As a member of the MIT Sloan academic community, the highest standards of academic behavior are expected of you.
Responsibility
It is your responsibility to make yourself aware of expected standards and adhere to them. These American-based standards specifically regard plagiarism, individual work, and team work.
This discussion of academic honesty is not exhaustive, and there may be areas that remain unclear to you. If you are unsure whether some particular course of action is proper, it is your responsibility to consult with your professor and/or teaching assistant for clarification.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when you use another's intellectual property (words or ideas) and do not acknowledge that you have done so. Plagiarism is an extremely serious offense. If it is found that you have plagiarized -- deliberately or inadvertently -- you will face serious consequences (see below).
The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources - both within the body of your assignment and in a bibliography of sources used at the end of the document.
Internet Research
Materials gathered through research via the Internet must be cited in the same manner as more traditionally published material. Lack of such citation constitutes plagiarism.
These definitions were drawn from the MIT Libraries website. For more information please visit:http://libraries.mit.edu/tutorials/general/plagiarism.html
Additional resources regarding proper source citation are available on the Resources tab of this Professional Standards SloanSpace site.
Individual Work
When you are asked to do individual work, you are expected to adhere to the following standards:
• Do not copy all or part of another student’s work (with or without “permission”).
• Do not allow another student to copy your work.
• Do not ask another person to write all or part of an assignment for you.
• Do not work together with another student in order to answer a question, or solve a problem, or write a computer program jointly.
• Do not consult or submit work (in whole or in part) that has been completed by other students in this or previous years for the same or substantially the same assignment.
• Do not use print or internet materials directly related to a case/problem set unless explicitly authorized by the instructor.
• Do not use print or internet materials without explicit quotation and/or citation.
• Do not submit the same, or similar, piece of work for two or more subjects without the explicit approval of the two or more instructors involved.
Please note that many classes will require a combination of team work and individual work. Be sure that you follow all the guidelines for individual work when a faculty member identifies an assignment as an individual one.
Team Assignments
When you are asked to work in teams, there is a broad spectrum of faculty expectations. Three general types of appropriate collaboration on team assignments are described below. The instructor will indicate in the syllabus what his/her expectations are. If there is any uncertainty, it is the student’s responsibility to clarify with the professor or TA the type of team work that is expected.
Type 1 collaboration: the professor states that collaboration is allowed, but the final product must be individual. An example of this might be a problem set.
• You are allowed to discuss the assignment with other team members and work through the problems together.
• What you turn in, however, must be your own product, written in your own handwriting, or in a computer file of which you are the sole author.
• Copying another’s work or electronic file is not acceptable.
Type 2 collaboration: the professor states that collaboration is encouraged but that each person's contribution to the deliverable does not have to be substantial (taking a "divide and conquer" approach). An example of this might be a brief progress report.
• Each team member is encouraged to contribute substantially to the team assignment, however, the team may choose to assign one or more team members to prepare and submit the deliverable on behalf of the team.
• Regardless of how work is shared or responsibilities are divided among individual team members, each member of the team will be held accountable for the academic integrity of the entire assignment. If, for example, one member of the team submits plagiarized work on behalf of the team, the entire team will be subject to sanctions as appropriate.
• The team may not collaborate with other students outside of the team unless the professor explicitly permits such collaboration.
Type 3 collaboration: the professor states that collaboration is expected and that each team member must contribute substantially to the deliverable. An example of this might be the OP project.
• Each team member must make a substantial contribution to the assignment. It is not, for example, acceptable to divide the assignments amongst the team members (e.g., half of the team does one project and the other half does another project), though the team may divide the work of any one assignment to complete it as they deem appropriate.
• The team may not collaborate with other students outside of the team unless the professor explicitly permits such collaboration.
To repeat, if there is any question about the rules for a particular assignment the student should check with the faculty member.
You are held personally accountable for all assignments submitted with your name. If you participate on a team project, each member of the team will be responsible for the final submission. Take time to review any final projects prior to submission to assure that the overall product meets your standards. Recognize that you will be held accountable for others’ work as they will, likewise, be responsible for yours.
Undesired Consequences: Disciplinary Action
When a student(s) is found to have violated academic standards, disciplinary action will result. Possible consequences include grade reduction, a failing grade and loss of academic credit, transcript notation, suspension (delay of degree conferral and graduation), or expulsion from MIT Sloan.