The Office of the Dean of Students’ Academic Misconduct Web page suggests this language for UO syllabuses:
Academic Integrity
The University Student Conduct Code (available at conduct.uoregon.edu) defines academic misconduct. Students are prohibited from committing or attempting to commit any act that constitutes academic misconduct. By way of example, students should not give or receive (or attempt to give or receive) unauthorized help on assignments or examinations without express permission from the instructor. Students should properly acknowledge and document all sources of information (e.g. quotations, paraphrases, ideas) and use only the sources and resources authorized by the instructor. If there is any question about whether an act constitutes academic misconduct, it is the student’s obligation to clarify the question with the instructor before committing or attempting to commit the act. Please contact me with any questions you have about academic conduct. Additional information about a common form of academic misconduct, plagiarism, is available at http://library.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students/index.html
More explanatory statements to consider…
This syllabus statement from UC Berkeley is perhaps most interesting for its last paragraph (bold): an invocation of academic integrity as a point of pride for the university community and a sketch of the long-term consequences of misconduct.
Any test, paper or report submitted by you and that bears your name is presumed to be your own original work that has not previously been submitted for credit in another course unless you obtain prior written approval to do so from your instructor.
In all of your assignments, including your homework or drafts of papers, you may use words or ideas written by other individuals in publications, web sites, or other sources, but only with proper attribution. ‘Proper attribution’ means that you have fully identified the original source and extent of your use of the words or ideas of others that you reproduce in your work for this course, usually in the form of a footnote or parenthesis.
As a general rule, if you are citing from a published source or from a web site and the quotation is short (up to a sentence or two) place it in quotation marks; if you employ a longer passage from a publication or web site, please indent it and use single spacing. In both cases, be sure to cite the original source in a footnote or in parentheses.
If you are not clear about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or examination, be sure to seek clarification from your instructor… beforehand.
Finally, you should keep in mind that as a member of the campus community, you are expected to demonstrate integrity in all of your academic endeavors and will be evaluated on your own merits. So be proud of your academic accomplishments and help to protect and promote academic integrity at Berkeley. The consequences of cheating and academic dishonesty – including a formal discipline file, possible loss of future internship, scholarship, or employment opportunities, and denial of admission to graduate school – are simply not worth it.”
This statement from UC Santa Cruz attempts to explicitly and precisely draw the line between positive collaboration and misconduct—a line that can seem obscure to students:Although you will be collecting data in groups, all of the written work you submit in this course must be completely your own; papers are not to be collaborative projects. You should draw your own graphs and tables and write papers by yourself. You may not copy another student’s work or use another student’s work as a model. Similarly, you may not directly copy or closely paraphrase passages from the lab manual or other books or references, including the Internet, even if you cite the work. Everything you write must be said in your own words, and references must be cited.
The best way to avoid committing accidental plagiarism is to read a passage in a reference, take notes in your own words after you have closed the reference, and then write your paper from your notes. Students who submit papers containing plagiarized material or data they did not collect or whose papers were clearly written as a joint project will be given a grade of zero for the work and will be referred to his/her college provost for disciplinary action.
Please be aware that anyone who tries to help a friend by letting him copy his work is also considered guilty of academic dishonesty according to university regulations.
If you have any questions about what constitutes unfair collaboration or plagiarism, please contact the instructor. Students who violate the academic integrity policy typically fail the course.