• Ohio State's Definition of Academic Misconduct
• How it affects you
• What ifs
• Resources and Contact Information

Academic Misconduct is defined as “an/any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the University, or subvert the educational process,” as per the University's Code of Student Conduct. Such activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Violation of course rules;
• Violation of program regulations;
• Knowingly providing or receiving information during a course exam or program assignment;
• Possession and/or use of unauthorized materials during a course exam or program assignment;
• Knowingly providing or using assistance in the laboratory, on field work, or on a course assignment, unless such assistance has been authorized specifically by the course instructor or, where appropriate, a project/research supervisor;
• Submission of work not performed in a course: This includes (but is not limited to) instances where a student fabricates and/or falsifies data or information for a laboratory experiment (i.e., a "dry lab") or other academic assignment. It also includes instances where a student submits data or information (such as a lab report or term paper) from one course to satisfy the requirements of another course, unless submission of such work is permitted by the instructor of the course or supervisor of the research for which the work is being submitted;
• Submitting plagiarized work for a course/program assignment;
• Falsification, fabrication, or dishonesty in conducting or reporting laboratory (research) results;
• Serving as or asking another student to serve as a substitute (a 'ringer') while taking an exam;
• Alteration of grades in an effort to change earned credit or a grade;
• Alteration and/or unauthorized use of University forms or records.

See the website for the Committee on Academic Misconduct, Office of Academic Affairs, OSU for more details on policies on academic integrity and prevention of academic misconduct.

Preventing academic misconduct:

As a lecturer or recitation instructor, you should take measures towards the prevention of Academic Misconduct:

• Include in your course syllabus a clear definition of “academic misconduct.” A statement approved by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee can be obtained from the faculty in charge of dealing with cases of academic misconduct. See the “Main Resources and Contact Information” page for the Department Education Specialists and Vice-Chair.
• In many courses or assignments/projects, collaboration among students is permissible and expected. For those courses (or assignments) in which collaboration among students is permissible, faculty should explain carefully where acceptable collaboration ends and academic misconduct (collusion) begins.
• Administer examinations and quizzes in such a manner that minimizes the possibility of students copying from each other and/or using unauthorized materials. For example:
• Separate students during examinations. If necessary, schedule your examinations in a different room (a room with a larger capacity) from that where you normally hold class.
• Use multiple forms of the same test, making sure that adjacent students have different forms.
• Arrange for proctors to help you administer examinations and quizzes and monitor students' behavior during the examinations and quizzes.
• Make sure students are not sharing calculators.
• Watch out for students using cell phones, PDAs, or other communication devices during a quiz or exam. You are allowed to take these away and keep them until after the exam has ended.
• For more tips/details on prevention of Academic Misconduct see http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/faq.html#prevention

Recognizing academic misconduct:

Instances of academic misconduct may include students copying each other’s homework and cheating on an exam, but are not limited to such cases. See “What ifs” below for help with figuring out how to recognize academic misconduct.


Reporting academic misconduct:

First contact the faculty member/instructor/course-coordinator for whom you TA. In the case of no course coordinator (e.g., grader, sole instructor) contact or for more information you may contact the faculty member in charge of dealing with cases of academic misconduct. See the Main Resources page.

• Situation A: You are grading homework assignments and notice that two students have turned in identical solutions. That is, the written explanations of one or more answers are the same, i.e. word for word. What do you do?
  
  Solution: Contact the course coordinator and the faculty/department member-in-charge for academic misconduct. Grade both assignments according to the usual rubric. Then, make copies of the graded assignments, retain the originals, and return the copies to the students. Give the originals to the faculty/department member-in-charge.



• Situation B: If you suspect that a student is “cheating” during an exam, you should take the following steps:
  
  Solution:
  • Observe the student's behavior carefully and write down what you saw.
  • If possible, have another person verify your observations, especially in a testing situation, and have this person write down what he/she saw.
  • Collect any other information that might be relevant to the alleged academic misconduct, such as examinations, answer sheets, notes, or other materials.
  • You may not take anything, such as answer sheets, cheat sheets, etc. from the student during the exam. But, if you catch the student using communication devices such as cell phones, and PDAs, you are allowed to take these away and keep them until after the end of the exam.
  • Include in your observations the date, location, and time of the alleged misconduct, as well as the student's name.
  • If the faculty member teaching the course is not present when the alleged misconduct occurs, contact the faculty member immediately.
  • Remember you are not to take anything (other than communication devices such as cell phones, PDAs, etc. if they are being used) from the student during an exam.
  • The above is excerpted from http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/faq.html#suspectstudentischeating.

For more information on OSU’s policies on Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct, see Committee on Academic Misconduct, Office of Academic Affairs.