Violations General Information

Academic integrity is based around the ideas of honesty and fairness. Academic integrity violations occur:

  1. when students are dishonest about their work, such as by submitting plagiarized or copied material,

  2. when students seek to gain an unfair advantage, such as by forging an excuse, or

  3. by assisting another student in being dishonest about their work or in seeking to gain an unfair advantage.

Definitions and Descriptions

The following sanctions may be imposed for violation of the Academic Integrity Policy:

The submission of assignments, including but not limited to essays, research papers, design projects, theses, and dissertations, or parts thereof, that are not the work of the student submitting them. This includes:

  • Plagiarism

    Plagiarism includes, but is not necessarily limited to, using words or ideas that are not one’s own without proper documentation.

    • In the case of a graduate thesis or dissertation, submission is defined as the time at which the first complete draft of such is submitted to the major professor for review.

    • When direct quotations are used, they must be indicated, and when the ideas of another are incorporated into a paper, they must be appropriately acknowledged.

    • Use of course-approved AI output without appropriate acknowledgement or documentation.

  • Unauthorized Re-use of Student Work

    Knowingly submitting a paper, report, examination, or any class assignment which has been altered or corrected, in part or in whole, for reevaluation or re-grading without the consent of the instructor.

  • Unauthorized Use of Materials or Resources

    The possession, receipt, or transmission of material or assistance prohibited in any assignment, including but not limited to essays, laboratory reports, examinations, quizzes to be submitted for credit as a part of a course or to be submitted in fulfillment of a university requirement.

  • Fraudulent Documents

    Altering or misusing a document such as, but not limited to, university forms or a doctor’s excuse for academic purposes. This includes any altering of or attempt to alter an assigned grade on any official Auburn University record.

  • Inappropriate Assistance on Exams

    Serving as or enlisting the assistance of another as a substitute in the taking of examinations.

Knowingly assisting a student in carrying out any aforementioned violation. This includes selling, giving, lending, or otherwise furnishing to any other person any material which can be shown to contain the questions or answers to any examination or assignment scheduled to be given at the current date or on some subsequent date in any course of study, excluding questions and answers from examinations and assignments previously administered and returned to a student by the instructor.

Instructors may outline in advance additional actions they consider a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy in the course syllabus, other course materials, and/or through written communications.

Note: Research misconduct is fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or reporting research results. Research misconduct applies to all research conducted under the auspices of the University by faculty, visiting faculty and scientists, post-doctoral candidates, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff. All allegations of research misconduct fall under the Policy on Research Misconduct and should be reported to the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. Academic Integrity Policy violations are related to work done in registered courses.