This section deals with University policies related to student research. Ideally, students across the College will have identical understandings of the protocols of collaboration, source attribution and citation; in practice, however, students’ understanding and compliance related to research protocols vary widely. Consequently, teaching research methods and protocols is of central importance.

Teaching Research Standards Across the Curriculum

Among the many responsibilities of the College faculty, introducing students to the scholarly standards of our academic community is central. Instructors in the Core, especially, must assist students in the transition to college. Instructors should assume that students have to be explicitly informed about the nature of the academic enterprise at the college level. While incoming students typically have general expectations about time they will have to invest in their studies, less often do they anticipate shifts in the nature of the academic tasks and in the modes of work required by these tasks. Instructors should assist students in redefining their conceptualizations of scholarly work by establishing course goals, not as a series of specific course requirements, but as ways of thinking through questions and strategies for dealing with the work at hand.

No less important is the need for faculty members to introduce students to a discussion of academic responsibility. We expect students to dedicate themselves to the ethical principles that guide any scholarly community. We are obligated to help students recognize that this community offers many opportunities and privileges and, in turn, demands commitment to its standards of justice, academic integrity, and intellectual inquiry. Students new to the College come from different backgrounds and experiences; there is considerable variation across disciplines in what is regarded as acceptable practice, and different instructors give different instructions about collaboration. Consequently, it is advisable to discuss the issue of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty early in the quarter. To assist in this task, a copy of Dartmouth College's Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment is distributed to all first-year students. This resource is also available online.

Statement of Policy

The University policy on Academic Honesty is as follows:

“As students and faculty of the University of Chicago, we belong to an academic community with high scholarly standards of which we are justly proud. Our community also holds certain fundamental ethical principles to which we are deeply committed. We believe it is contrary to justice, to academic integrity, and to the spirit of intellectual inquiry to submit the statements or ideas of work of others as one's own. To do so is plagiarism or cheating, offenses punishable under the University's disciplinary system. Because these offenses undercut the distinctive moral and intellectual character of the University, we take them very seriously and punishments for them may include permanent expulsion from the University.

Proper acknowledgment of another's ideas, whether by direct quotation or paraphrase, is expected. In particular, if any written source is consulted and material is used from that source, directly or indirectly, the source should be identified by author, title, and page number. Any doubts about what constitutes ‘use’ should be addressed to the instructor.”

See http://www.uchicago.edu/docs/studentmanual/academic_honesty.html

Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment

A publication on proper citation, Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment, has been published by Dartmouth College and is distributed to all incoming students. It would be helpful if instructors explained the use of this text to students in the context of the particular class being taught. This publication is also available online at http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Esources/

Resources for Faculty

Be clear about expectations of academic honesty, about resources for students who are confused, and the consequences of plagiarism or cheating in the course. Describe the limits of permissible degrees of collaboration on problem sets, joint projects, and the like. An explicit statement in the syllabus about your expectations for independent work will be useful to students.

Teaching academic integrity is a four-year project. Even instructors in upper-level courses should clarify, in discussion and in the syllabus, their expectations for students and, especially, the limits of collaboration. Students come into upper level courses with assumptions based on previous experience, which may not be appropriate in other situations. The limits of collaboration, especially group projects, may well vary among different types of courses.

The University of Chicago Library has compiled a useful list of resources related to academic honesty for faculty members. See http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/reg/using/instruct/plagiarism.html#Instruction