Texas A&M University holds a strong commitment to fostering an environment of academic excellence and personal integrity. At the heart of this commitment lies the Aggie Honor Code, a guiding principle for all members of the university community. This code is essential to maintaining the university’s values, supporting intellectual freedom, and nurturing the holistic development of every student.
The Foundation of Community Responsibility
Academic integrity is not merely an individual pursuit; it is a collective responsibility that strengthens the entire university community. It enhances the value of education and celebrates genuine accomplishments. Every member of Texas A&M, without exception, is tasked with actively promoting academic integrity. Ignoring or condoning academic misconduct is not a neutral stance; it inadvertently encourages and expands such unethical behavior.
Texas A&M students bear a primary responsibility to uphold the Aggie Honor Code. This can be achieved through various means, including setting a positive example for new students, engaging in educational initiatives through student organizations, and promoting moral conduct among peers. Students are expected to address situations where their peers might be compromising academic integrity and, if necessary, report these matters to the Aggie Honor System Office. Self-reporting is viewed favorably and can be considered when determining sanctions in a particular case.
Instructors also play a critical role in promoting academic integrity. It is mandatory for all course syllabi to include a clear statement of the Aggie Honor Code, directing students to the comprehensive Aggie Honor System Rules and Procedures available online. Instructors are encouraged to initiate open discussions about academic integrity with their students early in each semester. Both instructors and staff are responsible and authorized to challenge and report any actions that violate the Aggie Honor Code. Furthermore, instructors are expected to follow established procedures for reporting and resolving violations of the Honor Code. Initiating formal processes is a necessary part of this shared responsibility.
Collaboration and information sharing are integral to academic communities. However, these practices become violations when they involve academic misconduct or unfairly advantage a student. Instructors are responsible for clearly defining their expectations regarding collaboration and information sharing within their courses. Students are encouraged to seek clarification if they are unsure about these boundaries. While Texas A&M embraces diverse cultures, the Aggie Honor Code represents a singular standard of academic integrity that must be upheld by all.
For cases of alleged misconduct that fall under the definition of “misconduct in research or scholarship,” as defined by System Regulation 15.99.03 – Ethics in Research and Scholarship, particularly those involving federally funded research, specific procedures outlined in 15.99.03 and University Rule 15.99.03.M1 – Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship will be applied.
Defining Academic Misconduct
Misconduct in research and scholarship encompasses fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in the proposal, execution, review, or reporting of research. It is important to distinguish this from honest errors or differences in data interpretation or judgment. Texas A&M University students are accountable for verifying the authenticity of all work they submit for academic credit. Upon request, students must be able to provide evidence that the submitted work is genuinely their own. Maintaining thorough records is essential at all times. Failure to authenticate one’s work when asked by an instructor is sufficient cause to initiate an academic misconduct case.
Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following actions. This list is not exhaustive and serves to clarify the scope of academic misconduct.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as using another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving proper acknowledgment.
Examples of plagiarism include:
- Presenting someone else’s work as your own, whether intentionally, knowingly, or carelessly, without crediting the original author or creator.
- Failing to properly cite sources used in your work, attempting to make it appear as your original work.
- Trying to gain credit for work done by another person, including submitting papers acquired from individuals or other sources, either in whole or in part. While students are permitted to seek assistance from tutors (paid or unpaid), professional editors, or the University Writing Center, unless explicitly prohibited by the instructor, the final submitted work must be the student’s original effort. Purchasing research papers, essays, lab reports, practice sets, or assignment answers from any source is strictly forbidden. Selling such materials also violates these rules and state law.
- Not citing sources from the World Wide Web, databases, and other electronic resources when they are used as reference material in academic assignments.
- Other similar actions that constitute the misrepresentation of academic work.
General guidelines regarding plagiarism:
- Style Guides: Instructors are responsible for specifying any required style or format for their courses, such as American Psychological Association (APA) style or Modern Languages Association (MLA) style.
- Direct Quotation: Every direct quotation must be clearly marked with quotation marks or appropriate indentation and must be properly cited within the text or in a footnote or endnote.
- Paraphrase: When you paraphrase or summarize material from another source, whether partially or entirely, in your own words, you must provide prompt acknowledgment. For instance, you might write, “To paraphrase Locke’s comment…” followed by a footnote or endnote with the specific reference.
- Borrowed facts: Information gained from reading or research that is not considered common knowledge must be acknowledged.
- Common knowledge: Common knowledge includes facts widely known, such as names of prominent national leaders, basic scientific principles, or fundamental historical information (e.g., George Washington as the first U.S. President). Common knowledge does not require citation.
- Works consulted: Materials that provide only a general understanding of a subject can be listed in a bibliography without needing footnotes or endnotes. However, writers must ensure that any specific information used from a general source is appropriately cited. Including sources in a bibliography, “works cited,” or “works consulted” list that were not actually used in the research is discouraged and considered “padding.”
- Footnotes, endnotes, and in-text citations: A single footnote, endnote, or in-text citation is generally sufficient to acknowledge indebtedness when multiple connected sentences are derived from one source. Direct quotations, however, must always be enclosed in quotation marks and properly acknowledged. Similarly, paraphrased passages also require acknowledgment.
- Graphics, design products, and visual aids: All graphics, design products, and visual aids created by someone else and used in academic assignments must cite the original source.
Special Considerations for Group Projects
In group projects, academic misconduct by one member can have repercussions for the entire group. It is crucial to maintain clear records of individual contributions to joint projects and to be aware of how group members are obtaining and using materials.
Other Conduct Concerns
Student rule violations that occur outside the academic setting are addressed through Student Conflict Resolution Services, accessible at https://studentlife.tamu.edu/sco. To report concerns about the behavior of a student, faculty, or staff member, please use the Tell Somebody Reporting system at https://tellsomebody.tamu.edu/reportingform. For reporting suspected waste, fraud, or ethical violations, please use the Texas A&M University System Risk, Fraud, and Misconduct Hotline at https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_custom.asp?clientid=19681.
