Academic Integrity: 10 Key Tips for Students

  1. Do read your college's Academic Integrity Policy and follow the rules. Lack of awareness or unintentionally breaking rules is not an excuse for plagiarism.
  2. Don't copy work from websites like Course Hero or Chegg, and don't upload your coursework to the Internet for others to copy.
  3. Don't ask others to research and/or write your assignments for you. Whether you pay for this service or not, it's cheating.
  4. Don't use a source's words without quoting or sufficiently paraphrasing them.
  5. Don't use Internet paraphrasing, citing, and/or referencing tools to do your work for you. Use them only as a guide and model for correct paraphrasing, citing, and/or referencing.
  6. Do make an appointment with your college's writing center so you can practice thoroughly paraphrasing source material. It's a skill that will pay off in all of your classes!
  7. Do give credit where it's due: Always cite your sources, whether you quote, summarize, or paraphrase them.
  8. Don't resubmit your own work for one class to another class without the permission of both instructors.
  9. Do follow your instructor's rules for whether already prepared notes, phones, digital devices, or collaboration with others are allowed for exams.
  10. Do take plagiarism and cheating seriously — they can lead to failing an assignment, failing a course, or even being suspended or expelled. It isn't worth the risk!