Policy on academic dishonesty

Students, both those majoring in and those taking coursework in psychology, are expected at all times to behave in a manner consistent with the values of the discipline of psychology as promoted through the American Psychological Association Code of Ethics, as well as Wayne State University policies on academic dishonesty. This is intended to include, but not be limited to behavior in the classroom and other aspects of the academic realm.

The APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct clearly state that the community of psychologists do not present the work of others as their own, and accept credit only for work which they have actually performed (or in the case of co-authorship work to which they have substantially contributed). These principles have direct application to classroom behavior. Below are summaries defining cheating and plagiarism that were, in part, excerpted from the Wayne State University Undergraduate Bulletin.

Cheating

Copying from another student's work, or allowing another student to copy from your work, are both considered cheating as they represent accepting responsibility for work one has not performed, or contributing to another's acceptance of credit where credit is not appropriate.

Plagiarism

The act of presenting as your own work another individual's ideas, words, data, or research material. This includes altering the language, paraphrasing, omitting, and rearranging words to make them appear as your own. This applies equally to written, spoken, or electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and quotations that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged.

Both cheating and plagiarism are considered to be serious academic offenses that will result in disciplinary action. While the Department of Psychology allows each faculty member to respond to acts of academic dishonesty in a manner best suited to the individual circumstance, university policy allows for penalties ranging from the assignment of a failing grade to removal from the university.

The Department of Psychology is committed to maintaining an environment of academic integrity and will respond to all known cases of academic dishonesty forcefully. Students are responsible for reading and understanding the university policy on cheating and plagiarism as set forth in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Any questions concerning these policies should be directed to the individual instructor, or to the university judicial officer.