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Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy Campus Nişantepe District, Orman Street, 34794 Çekmeköy - İSTANBUL

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E-mail: info@ozyegin.edu.tr

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    Code of Academic Integrity

    Code of Academic Integrity

    Universities are academic institutions that are committed to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge while they also serve as centers for higher education and research. Successful accomplishment of this commitment is only possible with academic integrity. Academic integrity can be briefly described as honest and moral behavior in all academic settings, including the classroom. Without academic integrity, that is, in the absence of honesty and morality in academic conduct, individuals and organizations in academia lose their trustworthiness, credibility and reputation. Accordingly, for a university to fulfill its function in society, it cannot tolerate academic dishonesty and misconduct. Özyeğin University’s Code of Ethics (https://www.ozyegin.edu.tr/en/about-us/principles-and-policies/code-ethics) requires strict adherence to academic integrity on the part of all members.

    In the classroom setting, academic dishonesty and misconduct may manifest themselves in various guises which include, but are not limited to:

    • Plagiarism
    • Cheating
    • Misrepresenting oneself or one’s work
    • Fabrication and falsification of information, data or citations
    • Having unauthorized possession of examinations
    • Aiding the academic misconduct of others;

    Özyeğin University has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and all other forms of academic dishonesty and misconduct. Such behaviors are immediately addressed and acted upon with the appropriate disciplinary action and procedures. Students who are unsure about whether or not their actions constitute a violation of academic integrity should consult with academic staff to clarify any ambiguities.

    Plagiarism
    As it is the most common form of academic misconduct that can easily be avoided, all students need to be aware of what is considered an – intended or unintended – act of plagiarism in academia. Plagiarism is the use and representation of someone else’s language, ideas, arguments, or findings as one’s own work in any academic exercise without properly acknowledging its source with citations. It is wrong and dishonest because you are using something that is NOT yours as if it is yours.

    Students can be charged with and penalized for plagiarism when they:

    • Copy another person’s paper, article, or computer work and submit it for an assignment
    • Copy, quote, paraphrase or summarize any source without adequate documentation and citation.
    • Purchase a paper by mail or email to submit it as their own work.
    • Allow another person to write a paper for them.
    • Submit another person's unpublished work in their name.

    Self-plagiarism, on the other hand, occurs when students submit partially or completely their own previous work, for which they have received credit in another course. Self-plagiarism is not allowed unless permission is obtained from the instructor receiving the work in question.

    With some academic diligence and experience, plagiarism is easy to avoid:

    • You don’t need to cite things that are considered general wisdom.
      Examples: “The Second World War started in 1939”, “Humans are inherently social”.
    • If in doubt, cite your source.
      Example: “Oh, I did not know about this until I read this report, should I still cite it?”. Yes, you should because you did not know about it before.
    • With the exception of short direct quotes, paraphrasing is essential to avoid plagiarism
    • Independent of whether you are paraphrasing from a source or provide a direct quote, you always have to give credit to those who produced that source in the form of citations and a bibliography (“References”) at the end of your text.
    • Please learn and apply the citations guidelines (e.g. APA) that are commonly employed in your field of study correctly and consistently in all your academic works with citations.

    Students who submit plagiarized work will be subject to penalties in their grades and/or disciplinary action depending on the severity of their actions. Repeatedly and pervasively engaging in plagiarism will be subjected to harsher penalties. Plagiarized work will always be treated as ‘no submission’ (i.e. will receive 0 points) and the additional consequences will be determined by the instructor in accordance with the relevant policies of Özyeğin University and The Higher Education Council. Faculty must inform their students about the key procedures and how they will handle detected or suspected cases of plagiarism.

    Examples of Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct

    Cheating: Cheating consists of receiving or giving unauthorized aid in an assessment procedure and using or attempting to use assistance, material (e.g., a cheat sheet), or any other type of study aid for which no authorization is provided by the instructors. In competitive types of assessments, where the students’ performances relative to each other is crucial, the definition of cheating can be generalized to preventing another from using authorized assistance and/or study materials.

    Fabrication: Contriving or altering information/data in any academic exercise.Examples: Fabricating data or altering existing data rather than collecting data for an assessment, citing nonexistent articles, etc.

    Facilitating academic dishonesty: Intentionally providing help or attempting to provide help to another to commit any form of academic dishonesty or misconduct. Example: Working together on a take-home exam.

    Unfair advantage: Attempting to gain unauthorized advantage over fellow students in an academic exercise. Examples: Gaining or providing access to examination materials without authorization, obstructing or interfering with another student’s efforts in an academic exercise, lying about a need for a time extension for an assessment with a strict deadline, adding courses to the academic schedule with the intention of later dropping them so that an accomplice can add the course etc.

    Sources:

    Faculty of Social Sciences