Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Copyright

PLEASE NOTE: This instructional module is not and should not be considered legal advice. If you are having a problem with an academic integrity issue, copyright issue, or plagiarism issue, you should consult the the appropriate administrative or legal authorities immediately.

A. Purpose

Academic integrity affects everyone at Penn State, whether you are a student, a professor, an instructor, or a staff member. It is everyone's responsibility to know what the Penn State policy on Academic Integrity says. Every member of the Penn State community is also expected to understand what plagiarism is as well as current copyright laws and how they apply to each person's work. This module provides an introduction to academic integrity, plagiarism, and copyright, and additional resources for obtaining more information.

B. Goals and Objectives

Jennifer really enjoys the art history class she is taking this semester. She spends a lot of time on her final project—a portfolio of works of art that she selects, writes a brief background about the artist, and then describes what she feels about the piece. She is careful to make sure that all of the information about the artists is correct, and reads several essays on the artists she has chosen. She agrees with most of what the essayists have to say regarding the pieces. She represents some of their thoughts in her project as her own, reasoning that since it is not fact, and instead intangible opinion, and because she agrees with them, then she is not plagiarizing. (Used with permission from  © Regents of the University of Minnesota, 2001)

Is Jennifer right or wrong? Why?

Have you ever done something, like Jennifer, that seemed like it should be OK to do, but that you weren't really sure about? The activities and information in this module will help you avoid academic dishonesty by helping you understand what you can and cannot do.

By the time you finish this module, you will be able to:

• Define academic integrity
• Identify instances of cheating and plagiarism
• List five reasons why plagiarism is wrong
• Understand the consequences of committing an act of academic dishonesty at Penn State
• Identify situations where "fair use" applies to the use of someone else's materials
• Identify works in the Public Domain
• Find information about the correct way to cite a reference
• Begin to develop your personal philosophy on academic integrity

C. Planning Your Learning

Because the topic of academic integrity is so complex, the information in this module has been divided in to several sections. The recommended sequence is as follows:

1. Read the information about academic integrity and complete the activity.

2. Read about plagiarism and cheating and complete the activity.

3. Read about copyright and fair use and complete the activity.

4. Read about excuses students make and how you can avoid situations that lead to academic dishonesty and the penalties that will be imposed in cases where academic dishonesty is proven.

5. Finally, take a few minutes to think about your personal philosophy on academic integrity. Read each of these scenarios and think about the situation. Is what the students are doing wrong or right, why is it wrong or right, how would you handle the situation, and what you would say to them if they were your friends? Then read the commentary for each scenario to see what others have said about the same situation.

D. References

E. Summary

F. Evaluation Survey (Only available in ANGEL)

The materials for the iStudy for Success modules were originally developed at the Jack P. Royer Center for Learning and Academic Technologies.

Additional materials were developed and assistance was provided by the University Learning Centers (ULC), University Park.

The ANGEL version of the modules is being administered by TLT. For more information about iStudy for Success modules, please contact tlt@psu.edu.

The Pennsylvania State University ©2004 All rights reserved. Please read the entire license agreement before distributing the modules, and before modifying and sharing the content of the modules. This statement MUST accompany this module and all derivative works.

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