Student Guide: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity means being honest in all academic matters. Academic integrity is a core value of Marianopolis College and the foundation of any academic community.

As a student, you have an obligation to demonstrate academic integrity at all times in your courses and in any dealings with the College, including when you register for services and activities and when you submit documentation. You are also responsible for understanding and respecting the College’s commitment to academic integrity and the rules contained within the Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement (IPESA).

As a College, we are responsible for informing students of appropriate academic practices and providing support and training to students in order to ensure equity between students and a fair evaluation. Teachers are responsible for informing students of appropriate academic practices in the context of their particular course.

If you are unsure of the rules, consult your teacher for clarification. Not knowing the rules or not being attentive in your work is not a defense against a violation of academic integrity; "I didn't know" or “I didn’t mean to” are not valid excuses for not respecting the rules.

All forms of cheating, whether intentional or unintentional, constitute a violation of academic integrity. Cheating is a serious academic offence. Here are some examples of what constitutes a violation of academic integrity (note that this list is non-exhaustive):

• Being in possession of or making use of unauthorized material or material that is not permitted for your course and under the College’s Examination Rules

Your teacher will specify what material you are permitted to use to complete an evaluation. Taking notes into a test when you are supposed to be working without your notes is cheating. Consulting books, journals, websites, or other sources of information to write an essay when you are supposed to be only using your own ideas is cheating. Bringing your cell phone into an exam is cheating, even if you do not use it.

• Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance for any submitted work

Just as with unauthorized materials, your teacher will let you know whether you can ask for help on a given assignment and what kind(s) of help you can seek out. Unless you are completing group work, you are expected to submit work that is completely your own. You cannot ask for help from others (e.g. classmates, family, tutors, friends, etc.). Be sure to ask your teachers how to cite any information you obtain from outside sources including work that you complete with your peers or ideas and information from discussions that take place during class time. If you share your work with someone else and they copy your work and submit it as their own, you are both considered to have violated the IPESA. Asking someone else to complete an evaluation or a part of an evaluation for you is absolutely forbidden.

• Failing to cite your sources; also referred to as plagiarism

Using outside sources is an important part of research. However, your teachers will specify whether you are allowed to use outside sources and whether you are limited to using specific sources only. You must always make clear when you use information that is not your own. If you reference another person’s ideas, content, answers, or manner of expression, you must cite your original source in conformity with the guidelines provided by your teacher (you can read up on different Citation styles; each of your teachers will specify which one to use for their course). You must cite your sources even if you paraphrase the original (be sure you understand How to paraphrase). Plagiarism is a form of cheating that occurs when a student presents or submits the work of another, in whole or in part, as their own; it is the theft of someone else's work, regardless of whether the person has shared the information with you.

• Re-submitting your own work from another class

Sometimes called "self-plagiarism," this involves re-using your own work and submitting it as if it was new. The expectations of an assignment is that you are doing work specifically for that assignment. Reusing work that you already did for another class or work for which you already received credit, without making your teacher aware that you are doing so, is inherently dishonest and is considered cheating.

• Submitting false documentation or making false claims related to attendance, evaluations, or other academic activities

Respect for academic integrity is not restricted to your schoolwork; it applies to all College matters. This means that any dishonest conduct related to activities conducted at the College or to College matters is considered cheating. Some examples of this are: falsifying a medical note; taking an introductory-level language course when you have already studied the language; submitting a corrupted or empty file instead of a completed assignment; making false claims about your attendance or the attendance of another student; etc.

A violation of academic integrity carries serious consequences. The penalty may include, but is not limited to, a grade of zero on the evaluation, a grade of zero in the course, suspension from the College, and/or expulsion from the College. Where a violation of academic integrity is found to have occurred, a record of the offence will be placed in the student's file.

• Do your own work, and keep your work to yourself; do not copy or share
• Ask for help from your teacher if you don’t understand an assignment
• Pay attention to the requirements of individual assignments
• Submit original material for each assignment and for each class
• Make in-text citations and Works Cited entries as you write; be sure to credit all your sources
• Save multiple drafts of your work and keep your notes
• Ask your teacher or a librarian for help with understanding citation rules
• Be honest and act with integrity in all your dealings with the College

Here is a useful checklist to use as you work on your assignments. 

For more information on artificial intelligence text generators and its use in assignments, please consult this Libguide. 

Please remember that the use of artificial intelligence text generators is not allowed unless specifically indicated in the instructions from your teacher. When in doubt, you need to speak to your teacher to clarify the instructions and expectations for your assignments.