NATS 1700 - Computers, Information and Society: Academic Integrity

1. What is Academic Integrity?
2. Why is Academic Integrity Important?
3. Guidelines for Working with Integrity
4. Collaboration and Group Work
5. Using and Citing Sources
   • Faculty and Student Views
   • Practicing Integrity
6. Breach of Policy on Academic Honesty
7. Preventative Measures

Plagiarism is representing someone else's ideas, writings or intellectual property as your own or without proper acknowledgement. It is a form of academic dishonesty and violates academic integrity.

Violations of academic integrity can lead to disciplinary actions under York University’s Senate Policy on Academic Honesty, for example, suspension from the university for a definite period and delay of graduation.

Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying and pasting content from an author or work (e.g. book, article, website) and submitting it as your own or without proper citation
• Downloading or buying a research paper and submitting it as your own
• Copying or submitting someone else's work as your own

To avoid committing plagiarism and violating academic integrity, follow these tips:

• Keep track of your sources during the research process
• Cite your sources correctly using an appropriate citation style
• Manage your time wisely
• Check with your instructor
• Ask for help from various academic support services (e.g. Libraries, Writing Centre, Learning Skills Services)
• Use the Academic Integrity Checklist as a guideline

For more information about academic integrity, see the Academic Integrity module in SPARK and York University's Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.

A paraphrase is...

• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

❏ In paraphrasing the work from others I put the complete idea into my own words and did not just change a few words.

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.