Library Tutorial - Academic Integrity - Avoiding Violations

In addition to keeping yourself fully informed, there are two other steps you can take to avoid violations of the Standards of Student Academic Integrity. The first is effective time management. Rushed work often becomes sloppy work, and the sloppiness can extend to careless use of sources-omitted documentation, for example-or other practices that lead to violations of the standards. The second step is good organization. For example, careful note taking is imperative whenever you are working with sources. Without it, you may lose track of whether or not a phrase is a direct quotation, or you may be unable to find the source of an idea that you planned to use in a paper. Then you're stuck: if you don't use the phrase or idea, your paper may not be as strong as it could have been-but if you do use it without properly documenting it, you've committed plagiarism.

A Special Note about the Web
The web can be a very useful place for locating ideas and information. Unfortunately, there seems to be a misconception about the need to document material found on the web. Even if the content of a web site is in the so-called "public domain," you still must document your use of it. This is true whether you direct quote or simply paraphrase the material. Just as with traditional sources, if you do not document your use of a web site, you are misleading your instructor about the nature of the work you are submitting. Leaving out documentation may create the impression that you developed the material-and that represents a violation of the Standards for Student Academic Integrity.

The next module will help you learn more about information ethics.