What is Academic Fraud?

All students at the University of Virginia are bound by the Honor Code not to commit Academic Fraud, which is a form of cheating. The following is meant to raise awareness among students as to what academic fraud is and how to avoid it. Academic fraud includes:

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is representing someone else’s ideas or work as your own original ideas or work, including the work of artificial intelligence. Plagiarism encompasses many things and is by far the most common manifestation of academic fraud. For example, copying a passage straight from a book, a website, generative AI, or any other source into a paper without using quotation marks and explicitly citing the source is plagiarism. Additionally, paraphrasing without citing your original source is considered plagiarism. It is very important that students properly acknowledge all ideas, work, and even distinctive words or phrases that are not their own. Students unsure of how to properly acknowledge a source are encouraged to consult an RA, TA, professor, or manual of style.

Multiple Submission

Multiple submission is the use of work previously submitted at this or any other institution to fulfill academic requirements in another class. For example, using a paper from a 12th grade English class for an ENWR 101 assignment is academic fraud. Slightly altered work that has been resubmitted is also considered to be fraudulent. With prior permission, some professors may allow students to complete one assignment for two classes. In this case prior permission from both instructors is absolutely necessary.

False Citation

False citation is falsely citing a source or attributing work to a source from which the referenced material was not obtained. A simple example of this would be footnoting a paragraph and citing a work that was never utilized.

False Data

False data is the fabrication or alteration of data to deliberately mislead. For example, changing data to get better experiment results is academic fraud. Professors and TAs in lab classes will often have strict guidelines for completion of labs and assignments. Whenever in doubt about what may be considered academic fraud immediately consult with the professor.

Internet Resources

Many websites provide reliable information; however, others may not include well-documented research. If you rely on Internet resources for your research, please be sure to use the proper citation. You may consult the style guides mentioned above or follow the links below for information regarding proper citation of online sources.

Students at the University are responsible for knowing what is considered to be Academic Fraud. For further information and examples consult the Academic Fraud and the Honor System Pamphlet available in the Honor Offices on the fourth floor of Newcomb Hall. If you ever have a question or concern about Academic Fraud and Honor, contact your Honor Committee representative or an Honor Advisor at 924-7602.