Academic Integrity

Each institution and instructor has their own set of policies on academic integrity. Pay attention to the rules for each course, because they might differ. Nevertheless, the two main notions are to do your own work and be honest about what your work is based on. Here is a fairly ordinary policy on AI:

AI

1. In response to recent developments in AI (artificial intelligence) technology, students should be aware that any submitted written work that has been compiled (partially or entirely) with the assistance of AI cannot be regarded as the student’s own work.

2. Any AI-generated text needs to be credited in the body of the text and appropriately referenced in the bibliography.

3. An essay constructed of predominantly quotes is not likely to be graded as highly as would work that shows original thinking and skillful application of knowledge.

Plagiarism

According to Harvard University, "In academic writing, it is considered plagiarism to draw any idea or any language from someone else without adequately crediting that source in your paper."

Plagiarism has various negative consequences. At school or university, it could lead to failing grades or suspension. If done repeatedly, it could possibly lead to expulsion. In the workplace, plagiarism occasionally gets people fired, and some cases have led to lawsuits. From an educational standpoint, students are going to school to learn, and learning requires practice, so even if you could plagiarize and never get caught, you would be wasting your time.

Can you use sites such as ChatGPT, Google Translate, DeepL or other similar online resources? Yes, maybe, if you are careful. How can you use online and offline references and resources? Cite the source. Cite the source if you:

• use AI or translation sites

• quote, paraphrase, or summarize

• use an idea you learned through research

• are supporting a key point

• are supporting a surprising point

Citations are mainly used in three situations: quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is putting external information into your own words. Here are some good examples.

1. Original: “Workplace health and safety is the legal responsibility of all employers” (Cullen, French & Jakeman, 2014).
   Paraphrase: Each company has the obligation to keep its employees healthy and safe (Cullen, French & Jakeman, 2014).

2. Original: “Providing proper healthcare facilities and treatment is expensive, and the rising cost of healthcare puts a lot of pressure on the working population” (Dummett, Stephenson & Lansford, 2017).
   Paraphrase: According to Dummett, Stephenson & Lansford (2017), the price of healthcare is increasing, and this is leading to problems for ordinary people.

3. Original: “The world must ensure that new technologies, especially those based on AI, are used for the good of our societies and their sustainable development. It should regulate AI developments and applications so that they conform to the fundamental rights that frame our democratic horizon” (Azoulay, 2018).
   Paraphrase: New AI developments should be regulated so that their use adheres to fundamental human rights and any impact on communities globally is beneficial and sustainable (Azoulay, 2018).

Bad Paraphrasing

To paraphrase properly, you have to transform the quote. You can use some of the same vocabulary, but be certain to alter the sentence structure. After all, if the original work was already perfect, you could have quoted it instead. Let's look at some examples of bad paraphrasing.

1. Original: “Speakers of English on opposite sides of the Atlantic often use different words to refer to the same thing” (Ferraro, 2001).
   Paraphrase: According to Ferraro (2001), speakers of English on opposite sides of the Atlantic often use different words to refer to the same thing.
   Problem: The same words are used. This should be a quote.

2. Original: “Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English” (History of the English Language, 2013).
   Paraphrase: As explained in History of the English Language (2013), Native English speakers today would have great challenges understanding Old English.
   Problem: The sentence structure is the same. Most of the words are identical.

3. Original: “You can't be in London for long without going to the Zoo” (Milne, 1925).
   Paraphrase: It has been said that you can't be in London for a very long time without going to the zoo (Milne, 1925).
   Problem: The original sentence structure is still being used.

4. Original: “Whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think—but I am not sure—that that is why he was always called Pooh” (Milne, 1925).
   Paraphrase: As Milne (1925) explained, whenever a fly came and landed on Winnie's nose he had to blow it off. That is why he was called Pooh.
   Problem: Parts of the original were cut, but the structure and vocabulary is still there.

Summarizing

Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, except that summaries are always shorter than the original text. As with paraphrasing, include the author and publication year.

For example, consider this original text:

Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. Actually, the laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day; he cannot afford to sustain the manliest relations to men; his labor would be depreciated in the market. He has no time to be anything but a machine. How can he remember well his ignorance—which his growth requires—who has so often to use his knowledge? We should feed and clothe him gratuitously sometimes, and recruit him with our cordials, before we judge of him. The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly. (Thoreau, 1854)

One could summarize it as follows:

In Walden; or, Life in the Woods, the author suggests that the human fixation on work desensitizes man to the world around him, to the needs of his own intellectual growth, and to the complexity and frailty of his fellow humans (Thoreau, 1854).

References

• How to Cite Sources - Try It Out. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.

• Summarizing. (2023). Excelsior Online Writing Lab, Excelsior University. Retrieved 2024.

• What Constitutes Plagiarism? (n.d.). Harvard College Writing Program. Retrieved 2024.

• Writing. (n.d.). Curtis University Library. Retrieved 2025. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some of the above content was copy/pasted from here.