Academic Integrity Policy

All students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney are expected to conduct their academic affairs in an honest and responsible manner. Any student found guilty of dishonesty in academic work shall be subject to disciplinary actions. Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to:

  • plagiarism, i.e., the intentional appropriation of the work, be it ideas or phrasing of words, of another without crediting the source.
  • cheating, i.e., unauthorized collaboration or use of external information during examinations;
  • assisting fellow students in committing an act of cheating;
  • falsely obtaining, distributing, using or receiving test materials or academic research materials;
  • submitting examinations, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, research papers or other work as one's own when such work has been prepared by another person or copied from another person (by placing his/her own name on a paper, the student is certifying that it is his/her own work);
  • improperly altering and/or inducing another to improperly alter any academic record.

Additionally, graduate students are more likely to assume roles as active scholars. With these roles come added responsibilities for academic honesty. For such individuals academic honesty requires an active pursuit of truth, not just an avoidance of falsehood. This pursuit includes but is not limited to:

  • providing a full and a complete representation of any scholarly findings, be it experimental data or information retrieved from archives;
  • taking care that the resources of the University (e.g., library materials, computer, or laboratory equipment) are used for their intended academic purposes and that they are used in a manner that minimizes the likelihood of damage or unnecessary wear;
  • assuring that one's co-workers are given due credit for their contributions to any scholarly endeavor;
  • respecting a diversity of opinion and defending one's colleagues as well as one's own academic freedom;
  • respecting the rights of other students who may come under the tutelage of the graduate student and being fair and impartial in grading and other forms of evaluation; and
  • seeking permission from an instructor when submitting work that has been used in other courses.

In cases of alleged academic dishonesty, the instructor shall attempt to discuss the matter with the student and explain the sanction(s) which he/she plans to impose. In the event that the student challenges the allegation of academic dishonesty, or is not satisfied with the sanction(s) imposed by the instructor, the student may file an appeal according to the approved appeal policies of the University of Nebraska Graduate College.
Please see the full Academic Integrity Policy here: Academic Integrity Policy.

Undergraduate student policies may differ. See the Undergraduate Catalog.