Dear Students,

To help you learn Cornell's requirements and key concepts of academic integrity, we have prepared this guide for you. The guide contains practical advice and helpful examples on how to adhere to Cornell’s Code of Academic Integrity. All Cornell students are responsible for reading the Code and understanding and abiding by it. The Code is broad; in regard to your course assignments, it encompasses the work of all our academic disciplines and ways of learning, whether you are taking an exam, writing a paper, working with data, working in a lab, designing in a studio, or collaborating on a group project.

We recommend that you closely read all these materials before you start classes and reread them as necessary when you begin work on class assignments. When you are uncertain of your instructor’s expectations, ask your instructor. Rules vary from class to class and sometimes from assignment to assignment. Instructors create different types of rules for pedagogical purposes and to ensure fairness. When in doubt, ask. If you have a question, and you do not want to ask it during class, this is a great reason for you to visit your instructor during office hours. Your instructor will welcome a conversation on this topic and other academic issues as well!

If you find yourself falling behind in your work, we caution you not to take inappropriate shortcuts to complete assignments. If you are having difficulties with your work or having personal or family problems, talk to your instructor, explain your situation, and ask for an extension. Remember, though, if you do not get an extension, a grade penalty for a late assignment is better than an academic integrity violation for cheating. Also remember that you can speak to your faculty advisor, the advising office in your college, and Cornell Health Counseling and Psychological Services about problems and worries you are experiencing.

Academic honesty is essential for you to flourish—to learn the materials, develop intellectual skills, gain self-confidence, earn self-respect and the respect of others, and learn to manage your time. Indeed, honesty is the foundation of our academic endeavors. As our Code of Academic Integrity states, “the values most essential to an academic community are grounded on the concept of honesty with respect to the intellectual efforts of oneself and others.”

With warm wishes for the academic year,

The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

There are numerous internet sites through which college students can buy and sell course materials. Such so-called “study sites” include Chegg, CourseHero, and Slader. If you use such a platform to buy or sell course materials without your instructor’s written permission (permission is extremely unlikely), you violate the Code of Academic Integrity.

Reproducing, copying, distributing, or acquiring course materials or content in another manner without your instructor’s written authorization similarly violates the Code.

Recording any portion of classroom lectures, discussions, or activities in related instructional spaces (e.g., laboratories or studios) without an instructor’s prior written permission also violates the Code.  Such prohibitions do not include instances where written permission is given to support student accommodations. 

If you share or sell course materials or lecture content, even your own class notes summarizing lectures, without your instructor’s authorization, you may also be participating in copyright infringement. Original course materials are copyrighted intellectual property of the creator of the content and are not a student’s property to share, distribute, or sell.  This is true even if the materials do not contain a copyright notice.

If an internet company contacts you to buy course materials from you, be suspicious. Companies have contacted students and encouraged students to capture and remove materials from course learning management sites, such as Canvas, and then sell the materials to the vendor. Some companies have even falsely told students that the instructor has approved this behavior.

Likely, your instructors have communicated their policies about student use of artificial intelligence (AI). If they have not, before you use a AI tool, make sure you ask your professors whether that is permitted and, if so, find out the parameters of permissible use. Faculty across the university vary in their policies about for what purposes, if any, students may use AI.  Faculty have different policies based on course learning objectives, so do not assume one professor’s expectation is representative of other professors’ policies.

When you are permitted to use AI, you are required to follow rules of attribution by citing to the tool you used. If you are uncertain if a tool is using artificial intelligence, ask your instructor.  Failing to credit a AI tool for work generated is no different than failing to acknowledge any other sources upon which you relied.  Remember that you are required to use quotation marks for verbatim generated text and to acknowledge the source for generated text that you paraphrase.  Find out from your professors their preferred form of citation. Additionally, for AI, faculty commonly require students to provide more information than is customary for other citations.  For example, you may be required to include a description of how you used the AI tool, how it contributed to your work, and/or how you validated the information that you obtained from AI.

Explore the university's response to GAI in teaching and learning.

Before working with other students in any classes, make sure to determine whether you are permitted to do so and, if so, to what extent. In some courses, collaboration will be prohibited. In others, it will be encouraged, perhaps even required. However, collaboration might be authorized only for certain assignments or for parts of assignments. Not uncommonly, an instructor might require that written work for a group project be done independently. For example, you might be expected to collaborate with others to collect data, conduct experiments, determine strategies, define concepts, or create designs or other works of art but obligated to produce the results, whether a report, paper, or presentation, on your own.

Guidelines vary among courses and even assignments. Check your course materials to determine whether your instructors have provided specific guidelines for collaboration. If not, or if you have questions about the guidelines, speak to your instructors about their requirements. It is crucial to know what forms of collaboration are approved by your instructors so that you avoid inadvertently crossing the line between authorized collaboration and unauthorized collaboration, the latter of which could be construed as cheating. 

Typically, you will be required to identify any collaborators and acknowledge their contributions. You might also be required to record the progression of your work, for example, by keeping a project diary or lab notebook (whether for a group or an individual assignment).

• It defeats your purpose for being here, namely, to learn.
• Cheating is unfair. It penalizes honest students whose grades reflect their best efforts and who may not get the grades they deserve because others are cheating.
• It can ruin your relationship with your professor.
• You are part of an intellectual community to whom you owe an obligation of academic integrity.
• It is counterproductive. If you cheat on assignments, you won’t learn the material you need to know for prelims or finals or possibly graduate school or professional life.
• Taking someone’s work or using their ideas or words without acknowledgment is no different from stealing.
• You risk losing respect and even self-respect.
• Once you start cheating, it can become a habit and difficult to stop.
• Even if you are not caught, you are likely to regret cheating.
• It's not worth the risk. If you are caught, the consequences can be severe.

• Anticipate and prepare for those situations where you might be tempted to cheat, such as the night before an assignment is due and you are behind in your work, overwhelmed, or don’t know the material.
• Identify your alternatives to cheating, such as asking your professor for an extension or even accepting a disappointing grade.
• If you find yourself in a predicament and are thinking about cheating, pause before you act. Remember that cheating is unethical and you have alternatives.
• Tell you professor your situation.
• If you are unsure about course rules or whether you are crossing an ethical line, for example, by working with others, using a generative artificial intelligence tool, or looking at an assignment key, ask your professor.
• If you don’t understand the point of an assignment, don’t assume it is pointless and therefore cheating is somehow justified. Your professor’s goals and the merits of an assignment may not be obvious to you; ask your professor to explain their goals for the assignment.
• Plan your work in advance and know where you can get assistance.
• Don't plagiarize unintentionally by cutting and pasting from the Internet, losing track of sources, and presenting these words or ideas as your own. Keep detailed notes identifying all your sources. If you don’t know when to cite sources or use quotation marks, ask your professor.
• If a friend offers you assistance, such as an answer to a formula or an assignment key, do not accept unless you are certain such assistance is authorized.
• If a friend asks you for unauthorized help, say no and prepare your response—“I don’t want to violate the Code.” Protecting yourself by refusing to help does not mean you are being disloyal.