Academic Integrity

The relationship between students and faculty is the keystone of the educational experience in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. This relationship takes an honor code for granted. Mutual trust, respect and responsibility are foundational requirements. Thus, how you learn is as important as what you learn. A University education aims not only to produce high quality scholars, but to also cultivate honorable citizens. 

Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do, from taking exams, making oral presentations to writing term papers. It requires that you recognize and acknowledge information derived from others, and take credit only for ideas and work that are yours. NYU Steinhardt follows the Academic Integrity for Students at NYU policy along with additional policies pertinent to its academic areas of study.

You violate the principle of academic integrity when you:

• Cheat on an exam;

• Submit the same work for two different courses without prior permission from your professors;

• Receive help on a take-home examination that calls for independent work;

• Plagiarize.

Plagiarism is a form of fraud. It involves presenting work without adequate acknowledgement of its source (e.g., another person, your own earlier work, an AI tool, etc.), as though it were one’s own current work. We all stand on the shoulders of others, and we must give credit to the creators of the works that we incorporate into products that we call our own. Some examples of plagiarism:

• Sequence of words incorporated without quotation marks

• Unacknowledged passage paraphrased from another's work

• Use of ideas or materials from another source as  though it were one’s own

• Copy verbatim from a book, an article or other media

• Submit downloaded documents from the Internet

• Purchase documents

• Report from other's oral work

• Paraphrase or restate someone else's facts, analysis and/or conclusions

• Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy from you

Your professors are responsible for helping you to understand other people's ideas, to use resources and conscientiously acknowledge them, and to develop and clarify your own thinking. You should know what constitutes good and honest scholarship, style guide preferences, and formats for assignments for each of your courses. Consult your professors for help with problems related to fulfilling course assignments, including questions related to attribution of sources.

Through reading, writing, and discussion, you will undoubtedly acquire ideas from others, and exchange ideas and opinions with others, including your classmates and professors. You will be expected, and often required, to build your own work on that of other people. In so doing, you are expected to credit those sources that have contributed to the development of your ideas.

Avoiding Academic Dishonesty

• Organize your time appropriately to avoid undue pressure, and acquire good study habits, including note taking.

• Learn proper forms of citation. Always check with your professors of record for their preferred style guides. Directly copied material must always be in quotes; paraphrased material must be acknowledged; even ideas and organization derived from your own previous work or another's work need to be acknowledged.

• Always proofread your finished work to be sure that quotation marks or footnotes or other references were not inadvertently omitted. Know the source of each citation.

• Do not submit the same work for more than one class without first obtaining the permission of both professors even if you believe that work you have already completed satisfies the requirements of another assignment.

• Save your notes and drafts of your papers as evidence of your original work.

• Work with the NYU Writing Center

Disciplinary Process and Sanctions

When a professor suspects a student of violating the Academic Integrity policy, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken following the departmental procedures:

1. The professor will notify the student of the alleged academic integrity violation and schedule a meeting to discuss the matter.

2. A student who has been alleged to have committed an academic integrity violation may not withdraw from the course.

3. The professor will meet with the student to discuss and present evidence for the particular violation, giving the student the opportunity to refute or deny the charge(s).

4. If the professor confirms the violation(s), in consultation with the Program Director and Department Chair, they may take any of the following actions:

   1. Allow the student to redo the assignment

   2. Lower the grade for the work in question

   3. Assign a grade of F for the work in question

   4. Assign a grade of F for the course

5. The professor will notify the student via their NYU email address, informing them of the results of the charge(s). The Program Director, the Department Chair, and the Associate Dean of Student Affairs will also be included in the email, and a copy will be kept in the student’s file.

6. If the student feels there is new, additional, relevant information that was unavailable at the time of the original decision and thus was not considered; and/or there was a material violation in procedure, they may appeal the decision.

   1. A formal written appeal should be submitted to the Department Chair and/or Program Director in their department within ten (10) calendar days of the final outcome notification.

   2. All decisions made by the Department Chair and/or Program Director of the appeal are final.

7. In cases of repeated academic integrity violations and/or egregious circumstances dealing with academic misconduct, either of which may implicate dismissal from the University, Department Chairs and/or Program Directors must escalate the issue to the Office of Student Affairs.

   1. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs (or designee) will coordinate to meet with the student, discuss the evidence of academic misconduct, and provide the student an opportunity to respond. 

   2. After considering all relevant information, the Associate Dean may impose a disciplinary sanction, including dismissal.