Academic Integrity

Rutgers University has established policies concerning academic integrity. Policies and resources can be found in detail at http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/.

Here we briefly review some aspects - This is not an exhaustive list! - of the policy for both undergraduate and graduate students in Physics and Astronomy.

• The scientific enterprise builds on the work of predecessors. It is fair use to paraphrase or quote from earlier work of oneself or others, giving proper credit through a citation to the earlier work. Directly copying the words of another without proper citation is an example of plagiarism, a violation of academic integrity policy and perhaps legal copyright protection. This applies as well to graphs, figures, pictures, etc. References to ``textbook science'', long-established, well-known laws, principles, techniques etc., without citation are accepted in the community, such as Newton's Law of Gravitation, Momentum Conservation, or relativistic kinematics.
• Dishonesty is a violation of academic integrity. In classes, you should take your own tests with only the materials allowed (perhaps so-called cheat sheets, or calculators), and not take tests for others. Non-group projects and homework should be your own work. In research and lab measurements, the data should be measured and analyzed to see what the measurement indicates; data should not be made up, altered, or selectively analyzed, in an attempt to reach a desired conclusion.
• Collaboration is an important part of the scientific enterprise. In most courses, faculty encourage collaboration on homework as it helps you learn; however, it is not right for you to simply copy answers without understanding. Faculty might require such collaboration to be identified. In research projects, ethical collaboration requires that you identify those you worked with on the project, commonly through co-authorship of papers for major roles, or acknowledgments for more minor roles or perhaps for oral presentations of results. Some journals require that the role of each co-author be identified.
• Examples of other violations of academic integrity and/or professional ethics include interfering with the work of others, aiding the dishonesty of others, misappropriation of resources, and using without permission the unpublished data, results, or computer codes of another.

The Graduate School - New Brunswick publishes a brochure Academic Integrity: Issues for Graduate Students.

Professional societies also have established policies concerning academic integrity. The American Physical Society policy statements, available here, include a Guideline on Ethics and Guidelines for Professional Conduct. The American Astronomical Society policies include a Code of Ethics and Professional and Ethical Standards for the AAS Journals.

Violations of academic integrity are treated following Rutgers policy, and might result in penalties ranging from no credit for an assignment, to a failing grade in a class, to dismissal from the university.

Questions about academic integrity should be addressed at a local level first, if possible. Within a classroom setting, you should initiate a discussion with the faculty in the class, or with the undergraduate / graduate director. Within a research setting, you should initiate a discussion first within the research group.

Revised Mar 8, 2024