Citing & Writing

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is at the core of higher education and the foundation of the academic community. At Park, students have the primary responsibility for maintaining academic honesty. Consequences for plagiarism and academic dishonesty my range from a verbal warning to a failing grade or expulsion.

Specifically, Park University's definitions of academic dishonesty includes committing or attempting to commit cheating, plagiarism, falsifying academic records, unauthorized possession or distribution of academic materials, and other acts intentionally designed to provide unfair advantage to the student.

• Cheating includes, but is not limited to, intentionally giving or receiving unauthorized aid or notes on examinations, papers, laboratory reports, exercises, projects, or class assignments which are intended to be individually completed. Cheating also includes the unauthorized copying of tests or any other deceit or fraud related to the student’s academic conduct.
• Plagiarism involves the use of quotations without quotation marks, the use of quotations without indication of the source, the use of another’s idea without acknowledging the source, the submission of a paper, laboratory report, project, or class assignment (any portion of such) prepared by another person, or paraphrasing another’s work without acknowledging and documenting the source.
• Falsifying academic records includes, but is not limited to, altering grades or other academic records. Unauthorized possession or distribution of academic materials may include the unauthorized selling or purchasing of examinations, term papers, or other academic work; stealing another student’s work; using information from or possessing exams that a faculty member did not authorize for release to students.
• Unauthorized distribution of academic materials also includes preparing, offering to prepare, selling, or distributing material with the knowledge, or under circumstances in which s/he should reasonably have known, that such material is to be submitted by another person for academic credit at any college, university, or education institution.
• Other academically dishonest acts include, but are not limited to: stealing, manipulating, or interfering with an academic work of another student or faculty member; receiving or giving assistance on a task that was expected to be performed individually; lying to or deceiving faculty.

Why Cite?

Citation is a way of engaging with scholarship. By citing the sources you use in a paper, presentation, or other assignment, you acknowledge the scholars who came before you and helped you along the way. It also helps anyone reading your paper evaluate your writing for credibility. In the same way that you might evaluate a resource you find on the internet, your readers will evaluate your writing using your citations. Citing your sources gives you credibility as a researcher, and helps ensure that you give credit where credit is due.

The Scholarly Conversation and Citation