Academic Integrity

The ELPS Department expects all credential, Masters, and doctoral candidates, and other students in ELPS classes, to adhere to the accepted norms of intellectual honesty in their academic work. Any form of cheating, plagiarism, dishonesty, or collusion in another individual's dishonesty is a fundamental violation of these norms and will face consequences. Cheating is the use or attempted use of unauthorized aids in any exam or other academic exercise submitted for evaluation. All written work should be done independently by the individual student unless otherwise authorized by the instructor. Cheating includes:

• copying from another person's work or having them do work for you
• unauthorized cooperation in doing assignments or during an examination
• use of purchased or otherwise ready-made essays, term papers, or preparatory research for such papers
• submission of the same written work in more than one course without prior written approval from the instructor(s) involved
• dishonesty in requests for extensions on papers or make-up examinations
• data falsification or fabrication
• deceitful alteration of collected data included in a report

Plagiarism is the deliberate act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrative material, or statements of someone else, without full and proper acknowledgment, and presenting them as one's own. This includes appropriating material from print or electronic sources in part or in whole without proper permission, citation, and indication within quotation marks of material that is quoted verbatim. You must use quotation marks when you are using the exact wording that appears in an author’s text. You must cite the source (Author, date) not only when you quote an author directly (in which case you also need the page number) but when you incorporate their opinions or interpretations in your work, or when you paraphrase their main ideas in your own words. Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another candidate in an act of academic dishonesty.

Candidates in ELPS programs are expected to know how to work cooperatively and effectively utilize source material without violating the norms of intellectual honesty. Candidates have a responsibility to know the proper forms for quoting, attributing, summarizing, and paraphrasing. If candidates have any questions or doubts about academic integrity matters, they should consult their advisor.

Violations of academic integrity may be grounds for failing an assignment, failing a course, or being suspended from or dismissed from the program, depending on the severity of the offense (see Section 41301, Title 5, California Code of regulations).

Candidates’ ignorance of academic integrity standards will not release them from these consequences. Faculty members who detect any form of academic dishonesty have the responsibility to take appropriate action in accordance with existing CSUN Academic Policy guidelines and ELPS Department Student Retention Policies. Such reports will remain in candidates' files.