Plagiarism Guide for Faculty

Reports of Academic Dishonesty are handled by the Academic Integrity Board.

"Policy" section, subset 1 of the Niagara University Academic Integrity Policy defines plagiarism as:

"...a major form of academic dishonesty involving the presentation of the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to the following:

a. The direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgement that it is someone else's.
b. Copying of any source in whole or part without proper acknowledgement.
c. Submitting as one's own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else. This includes research papers purchased from any other person or agency.
d. The paraphrasing of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgement."

There is an Electronic Reporting Form in MyNU.

• For more details on this procedure, see the Academic Integrity page.
• Please note that submitting this report is not, in itself, a sanction/penalty for the student. The report should be submitted after you have already sanctioned/penalized the student, according to your own class policies and syllabus.
• If you believe sanctions beyond your authority are warranted, you may ask the Board to convene to consider additional sanctions; this is called an “Additional Sanctions Hearing.”
  • Possible additional sanctions can include: reprimand, suspension, dismissal, or degree revocation

Reasons to file a report:

• It allows the student to appeal the sanctions, if they choose, through a hearing with the AIB.
• It allows the AIB to have a record, in case of future violations by the same student. (The student may require a mandatory hearing if s/he has committed more than one violation during her/his time at NU.)
• A report does not require you to penalize the student. You may decide that your only sanction is having a conversation with the student about why what they did was incorrect, and file a report with the AIB for their records.