Academic Integrity Code
(SCU Policy 5.5.3)
The academic community, like all communities, functions best when all its members treat one another with honesty, fairness, respect, and trust. Southern California University of Health Sciences expects high standards of scholarship and integrity from all members of its community. To accomplish its mission of providing an optimal educational environment and developing leaders of society, the University promotes the assumption of personal responsibility and integrity and prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty.
The most common form of academic dishonesty is plagiarism. Other forms of academic dishonesty are also described in the sections below.
Plagiarism
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.1)
Plagiarism is defined as failing to acknowledge adequately the source of words or ideas which are not one’s own. When a student submits academic work that includes another’s words, ideas, or data, whether published or unpublished, the source of that information must be acknowledged with complete and accurate references and, if verbatim statements are included, with quotation marks as well. Simply put, students should document quotes of others through quotation marks and footnotes or other citation methods. By submitting work as one’s own, a student certifies the originality of all material not otherwise acknowledged. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
- The quotation or other use of another person’s words, ideas, opinions, thoughts, or theories (even if paraphrased into one’s own words) without acknowledgment of the source;
- The quotation or other use of facts, statistics, or other data or materials that are not clearly common knowledge without acknowledgment of the source;
- Copying or buying of all or any portion of another’s academic, research, or creative work - even with the author’s or creator’s knowledge and permission - and submitting it, in part or in its entirety, as one’s own. This includes material available through the Internet or other electronic sources and any material which has been copyrighted. Students are hereby advised that when such material has been copyrighted, its unauthorized use constitutes not only a breach of academic integrity, but a violation of law and may incur civil or criminal penalties.
Ignorance of these rules concerning plagiarism is not an excuse. When in doubt, students should seek clarification from the professor who made the assignment.
Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2)
Cheating
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.1)
Cheating is defined as using, or attempting to use, in any academic exercise materials, information, study aids, or electronic data that the student knows or should know is unauthorized. Cheating also encompasses the provision or acceptance of any of any unauthorized assistance during an examination, including talking to another student, viewing another student’s examination, and making or receiving gestures from another student. All instances of cheating will be penalized as described below.
Collusion
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.2)
Collusion includes cooperation of student(s) with faculty or staff personnel in securing confidential information/material (tests, examinations, etc.); bribery by student(s) to change examination grades and/or grade point average(s); cooperative efforts by student(s) and student assistant(s) to gain access to examinations or answers to examinations for distribution; seeking, obtaining, possessing, or giving or selling to another person an examination or portions of an examination (not yet given), without permission of the instructor.
Fabrication of Data
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.3)
Work submitted for assessment must be produced by the individual student. The engagement of another person to complete an assessment or examination in place of the student, whether for payment or otherwise, is not tolerated by the University.
Recycling
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.4)
Submission of a student’s work that has previously counted in another unit of study is not allowed, unless explicitly authorized by the faculty members of both study units. In such case, students must reference their previous work.
Sabotage
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.5)
Destruction of or deliberate inhibition of progress of another student’s work related to a course is considered academically dishonest. This includes the destruction or hiding of shared resources such as library materials and computer software and hardware to tampering with another person’s laboratory experiments.
Falsification of Academic Records
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.6)
A student who falsifies or attempts to falsify academic/clinical records will be subject to dismissal from the University. Additionally, any grades or credits earned may be revoked.
Other Ethical Violations
(SCU Policy 5.5.3.2.7)
Students are prohibited from engaging in willful violation of the canons of ethics for the University or applicable professional associations.
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