Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

The University of Chicago is an academic community with high scholarly standards. It is contrary to ethics, to academic integrity, and to the spirit of intellectual inquiry to submit the statements, ideas, or work of others as one's own. Such conduct is punishable under the University's disciplinary system.

Instructors have a range of options in dealing with academic dishonesty. It is within the discretion of the instructor to use evidence of plagiarism or academic dishonesty as a ground for failing the student in all or part of the course. The area dean of students may be asked to speak with the student, to issue a formal warning, or to consider disciplinary action. For example, in the College, the Dean of Students will frequently open a confidential file, to be used only in the event of renewed abuses, for first offenders when the case is not extremely serious. Faculty are urged to report any incident to the student's dean of students, even when the dean of students is not expected to take direct action. In that way, the dean of students will learn about multiple offenses and be in a position to respond to them with appropriate seriousness.

With the internet an integral part of academic research and the ubiquity of word processing methods the opportunity to lift and reformat texts has greatly increased and ambiguity about the boundaries of legitimate collaboration has been introduced. It is advisable for faculty to discuss the issue in classes early in the quarter and to be explicit about acceptable practices on joint projects, problem sets, and other collaborative efforts. One of the functions of teaching is to educate students in the norms and ethics of scholarly work, as well as in the substance of the field.

Office of the Vice President and Dean of Students, 2007