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Statement on Graduate Academic and Professional Integrity

Approved by the Rackham Executive Board March 7, 2001

Contents

1. Policy Statement on Academic and Professional Integrity
2. Forms of Academic and Professional Misconduct
   1. Forms of Academic Misconduct
   2. Forms of Professional Misconduct
      1. State and Federal Laws
      2. Relevant University-Wide Policy Statements
      3. Discipline-Specific Professional Standards of Conduct or Codes of Ethics
      4. Additional Forms of Professional Misconduct
3. Addendum A. Descriptions of Academic Misconduct

This policy statement has been written to affirm and clarify the general obligation of all Rackham students to maintain high standards of academic and professional integrity. It defines some of the serious offenses of academic misconduct and outlines, in general terms, the standards to which Rackham students are held relative to professional conduct.

I. Policy Statement on Academic and Professional Integrity

The Roles and Responsibilities of Graduate Students

A clear sense of academic honesty and responsibility is fundamental to our scholarly community. To that end, the University of Michigan expects its students to demonstrate honesty and integrity in all their academic activities. However, students pursuing graduate education are being educated not only in a substantive field of inquiry but also in a profession. Although there are many common values, specific standards required of professionals vary by discipline, and this policy document has been written with respect for those differences.

As professionals in training, graduate students assume various roles, depending on the academic program. These include the roles of scholar/researcher, teacher, supervisor of employees, representative to the public (of the University, the discipline and/or the profession), and professional colleague and even the role of provider of services to clients. Therefore, students are responsible for maintaining high standards of conduct while engaged in course work, research, dissertation or thesis preparation, and other activities related to academics and their profession. Because students take on multiple roles in multiple settings, some types of conduct are both academic and professional in nature—hence, the inclusive nature of this policy.

Graduate training, like future professional life, includes demands that might tempt some students to violate integrity standards. There are pressures on graduate students to achieve high grades, obtain financial support, meet research or publication deadlines, gain recognition from the scholarly community, and secure employment. Although faculty members can help students to maintain academic integrity despite these pressures, each student has final responsibility for maintaining integrity in his or her individual conduct.

Finally, conduct that violates the ethical or legal standards of the University community or of one’s program or field of specialization may result in serious consequences, including immediate disciplinary action and future professional disrepute. In support of the Graduate School’s commitment to maintain high standards of integrity, this policy makes provisions for bringing forward and hearing cases of academic and professional misconduct.

The Role of the Graduate Faculty and Others in the University Community

The graduate faculty are accountable for maintaining high standards of academic and professional integrity and for serving as models in this regard. Many of the same policies and codes of conduct that apply to students also apply to faculty (see Section II.B.2 below).

Since each of the roles played by a graduate student carries with it some measure of public trust, the awarding of a graduate degree confers on its recipients some assurance of the individual’s suitability to bear that trust. Therefore, faculty and administrators associated with students’ education, both at the unit and central levels of the University, must hold students accountable according to these standards. Toward this end and taking into account the pressures on students that may lead to misconduct, faculty members are responsible for educating and mentoring students on matters of integrity and for monitoring students’ actions in this regard. Attention to matters of integrity should be given in both courses and research settings. Such guidance is particularly important for students as they assume independent roles as course assistants or begin to conduct their own original work. Traits that should be fostered are those that are common to all scholarship and also those that are unique to a particular discipline.

II. Forms of Academic and Professional Misconduct

A. Forms of Academic Misconduct

Offenses against the standards of academic integrity include the following. More detailed information about these offenses is available in Addendum A of this document.

1. Cheating
2. Plagiarism and other misappropriation of the work of another
3. Falsification of data
4. Improperly obtaining or representing laboratory or field data
5. Dishonesty in publication
6. Publication or attempted publication of collaborative work without the permission of the other participants
7. Abuse of confidentiality
8. Misuse of computer facilities
9. Misuse of human subjects
10. Misuse of vertebrate animals
11. Illegally or carelessly obtaining or using dangerous substances, or providing such substances to others
12. Falsification or unauthorized modification of an academic record
13. Obstruction of the academic activities of another
14. Other forms of academic misconduct that are commonly accepted within the scientific community
15. Aiding or abetting academic misconduct
16. Attempted academic misconduct

B. Forms of Professional Misconduct

Professional misconduct is behavior that is inconsistent with ethical standards in any of the professional roles for which the student is being trained that is not covered by policies governing academic integrity. This may include the student’s performance in the role of researcher or scholar, teacher or mentor, supervisor, service-provider or colleague. Of particular note in this regard are behaviors that make the workplace hostile for colleagues, supervisors or subordinates. Graduate students are expected to adhere to ethical standards in a variety of work settings (e.g., offices, classrooms, and laboratories) within the explicit standards set by University policies. Being physically or verbally threatening, disruptive, abusive or hostile can make the workplace so unsafe or unpleasant that others cannot do their work. However, graduate education must take place in an environment in which free expression, free inquiry, intellectual honesty, and respect for the rights and dignity of others can be expected. Ethical standards of conduct should help ensure, not compromise, these features of the University environment.

Sources of the norms or standards to which graduate students can be held accountable (and charged under this policy if they fail to adhere to them) are as follows:

1. State and Federal Laws: Graduate students, like all members of the University community, are expected to abide by all State and Federal laws.
2. Relevant University-Wide Policy Statements: Graduate students are responsible for being familiar with and are held accountable to the formal norms or standards that are identified in University-wide policy statements and that apply to them, including the following. Please note that with the exception of the two policies that are specific to students (the final two policies on the list below), these standards apply to faculty as well as to graduate students.
   • the Sexual Harassment Policy for Faculty and Staff (Office of Human Resources and Affirmative Action);
   • the Regents’ Bylaw on Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action;
   • the Policy Statement on the Integrity of Scholarship and Procedures for Investigating Allegations of Misconduct in the Pursuit of Scholarship and Research, which applies to all instructional faculties and others in the institution as specified in the document;
   • the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities; and
   • the Student Policy on Alcohol and Other Drugs: the text of these policies can be found under University Policies Affecting Students in the Graduate School Academic Policies. See also the Office of the Vice President for Research’s site on policies and research responsibility.
3. Discipline-Specific Professional Standards of Conduct or Codes of Ethics: Graduate students are expected to meet professional standards of conduct associated with their own disciplines and/or professions as articulated in formal codes of ethics. Such formal codes can include but are not limited to codes of professional conduct or statements on professional behavior that have been adopted by the student’s department, program, school or college, as well as codes of ethics published by professional associations. Departments and graduate students share responsibility in this regard. Departments should make such policies available to their graduate students, and, in turn, students should take the initiative to familiarize themselves with such codes of conduct or ethics.
4. Additional Forms of Professional Misconduct: In addition, graduate students can be held accountable for the following professionally relevant behaviors, which may or may not be identified as violations in other formal codes of conduct relevant to the student. With respect to the following behaviors, the appropriate academic leadership (e.g., dean or department chair), in consultation with department faculty, serves as the authority for whether a specific student behavior warrants review under this policy.
   1. Misrepresentation of one’s credentials or status, or failure to correct others’ inaccuracies or misrepresentation of one’s credentials. This includes professional experience, paid or unpaid, including positions held; and relevant timeframes and dates (e.g., the timeframe in which a professional position was held, or the date on which a degree was earned).
   2. Unethical consulting activity, including misrepresentation of one’s status, credentials, or level of expertise to secure a consulting assignment; and knowingly taking on a consulting assignment without the necessary knowledge or expertise. (Consultation should only be provided by individuals who have demonstrated knowledge, expertise, and competence related to the consultation. To avoid problems in this regard, graduate students are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of their faculty advisors or other appropriate members of the faculty before taking on a consulting assignment.)
   3. Unethical professional practice based on conflict of interest. This includes engaging in unethical professional behaviors to promote, benefit or protect one’s self, family, friends, or business colleagues; and exploiting personal knowledge about an individual (e.g., personal life as well as political and religious views).
   4. Deliberate failure to protect confidential records, in accordance with relevant professional standards.
   5. Abuse of the peer review process. This includes the following:
      1. simultaneous submission of a manuscript to more than one journal without approval from the respective editors
      2. submission of previously published material without clarifying the extent of the previously published material to the editor
      3. submitting a manuscript without the permission/agreement of all authors
      4. judging a peer’s work on other than professional grounds,
      5. judging a peer’s work unfairly or in an uninformed way,
      6. serving as a peer reviewer despite conflict of interest (e.g., having a personal relationship with the author) or otherwise being knowingly unable to judge the merits of scholarly work without prejudice
      7. trying to unduly influence a colleague’s review of one’s own work
   6. Other fraudulent behavior. This includes actions, taken individually or with other people, that the appropriate dean believes to call into question the student’s.75 ability to ethically and competently join the profession. Specific examples include knowingly providing false information in one’s professional role, embezzling funds, and misusing department or school resources.
   7. Aiding or abetting professional misconduct. Aiding or abetting any individual in the violation of any of the categories of professional misconduct outlined above shall itself be considered misconduct.
   8. Attempted professional misconduct. An attempt to commit professional misconduct may be treated as seriously as the completed act.

   Other violations of State or Federal laws or University policies, brought to the attention of the Graduate School that are not explicitly mentioned in the policies and standards of conduct mentioned above but which appear to merit review under this policy will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

   Addendum A: Descriptions of Academic Misconduct

   The following offenses are listed in the Rackham Graduate School’s Policy Statement on Academic and Professional Integrity. This document provides detailed information in this regard.

   Forms of Academic Misconduct

   Offenses against the standards of academic integrity include the following:

   1. Cheating
      • Cheating is the attempt to gain an improper advantage in an academic evaluation. Among the forms this kind of dishonesty can take are: obtaining a copy of an examination before it is officially available or learning an examination question before it is officially available; having a substitute take an examination; copying another person’s answer to an examination question; consulting an unauthorized source during an examination; or changing a score or a record of an examination result.
      • It is also improper to submit the work one has done for one class or project to a second class or as a second project without getting the informed permission of the second instructor. Acceptance of one piece of work that is submitted for two classes must be arranged beforehand.
   2. Plagiarism and other misappropriation of the work of another
      • Plagiarism is the representation of another person’s ideas or writing as one’s own. The most obvious form of this kind of dishonesty is the presentation of all or part of another person’s published work as something one has written. Perhaps less obvious but no less dishonest are, without proper acknowledgment of the source, the adoption of a part of another’s writing into one’s own discussion, the paraphrasing of another’s writing, or the presentation of another’s ideas as one’s own. In different forms, these all constitute a theft of someone else’s work. This is not to say that students should not use the work of others; scholarship and research are, after all, communal activities. To avoid plagiarism all one has to do is fully and properly acknowledge the source of the work presented. To reduce the likelihood of being accused of plagiarism, students must follow the citation styles relevant to the discipline or the journals in which they will publish.
      • It is also a violation of integrity to represent another’s artistic or technical work or creation as one’s own. Just as there are standards to which one must adhere in the preparation and publication of written works, there are standards to which one must adhere in the creation and presentation of music, drawings, designs, and other artistic and technical works. Students who work in these areas must become thoroughly familiar with the relevant standards.
   3. Falsification of data
      • This is the dishonest reporting of investigative results. The most obvious form is the outright fabrication of data, but other examples include improper revision of data, deceptive selective reporting of data to support a particular notion, or the deceptive omission of conflicting data.
   4. Improperly obtaining or representing laboratory or field data
      • Many activities in graduate school involve the collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and publishing of data obtained in the scientific laboratory or in the field. The opportunities to deviate from accepted behavior might be more numerous in research, and the temptation greater than in the classroom environment, because often research activities are supervised less closely. Forms of improper research practices include fabrication or falsification of data, taking or using the experimental data of others without either permission or due acknowledgment (misappropriation of data), misrepresentation of data or the methods used to collect or analyze them, the deceptive selective reporting of data to support a particular notion or hypothesis, or the deceptive omission of conflicting data. Furthermore, all researchers have a responsibility to refrain from practices that may unfairly inhibit the research of others now or later.
   5. Dishonesty in publication
      • In most instances the objective of scholarly research is the dissemination of information, usually in the form of a written and published work. Indeed, in many disciplines career advancement is often based largely on the number and quality of an individual’s publications. It is a violation of academic integrity to publish knowingly information that will mislead or deceive readers. This includes falsification or fabrication of data; failure to give full and proper credit to collaborators, including, when appropriate, joint authorship; and the act of listing as authors persons who have not contributed to the work. Plagiarism is also considered a form of dishonesty in publication.
   6. Publication or attempted publication of collaborative work without the permission of the other participants
      • Written work that is the result of efforts undertaken under the supervision of or collaboratively with one or more faculty members or students should not be presented orally in a formal setting (e.g., at a conference) or submitted for publication without the permission of the other participant(s). If one or more of the collaborators cannot be reached or fails to respond within a reasonable amount of time to requests for permission, written evidence of such attempts should be kept.
   7. Abuse of confidentiality
      • During graduate training a student may be asked to assist in the evaluation of confidential grant proposals, awarded applications, or manuscripts that will be or may have been submitted for review and possible funding or publication. Likewise, a graduate student may work on projects for which a public or private sponsor expects or requires confidentiality. It’s inappropriate to release the ideas or data of others that were given with the expectation that they would be confidential.
   8. Misuse of computer facilities
      • Access to information belonging to someone else can sometimes be obtained through a central computing facility despite the fact that much of the information stored in such facilities is usually confidential. Unless one is explicitly authorized to do so, it is improper to obtain a password assigned to another or to copy or modify a data file or program belonging to someone else. Proper authorization to conduct these activities means being granted permission either by the owner or originator of that material or by a member of the faculty, a unit head, a project director, or a member of the computing center staff. Similarly, one should not violate the integrity of a computer system, whether of general or limited access, in order to harass another user or operator or to damage software or hardware. It is also improper to engage in any activity that evades the appropriate monetary charges for access to or use of the computer. (See the Proper Use Policy, Standard Practice Guide 601.7, and the Guidelines for Implementing the Proper Use Policy, located at http://www.itd.umich.edu/itpolicies/.)
   9. Misuse of human subjects
      • Human beings are used as research subjects in many ways. They may be respondents to questionnaires or interviews, participants in behavioral studies, or the subjects of medical research. In any of these instances, when a human subject is a participant in a graduate project, approval for such a project must be obtained in advance from the Human Subjects Review Committee and maintained in good standing through periodic mandatory review. Once approval has been granted, it is unacceptable to deviate significantly from the approved protocol without again obtaining Committee approval. It is also improper to violate the confidentiality of a human subject without his or her approval. (See “Use of Human Subjects in Doctoral Research.")
   10. Misuse of vertebrate animals
       • Controlled and humane use of vertebrate animals is often an essential part of research and training. Government and University guidelines apply to the procurement of vertebrate animals, their care and housing before and after actual experimentation, and the humane treatment procedures that shall be followed during any experiment. As in the case with human subjects, if a study involves the use of vertebrate animals on campus, the project must have prior review and approval. The University of Michigan’s Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM) conducts these reviews, and its approval must be granted before animal procurement begins. Usually a request for such review is initiated by the faculty project director, but a student participating in actual animal procurement or in instructional or experimental use should be familiar with and comply with the ULAM guidelines.
   11. Illegally or carelessly obtaining or using dangerous substances, or providing such substances to others
       • Graduate students in chemical or biomedical disciplines frequently work with drugs, solvents, or other biologically active substances (radioisotopes, pathogens, or other biohazards). The possession, use, or distribution of some of.83 these is regulated by State or Federal law and monitored by the Vice President for Research or Occupational Safety and Environmental Health, whereas the proper and safe use of others may be guided only by acquired knowledge and common sense. Intentional disregard of guidelines that apply to these substances can be justification for levying a charge of ethical misconduct.
   12. Falsification or unauthorized modification of an academic record
       • It is a violation of academic integrity to falsify, fabricate, or in any other way modify a student transcript, grade, letter of recommendation, or related document, whether it pertains to you or another individual. Falsification or unauthorized modification of any other official document, including an examination, is also a violation.
   13. Obstruction of the academic activities of another
       • It is a violation of academic integrity to interfere with the scholarly research of another individual. Such interference includes harassment and unauthorized tampering with experimental data, with a human or animal subject, with a written document or other creation (e.g., a sculpture or an architectural model), with a chemical used for scientific study, or with any other object of study.
   14. Other forms of academic misconduct
       • Other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community, and material failure to comply with legal requirements governing research may also constitute actionable misconduct.
   15. Aiding or abetting academic misconduct
       • Aiding or abetting any individual in the violation of any of the categories of misconduct outlined above shall itself be considered misconduct.
   16. Attempted academic misconduct
       • An attempt to commit academic misconduct may be treated as seriously as the completed act.