Academic Integrity

Avoiding Cheating and Protecting the Integrity of Exams

Developing the exam:

• Develop questions that are meaningful to the course content and extend to students’ abilities to express and defend their understanding. Examples of questions include essay and short answer prompts. [ 1, 2, 8]
• Reinforce the honor code by making the first exam question a statement of commitment to academic honesty. Much like a user agreement, this reminds students of their morality and encourages them to stop and think before they are tempted to cheat. [ 9]
• As often as possible, change the exam questions, ideally from term to term. [ 2, 3, 7]
• Scramble multiple choice exams by creating two versions with different question and/or option orders. [ 2, 5, 7]

Preparing students for the exam:

• Set office hours and appointments before exams to meet individually with students and help them prepare. [ 1]
• During class, office hours, and on the day of the exam; give clear oral and written instructions to students about what materials can and cannot be used. [ 2]

During the exam:

• Validate students' identities by requiring students to display their ID on their desks during the exam, and mark each student on the attendance sheet and/or to record their student ID # on each exam in order to have their exam grade recorded. [2, 7]
• Use alternate seating so that students who are close enough to see classmates' work won't have the same question order on their own exam. [ 2, 5, 7]
• Carefully monitor the classroom during the exam by walking around the room and watching for wandering eyes. [ 1, 2, 5, 7]

Avoiding Plagiarism with Writing Assignments

• Set clear expectations when it comes to writing assignments:
• Explain research processes and expectations for resources, and ensure students have equal access to study materials. This includes teaching students how to use valid and reliable resources, both online and in libraries, and teaching students the expected citation standards. [ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
• Emphasize consequences of plagiarism via chatbots. AI written work may result in flags by plagiarism detectors–especially for the second student to submit. [9]
• Design and implement assignments with intention:
• Create assignments that require higher level learning. Test your prompts in an AI generator. Stress that the assignments are opportunities for rigorous learning and inquiry. When possible, change parts of the assignments for each offering of the course to reduce chances of students plagiarizing. [ 2, 4, 7, 8, 9]
• Ask students to draw on and document a variety of sources, such as interviews, electronic resources, books, and lived experiences etc. [ 3, 4, 8, 9]
• Implement chances to work with AI as learning opportunities. For example, have students grade an AI-generated essay, providing annotations and analysis. Consider allowing students to incorporate an AI quote into writing, cited as 3rd party AI content. [ 9]
• Collect notes and drafts from students throughout the process. Watch for style and citation inconsistencies. Require students to submit their paper electronically and use an Internet tool such as TurnItIn or Plagiarism.org to check for plagiarism. Encourage them to run their drafts through these tools before they submit them to identify their own mistakes and learn from them before grades are at stake. [ 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]

What to Do If You Suspect Plagiarism

• Compile a case by comparing the student’s current work to their work on previous assignments and/or comparing the work against original sources. Online tools like TurnItIn or Plagiarism.org can be helpful. [ 3]
• Talk with the student directly to discuss what you noticed. This will help you identify the learning opportunity. Is this a student who doesn't understand proper citation expectations, or is this a deliberate case of cheating? Is this a first-time offense or part of a pattern? Understanding the student will clarify an appropriate course of action. [ 1, 4, 7]
• Report possible cases of plagiarism to appropriate administrators or review boards, and notify the student of the action you have taken. [ 4]

Academic Integrity Resources

• About Integrity at WWU, Academic Honesty; Policy, Process, and Procedures
• Plagiarism Overview, Western Libraries
• Academic Dishonesty, Registrar's Office.
• Academic Honesty Policy and Procedure, University Catalog.
• Plagiarism Policies & Guidelines @ WWU, Western Libraries.
• Student Rights and Responsibilities Code, Office of Student Life.
• How to Avoid Plaigarism, Western Libraries. Short online module.
• See also Creative Commons and Public Domain

• Acknowledging Sources, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Tutorial for how to correctly acknowledge sources
• Academic Integrity at the University of Southern California, University of Southern California; a video tutorial about academic integrity and plagiarism
• Copyright Crash Course, University of Texas; includes links and information about various types of copywrite licenses, and includes a link to a plagiarism quiz
• How to Avoid Plagiarism: An Information Literacy Tutorial, Rutgers University; video tutorial explaining what plagiarism is and ways to avoid plagiarizing
• Online Tutorial on Academic Integrity, Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. Self-paced tutorial to increase students' understanding of academic honesty, includes printable certificate of completion.
• Plagiarism Prevention Resource Kit, Walden University; videos explaining the types of plagiarism and why academic integrity is important
• Plagiarism Resource Site, Colby College, Bates College, Bowdoin College; includes an overview of terms and an introduction to academic honesty, as well as a self-test
• How can I prevent plagiarism?, Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovations, Eberly Center
• Why Students Plagiarize, Middle Georgia State University

• What is Your Academic Integrity Quotient? Turnitin
• Academic Integrity Quiz, Empire State University
• What You Don't Know About Academic Integrity Could Cost You! Quiz, Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University

• Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers, Robert Harris. Covers ways that professors can be more aware of plagiarism, eight ways to potentially avoid it, and ways to detect it (and clues to look for).
• Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices, Council of Writing Program Administrators
• Encouraging the Practice of Academic Integrity, University of North Carolina Greensboro. See Appendix A, includes faculty obligations.
• International Center for Academic Integrity, Clemson University, contains articles and resources
• Promoting Academic Integrity in Online Education, Magna Publications. Report on cheating in the online setting, online proctoring for exams, identity "gifting", and 91 ways to maintain honesty in online courses.
• Tips for Promoting Academic Honesty, Senate Faculty Committee on Academic Honesty, UC Irvine. General information about plagiarism, and how to prevent it in future classes.
• Our Buggy Moral Code, Dan Airely, TEDTalk.

Also see these related pages in the Teaching Handbook:

• Creating Tests
• Crafting Questions
• Improving Tests

WWU Resources:

• ATUS Plagiarism Detection
• Western Libraries: Plagiarism Policies and Guidelines
• About Integrity at WWU, Academic Honesty; Policy, Process, and Procedures