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ACADEMIC DISHONESTY & PLAGIARISM

Academic dishonesty is the attempt to secure an unfair advantage for oneself or another in any academic exercise. The following is an extensive, though not exhaustive, list of actions that are considered to be academically dishonest.

Students should check with their instructor(s) if they have any question as to what is or is not permitted in a specific course. Since students are expected to be familiar with the commonly accepted standards of academic honesty, ignorance of such standards by itself is not sufficient evidence of lack of intent.

CHEATING is the use or attempted use of trickery, artifice, deception, fraud, and/or misrepresentation of one’s academic work. This includes:

  1. Copying answers from another student.

  2. Using books, notes, conversations with others, calculators, cell phones, and other electronic devices or any other type of external assistance during an examination or other academic exercise without the instructor's permission.

  3. Collaborating with others on homework, lab reports, computer programs, or other academic assignments without the instructor's permission.

  4. Obtaining the answers to or a copy of an examination prior to its administration.

  5. Submission of student work (e.g., assignments and/or exam answers) based on those found on Chegg, Course Hero, and/or other similar websites.

  6. Submission of student work created by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

  7. Attempting to have oneself represented by another person in classroom activities (including but not limited to, papers, exams, labs, discussion forums, and work groups).

  8. Beginning an examination prior to the announced commencement of the examination period.

  9. Continuing to work on an examination after the announced conclusion of the examination period.

  10. Talking, tapping fingers, or making other noises and/or gestures that may be interpreted as signaling.

PLAGIARISM refers to representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own work.

Logan University recognizes that misrepresentation or misuse of source material may occur intentionally, when a student attempts to use outside material to deceive an instructor, or unintentionally, as a result of a lack of experience with research and citation practices.

While INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM involves intentionally attempting to deceive the instructor, UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM results from a lack of knowledge or attention to detail.

UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM typically includes:

  1. Failing to identify direct quotations properly with quotation marks or appropriate indentation and formal citation.

  2. Failing to acknowledge and properly cite paraphrased or summarized material from another source.

  3. Failing to acknowledge and properly cite information obtained from other sources, including the Internet or other electronic media.

  4. Failing to acknowledge and properly cite tables, charts, and images produced by another author.

INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM more commonly includes:

  1. Submitting assignments written wholly or in part by another author, including, but not limited to, those obtained from commercial term paper companies or the internet.

  2. Submitting all or substantial portions of the same work to fulfill the requirements for more than one course without the prior permission of the instructor(s), including resubmitting one’s own previously written material.

In the event a faculty member believes a violation of policy has occurred, the faculty member should first discuss the matter with their immediate supervisor, assign a grade of zero to the assignment, and reach out to the student to discuss the situation with the student and hear the student’s perspective. Faculty who are still unsure about whether a violation has occurred should work with their supervisor to jointly investigate and speak with the student to make a determination on whether the matter should be escalated per policy.

LOGAN LEAPS EDUCATIONAL MODULES:

As an institution of higher learning, we continuously seek to provide opportunities to learn, to do better and to grow. Recognizing that students may need additional resources and assistance particularly regarding the use of APA for assignment submission, the university has created Learning Modules with instructions and assessments for students needing assistance with:

1.     American Psychological Association (APA) citation (7th Edition)

2.     Grammar and Mechanics

3.     Essay Writing

4.     Plagiarism

 

Students who have a first instance of plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, are required to complete Logan Leaps Modules and may be assigned the content in whole or in part, relative to the violation.

UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM PROCEDURES

A first instance of UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM is generally believed to result from a lack of familiarity with and inexperience using source material and adhering to APA guidelines. For students struggling with proper citation and attribution, the Logan Writing Center is available to help. To ensure the student receives help, unintentional plagiarism will result in the following steps:

  1. Required completion of Logan Leaps in its entirety or assigned portions relative to the violation.

  2. Required completion of a real-time or written feedback consultation with the Logan University Writing Center within one week of notification.

  3. Resubmission of the assignment for a reduced grade (10 percentage points lower than the grade earned) one calendar week after completion of the mentoring session. Students who choose not to participate in or fail to complete the consultation, Logan Leaps Module(s) as assigned, and revision will receive a grade of zero on the assignment.

Continued UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM is a more serious academic problem and cannot be attributed to naivete, ignorance of guidelines, or a misunderstanding of what constitutes acceptable scholarship at Logan University.

Because training and remediation has already been offered, it can be assumed the student has not attended to learning proper use of sources.

Each subsequent instance of unintentional plagiarism will earn a failing grade. Students are encouraged to work with the Writing Center, but they will be unable to revise their work for credit.

INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM: In the event an instructor believes a student may have intentionally plagiarized, the instructor will consult with their immediate supervisor to review the student’s submission to determine whether the work has indeed been plagiarized or if it is an example of UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM.

In some cases, it may be clear the student has intentionally submitted work prepared, in whole or in part, by another writer. Any instance of INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM is recognized to be an attempt to deceive the instructor.

INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM is a much more serious academic offense than UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM, and the sanctions reflect the seriousness of the matter. Prior instances of UNINTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM will be taken into consideration. However, as an academic institution we believe in a duty to teach expected conduct. As such for a first instance of intentional plagiarism, where a student has not previously been sanctioned for unintentional plagiarism, the sanction will include a requirement to complete Logan Leaps in its entirety or assigned portions relative to the violation.

The sanctions for a student found responsible for violating the policy on INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM (e.g., a submission created by another student or acquired online) include, but are not limited to:

  1. Required completion of Logan Leaps Module(s) in its entirety or as assigned by the Logan University Writing Center, Dean of Students, or Dean of Students’ designee.

  2. A grade of zero on the plagiarized item, question, or assignment, as applicable.

  3. Possible conduct investigation and hearing for repeated offenses.

If determination of responsibility and sanctions (if appropriate) are rendered by the Dean of Students or their designee in the case of INTENTIONAL PLAGIARISM, the student may appeal to the Conduct Committee of the University within five days of the notification of the outcome. The appeal letter can be delivered to the Dean of Students via e-mail for coordination with the Conduct Committee.

FABRICATION is the falsification or invention of any information or citation in any academic exercise. This includes:

  1. Using “invented” information in any laboratory experiment or other academic exercise of research without permission of the instructor.

  2. Falsifying or creating records to complete an academic exercise, including clinical requirements (falsification of histories, physicals, laboratory tests, rotation records, etc.), internships, assignments, etc.

  3. Altering and resubmitting returned academic work without permission of the instructor.

  4. Misrepresenting the actual source from which information is cited (such as citing a quote from a book review as though it came from the original work).

FACILITATING DISHONESTY is knowingly helping or attempting to help another commit any act of academic dishonesty. This includes but is not limited to:

  1. Substituting for another person in a course or exam.

  2. Allowing another to copy one’s work in an examination or other academic exercise.

  3. Composing some or all of another student’s assignment.

OTHER PROHIBITED ACTIONS:

  1. Forging or otherwise altering grades, transcripts, course withdrawal forms, or other academic documents.

  2. Illegally accessing a computer hard drive, server, or site.

  3. Stealing or destroying the academic work of another, such as a thumb drive, term paper, or notebook.

In the event a faculty member believes a violation of policy has occurred, the faculty member should first discuss the matter with their immediate supervisor (Program Director – College of Health Science Programs; VP – College of Chiropractic). The faculty member will temporarily assign a zero as the grade for the assignment with an explanation in the feedback section as well a request that the student schedule a time to meet either in person (for on-campus programs) or via video conference (for online programs) to discuss the assignment within the next two weeks. The same message should be sent via e-mail to the student.

During the meeting, the faculty member should have a constructive and non-accusatory conversation about what they noted in the student’s assignment and collect information based on the student’s perspective, then make a determination on whether the matter should be considered a violation. If a violation has likely occurred, the matter shall be escalated to the Dean of Students or their designee, along with the documentation, for further action.

Faculty who are unsure about whether a violation has occurred, should work with their supervisor to jointly investigate/speak with the student and make a determination. Ultimately, the goal of the process is to help students improve and uphold the integrity of the academic experience and quality of Logan University consistent with our mission, vision, and values.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool to assist in learning and research. However, it is important to maintain academic integrity when completing any assignment or research using AI. Because the purpose of academic endeavors is to gain necessary understanding and skills to be a successful professional, utilizing artificial intelligence tools to complete coursework is unethical. This is a violation of the academic integrity policy.

Plagiarism can also include presenting words or ideas generated by AI language models as your own without proper citation or attribution.

Cheating with AI is defined as using artificial intelligence to generate answers, ideas, or solutions for exams or assignments, and representing AI-generated content as your own work, whether it is directly copied or paraphrased.

To ensure academic integrity is maintained, Logan University has established the following expectations regarding the use of artificial intelligence in academic work. This list is not exhaustive:

  1. All work submitted must be your own original creation.

  2. Do not use artificial intelligence to cheat, plagiarize, or translate work from another language without proper attribution.

  3. Any use of artificial intelligence in the brainstorming process, research process, analysis of data, or editing process should be reported with transparency. Sole reliance on artificial intelligence to create, write, or edit your work is a violation of academic integrity.

Any violation of these guidelines or misuse of artificial intelligence may result in disciplinary action, including conduct charges.

 Logan University uses sophisticated AI and plagiarism detection tools across the curriculum to verify the authenticity of student work to ensure student learning and discourage plagiarism and AI cheating.