Standards of Academic and Social Conduct
Complete confidence in the honor and integrity of the physical therapist is essential. Such confidence depends entirely on the exemplary behavior of individual therapists in their relations with patients. Strict honesty as a personal way of life should be nurtured during the period of education for professional service.
Student shall conduct all aspects of their lives with honor and integrity. This includes accountability for oneself and to relationships with fellow students, future colleagues, faculty, staff, and patients who come under the student’s care and contribute to their education and professional growth.
Several aspects of academic and professional conduct and social behavior warrant specific attention.
Academic Concerns - Upon accepting admission to Elon University, each student agrees to abide by basic standards of honesty and academic integrity; no person should matriculate here if that person disagrees with the basic standards. These standards include but are not limited to the following:
- Students never represent the work of others as their own.
- When work is jointly carried out, the other members of the group should be acknowledged.
- Students never give or receive assistance during an exam.
Elon Honor Code – Academic Policies
In keeping with Elon’s Honor Code, Elon students are expected to not cheat, plagiarize, steal, violate others’ property or facilitate others’ dishonesty. Students who are uncertain of the acceptability of their behaviors should consult in advance with the course instructor.
Cheating
Definition: the possession, receipt, use, or solicitation of unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids, or other devices in any academic exercise. This definition includes unauthorized communication of information before, during, and after an academic exercise.
Scope: all encompassing.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
a. Copying from another student’s paper or test, or receiving any unauthorized assistance on any assignment or exam.
b. Possessing, buying, selling, removing, copying, or using at any time or in any manner not previously authorized by the instructor a partial or complete copy of any exam or other materials intended to be used as an instrument of evaluation in advance of its administration, or following its administration if indicated by the instructor.
c. Using any material or equipment not authorized by the instructor during a test or other academic evaluation.
d. Attempting to influence or change an academic evaluation, grade, or record by deceit or unfair means such as (1) damaging the work of another student to gain an unfair advantage, or (2) marking or submitting an exam or other assignment in an attempt to deceive the grading system.
e. Submitting, without prior permission, the same academic paperwork which has been submitted in identical or similar form in another class in fulfillment of any other academic requirement at the university.
f. Permitting another person to substitute for oneself during any type of academic evaluation.
g. Gaining an unfair advantage on any assignment by destroying, hiding, or unauthorized removal of materials intended for the use of all (library resources, etc.).
Plagiarism
Definition: presenting the work or ideas of another as one’s own (i.e. without proper acknowledgement of the source). The sole exception to the requirement of acknowledging sources is when the ideas or information are common knowledge. Any student must be thoroughly familiar with methods for documenting the use of another person’s sentences, arguments, or ideas.
Scope: all encompassing.
Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, failure to do the following:
a. Quote directly. Any direct quotation of any portion of any source must be placed in quotation marks and properly attributed to its author using documentation in accordance with the requirements of the appropriate current style manuals. The following example, which uses MLA style (other styles may be used in different classes), shows how a direct quotation is properly acknowledged:
In her book titled The Subject of Semiotics, Kaja Silverman notes that “Madame Bovary places an insistent emphasis on the cultural sources from which ideal images derive- churches, schools, the marketplace, literature – [which] may help to clarify for us what ideal representations are always socially mediated” (Silverman 161).
Works Cited
Silverman, Kaja. The Subject of Semiotics. New York: Oxford UP, 1983.
b. Paraphrase. Prompt acknowledgement is required when material from any source is paraphrased or summarized in a whole or in part in one’s own words and writing style.
To acknowledge or paraphrase properly, one might state: “To paraphrase Locke’s comment…” or “According to Rousseau…,” and conclude with a citation identifying the exact reference.
c. Attribute any ideas, research results, procedures or concepts not one’s own to the original source.
When referring to another’s work, proper credit must be given to the source, even if one neither paraphrases nor quotes directly from that work. A footnote or an endnote should fully identify the source.
d. It is considered unacceptable to turn in the same work for more than one assignment. When completing the CPI one may not self-plagiarize.
The way in which a student and/or researcher chooses to handle documentation of other’s ideas and words has a direct bearing on the integrity of the community in which she or he operates. Students should therefore give careful consideration when preparing any paper or doing any type of research.
Lying
Definition: any oral or written statement misrepresenting the truth constitutes lying.
Scope: all encompassing.
Examples of lying include, but are not limited to the following:
a. Making a false statement in an attempt to gain advantage or exception.
b. Falsifying evidence or testifying falsely.
c. Omitting relevant information in an attempt to gain an advantage or exception.
d. Inventing or counterfeiting data, research results, research procedures, experiences, or any other information.
e. Citing a nonexistent source or a source not actually consulted for reference material/data.
f. Altering any official academic record.
g. Submitting a false excuse for absences.
Stealing or Vandalism
Definition: taking, attempting to take, or withholding the property of another, thereby permanently or temporarily depriving the owner of its use or possession.
Scope: all encompassing.
Examples of stealing and vandalism include, but are not limited to the following:
a. Unauthorized removal of library materials, examinations, computer programs, etc. from the premises.
b. Taking another’s academic work or materials without permission or proper credit.
c. Defacement or destruction of academic property.
Facilitating Academic Dishonesty
Definition: helping or attempting to help another person commit an act of dishonesty.
Scope: all encompassing.
Examples of facilitating academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Providing assistance to another during an exam or on another assignment in a manner not authorized by the instructor.
b. Acting as a substitute for another in any type of academic violation.
c. Providing specific information about a recently given test, exam, or other assignment to another student who thereby gains an unfair advantage in an academic evaluation.
d. Permitting one’s academic work to be represented as the work of another.
e. Preparing for sale, barter, or lend to another student other items such as unauthorized papers, notes, abstracts of lectures or readings.