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Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Avoidance

Tips for understanding academic integrity, how to avoid plagiarism, and link to tutorial.

Academic Integrity

Students are strongly encouraged to complete the university's Academic Integrity Tutorial to learn how to recognize and avoid plagiarism and use research material ethically.


The University of Massachusetts Global is an academic community based on the principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Academic integrity is a core University value that ensures respect for the academic reputation of the University, its students, faculty, and staff, and the degrees it confers. The University expects all members of the community to respect the intellectual work of others. Practically, this means that when you submit work to the university, you do not engage in any form of cheating, and that your work is produced ethically and honestly. 

As a student at UMass Global, you will engage in scholarly discourse. This is the practice of using the words and ideas of others in conjunction with your own original thoughts in order to:

  • Demonstrate your mastery of a subject
  • Communicate with fellow scholars
  • Debate an issue
  • Posit a theory
  • Make an informed argument
  • Test a hypothesis
  • Create new ideas

Scholarly discourse can take the form of books and journal articles, policy papers, presentations, websites, dissertations, debates, and more. Research is a critical element of scholarly discourse.  This page will help you learn how you can ethically engage in scholarly discourse and avoid plagiarism while using the work of others that you find during the research process.

Page contents:

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic Integrity is a set of principles used by scholars to show respect to those who contributed to our knowledge base. The principles include respecting intellectual property and avoiding plagiarism by citing properly.

An ethical researcher takes the time to carefully analyze and understand sources selected for the project and by properly acknowledging the work of others using proper citation methods. Research material must be used according to a set of standards known as Academic Integrity, which is set of principles used by scholars to show respect to those who contributed to our knowledge base. In the United States, ideas and their expressions are considered to be intellectual property and, unless otherwise noted, are protected by copyright laws that prevent anyone from profiting off the ideas of another.

What is Plagiarism?

One important aspect of academic integrity is avoiding plagiarism, a form of cheated defined as the act of presenting someone else’s work as if it were your own and/or without giving them proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism can be overt or subtle. Although most academic work builds on the prior work of others, any work that is quoted, synthesized, summarized, analyzed, or otherwise examined must be formally acknowledged.

The best way to avoid plagiarism is by using citations and bibliographies to indicate every instance of borrowing someone else's work. Professors may suspect plagiarism when an author fails to cite material or presents incomplete citations or too few citations. With few exceptions, all of the information you consult for a research project should be cited, regardless of the length of a quote or the material's format. This includes: 

  • Using even a few words verbatim, especially if the words are used in a unique way
  • Presenting data or ideas that you found in another source
  • Paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas, observations, interpretations, or conclusions of someone else
  • Using another’s framework, structure, system, or process, even if you are building upon it 

Study Guides and Artificial Intelligence

It is not ethical - and in some cases, it is illegal - for you to use resources outside the University that claim to help you study or write papers. Examples of sites that contribute to questionable study and writing practices include CourseHero, Chegg, ChatGPT, and Bard, as well as language translation services.

Any material produced by professors and other employees of the university is their property and is protected by copyright law. Only the person who creates assignments and tests is legally permitted to upload course material where others can access it, whether the material is distributed for free or for a fee. Therefore, loading tests, quizzes, guides, or other course material that you did not create into "study resource" platforms such as CourseHero and Chegg without permission is illegal, and, obviously, you are cheating if you use such unethically shared material. Sharing academic material without permission also undermines an instructor’s ability to teach and conduct original research.

Use of ChatGPT, Bard, and similar artificial intelligence (AI) software to complete any project or paper at the university without the express permission or direction of your professor is considered cheating and could result in severe disciplinary sanctions. Work created by AI is often easy for experienced faculty to detect. 

DO NOT RISK wasting all your hard work and the progress you have made as a student. Work honestly and submit your original work using the principles of Academic Integrity!


To learn more about working honestly and how to avoid cheating and plagiarism:

If you have further questions about academic integrity, plagiarism avoidance, or citing, please make an appointment with a librarian. 

Consequences of Plagiarism

We don't love talking about this, but you need to know that there are consequences to plagiarism. 

Students who do not follow the principles of academic integrity may be disciplined by the university, and the sanctions may be severe. If a professor suspects that a student’s work is plagiarized, they may initiate an investigation. The work in question will then be reviewed by a committee designated by the Executive Vice Chancellor of Enrollment and Student Affairs. Possible sanctions when a student is found responsible for engaging in plagiarism include any or a combination of the following:

  • Automatic reduction in assignment grade, even if it is resubmitted without plagiarism
  • Failing the assignment
  • Failing the course
  • Repeated violations could result in more serious consequences, including permanent dismissal from UMass Global