A COMMUNITY OF THE MIND
New York University is a "community of the mind." Its students, faculty, and staff all share the goal of pursuing truth through free and open inquiry, and we support one another's endeavors in this regard. As in any community, membership comes with certain rights and responsibilities. Foremost among these is academic integrity. Cheating on an exam, falsifying data, or having someone else write a paper undermines others who are "doing it on their own"; it makes it difficult or impossible to assess fairly a student's interest, aptitude, and achievement; and it diminishes the cheater, depriving him/her of an education. Most importantly, academic dishonesty is a violation of the very principles upon which the academy is founded. Thus, one of the first things that we ask of students entering the program is to recognize these principles of academic integrity. For this reason, also, violations of these principles are treated with the utmost seriousness. Perhaps the most serious form of academic dishonesty is plagiarism.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work and portraying it as your own without properly referencing it (i.e. not citing it). For further clarification please see Indiana University Bloomington’s comprehensive website on how to recognize plagiarism. Plagiarism can be done purposefully or accidentally – either way it is still plagiarism. Plagiarism will be dealt with according to GSAS Regulations. This is a severe offense – not to be taken lightly. If you need assistance on understanding plagiarism please see the Program Director immediately.
If a faculty member suspects plagiarism in a piece of work the faculty member with knowledge of the facts shall file a complaint with the IR Program Director per GSAS regulation 8.3.1.
The IR program director will notify the student in writing of the complaint within two working days of receipt of the complaint (GSAS reg 8.3.2).
If a student’s work is suspected of plagiarism the student will be requested by the Program Director (per GSAS reg 8.3.3) to meet with a faculty panel consisting of the Program Director and one permanent faculty member. The student will be asked to explain the case of plagiarism and the student will be queried about the issue and provided with the evidence the program has used to determine the existence of plagiarism.
The faculty panel has a range of options regarding decisions, but in cases where plagiarism has been found the penalties are as follows:
- If a student is found guilty of plagiarism, in the first instance the student receives a fail for the piece of work. The guilty verdict will be placed on the student’s file and the student will receive a written warning of their violation.
- If a student is found guilty of a second case of plagiarism the student will be removed from the IR program permanently.
A student may reject the program’s resolution. If there is no consensual resolution of the situation (GSAS reg 8.3.3) then the Program Director will forward the program’s complaint of plagiarism to the Associate Dean for Academic Support and Student Affairs, in which case the procedures beginning with section 8.5 of the GSAS Policies and Procedures Manual (v.December 2016) will apply. Please consult your GSAS manual for further details on procedure 8.5.