Academic Integrity Explained

What Is Academic Integrity?

Academic integrity means being honest and fair in your coursework.
It means doing your own work, giving credit when you use someone else’s ideas, and following the rules for tests, papers, and assignments.

Academic integrity is about:

  • Honesty – Don’t cheat, lie, or mislead.

  • Responsibility – Do your part in group work and meet deadlines.

  • Fairness – Don’t give yourself or others an unfair advantage.

  • Respect – Value the work of others by citing sources properly.

  • Trust – Build confidence in your work and in the learning process.

Why It Matters

Academic integrity helps create a campus where learning is real, fair, and respected. It also builds the habits of honesty and responsibility that matter in life and work after college.

(The above definition was developed with assistance from ChatGPT, a large language model by OpenAI (July 8, 2025).)

Missouri State University-West Plains Academic Integrity Violations Explained

At Missouri State University-West Plains, our Academic Integrity Policy includes cheating, plagiarism, misuse of generative artificial intelligence, falsification, fabrication, theft or destruction of intellectual property, research misconduct, and facilitation of academic dishonesty as specific violations. Below are examples of each, but this list is not exhaustive. You should speak with your faculty members, a tutor in the Arch W. Shaw Foundation Writing Lab, or the academic integrity officer on our campus if you have any questions. 

Cheating

  • The presence of “cheat sheets” during an exam, test, or quiz.
  • Programming a calculator or other electronic device with information for an exam, test, or quiz.
  • Writing information on your person or clothing.
  • Unauthorized collaboration with another student to share information in an exam or testing setting or during completion of a take-home assignment.
  • Glancing at another student’s paper during an exam, test, or quiz.
  • Conversations during a testing setting.
  • Soliciting information regarding an exam or test from another student.
  • Obtaining an examination prior to its administration.
  • Not completing a proper environmental scan on Respondus.
  • Publicly posting course materials without the permission of the instructor on public Internet sites or social media 

Plagiarism

  • Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit and includes:
    • Submitting all or portions of a piece of written work using someone else’s words or ideas from an Internet site, material printed in a book or periodical, another student’s work, or recycling your past work without appropriate or adequate use of quotation marks or citations.
    • Use of a source in a paper or presentation—using exact words or paraphrase—without citation.
    • Use of an incorrect or incomplete citation despite acknowledged use of a source.
    • Use of a paraphrase that is too close to the wording in the original source or fails to cite the original source. 

Misuse of generative artificial intelligence

  • Use of generative AI to produce text for a writing assignment without proper citation of the prompt, software used, and text generated.
  • Use of generative AI to paraphrase source text(s) without proper citation of the source material, software used, and suggested paraphrasing.
  • Use of generative AI to edit/revise writing (including tools that automatically correct grammar and punctuation) without proper citation of the software used and the extent of changes made by the tool.
  • Use of generative AI for graphic design assignments without proper citation of the prompt, software used, and generated images.
  • Use of generative AI to complete coding work without proper citation of the prompt, software used, and the generated code.

Information fabrication or falsification

  • Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
  • Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record. 

Theft of intellectual property

  • Taking the work of another student without permission.
  • Taking the course materials from an instructor without permission.
  • Hindering other students, faculty, or staff from the use or access to library or other academic materials.

Facilitation of academic dishonesty

  • Giving materials such as tests or papers to another student without the instructor's permission.
  • Helping another student obtain materials for cheating or plagiarism.
  • Discussing an exam or test with a student who has yet to take it without the professor’s permission.

 

Academic Integrity Video

(Video used by permission of the Academic Integrity Council, Missouri State University-Springfield)