Cheaters never win

Cronkite School Academic Integrity Policy
Accuracy
Verifiability
Reporter-source relationship
You cheat, you fail
Fabrication
Plagiarism
Originality
Penalties
Advice and help

Cronkite School Academic Integrity Policy
Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The crux of our democracy is the ability of citizens to obtain honest, truthful and balanced information, and the credibility and integrity of the individual journalist and communications professional are crucial in that effort.
 
As the mission of the Cronkite School is to prepare students to become journalists and communication professionals, that credibility and integrity will be fostered within the educational environment of the school. To that end, a zero tolerance policy toward academic dishonesty will be enforced within every course and educational activity offered or sanctioned by the school.
 
Any allegations of academic dishonesty will automatically be referred to the Standards Committee of the school for review and recommendation to the dean of the school. If any student is found by the committee to have engaged in academic dishonesty in any form – including but not limited to cheating, plagiarizing and fabricating – that student shall receive a grade of XE for the class and will be dismissed from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Reinstatement will not be considered. There will be no exceptions.

Accuracy This is one of the most important values for journalists. Inaccuracy destroys the public’s faith in the media. You’re responsible for ensuring the total accuracy of every class assignment and every story, regardless of size or scope. Make sure each fact is correct, including the spelling of names, job titles, ages and dates. Direct quotes must be accurate. So must people’s opinions, feelings and recollections. Report what people say fairly and in context.

Verifiability Every fact in every story must be verifiable. Do NOT guess or deduce unless you make this clear to your readers. Not only must you be able to verify every fact, but your readers should, as a general rule, be able to evaluate the reliability of the information. You must turn in a list of sources for verification purposes. One of your classmates will contact your sources to verify the accuracy of facts and quotes.

Reporter-source relationship When you contact sources for an assignment, identify yourself as a Cronkite School student. Explain the purpose of the interview. It’s best to say this is a class assignment intended for publication. Also tell your sources that they’ll be contacted by another student for fact-checking purposes.

You cheat, you fail This includes cheating on a test, helping someone else cheat, fabrication, plagiarism, working with others when independent effort was specifically assigned or any other violation of the ASU student code of conduct. You deserve a healthy learning environment and evaluations based on your honest, independent efforts. Dishonesty hurts us all. It adds suspicion and resentment to academic competition, and it distorts the meaning of grades. I’m sympathetic to the many pressures you face. Some students may consider committing acts of academic dishonesty as a way of relieving those pressures. This isn’t a legitimate solution; I can neither tolerate nor condone it. I will give you all the help I can with this course, and other resources are available on campus to help you with many of the academic and personal problems you may be facing.

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Fabrication The making up of information is the most serious form of academic and journalistic dishonesty. Nothing justifies it. It destroys the public’s faith that what is presented is true.

Plagiarism At many publications you’d be fired for using someone else’s work as your own or inventing sources and/or quotes. Be especially careful not to transfer electronic information from a database or the Internet directly into a story without giving proper credit. Do you need help with how to cite information in your work? Check out the following:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/plagiar.html

To test your knowledge, take the interactive quiz at http://education.indiana.edu/%7Efrick/plagiarism/item1.html

Originality All work must be created specifically for this class and based on research, reporting and interviews done this semester. To see examples of plagiarism, go to http://www.macloo.com/cheat/index.htm

Penalties Fabrication, plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in serious penalties, including the likely possibility of failing this class. Any instance of alleged or suspected academic dishonesty will be processed through the established channels. Sometimes, however, the rules regarding academic integrity can be confusing when you apply them to the work you’re doing in this class. If you have any questions, please come see me. I’m always willing to help you avoid a misunderstanding or mistake that could have long-term negative consequences.

Advice and help To do your best work, you may need to take advantage of some of the resources on campus. If you have problems with procrastination or poor study habits, the Learning Resource Center provides tutoring, peer coaching, academic skills workshops and software training to help students improve their academic performance. If you have personal difficulties, such as depression or relationship problems, that are interfering with your studies, Counseling and Consultation helps students with those types of problems. If you feel overwhelmed by deadlines, multiple assignments or other pressures, please come talk to me.

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