8.03 instructor. She included those passages, verbatim, in her 22.02 final paper without any acknowledgement of the original author. 

Example:   Daniela recalled an intriguing point raised by her 14.01 Teaching Assistant.  She presented the idea as her own in her 15.301 project.

Presenting the work of others as one's own

Using materials obtained from an individual or agency, including papers found or purchased on the web.

Example: Matthew found several term papers online that were related to topics for his assignment. He copied sections from each and combined them into a paper he presented as his own. 

Example: Cuiting's high school in her homeland permitted students to download information from the internet and incorporate it verbatim into writing assignments without any citation. Her culture's view holds that words and ideas belong to society and should be shared by all individuals. Believing this to be the case in the United States, she repeated this practice on her first research paper. The instructor discovered it and assigned a grade of F for the paper.

Unauthorized collaboration

Working together with others when this is forbidden by the instructor and syllabus. This is often called collusion. 

Example: The midterm in 7.03 was a take-home exam to be completed independently. Stan, Eric, and Wendy arranged a meeting to work on the exam as a group, sharing answers to the exam questions with each other. 

Cheating

Opinions and beliefs about cheating can vary even more widely than those about plagiarism. Here are some common examples to help you understand the concept:

Copying

Copying others' work or allowing your work to be copied on an exam or writing assignment.

Example: John felt sorry for Jane who had missed classes due to illness. He allowed her to copy from him during the midterm exam.

Example: Derek (assigned to the Wednesday section of 5.111) paid Eric (assigned to the Tuesday section) for answers to the weekly quiz.

Example: Mary took 21H.112 a year after her friend Carrie.  Mary asked Carrie to give her an essay she had written. Mary changed three sentences and submitted the essay as her own. 

Unauthorized material

Taking books, notes, calculators, cheat sheets, or other forbidden tools into an exam.

Example: John and Ron had not memorized the necessary theorems for the final exam. They wrote the theorems on the soles of their shoes and glanced at them when the instructor's attention was diverted during the exam. 

Misrepresenting identity

Taking an exam for another student; having another student take an exam in your place.

Example:   Jim failed his midterm exam and was panicked about failing the final, so he asked Tim (who had earned an A in the class last semester) to take the exam for him. 

Fabricating information

Presenting fictitious data or references.

Example: Lee's experiment did not yield the anticipated results. She changed the results data to fit her hypothesis. 

Example: Sven asked for an extension on his assignment to deal with a “personal medical emergency.” In truth, Sven attended three IFC events over the past week and could not meet his deadline.

For further definitions and examples, see the Academic Integrity Handbook prepared by MIT's Dean for Undergraduate Education.