{"id":6692,"date":"2026-09-30T17:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T21:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/?p=6692"},"modified":"2026-10-01T16:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:01:20","slug":"i-didnt-know-that-counted-six-ways-students-accidentally-break-the-academic-integrity-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/2026\/09\/30\/i-didnt-know-that-counted-six-ways-students-accidentally-break-the-academic-integrity-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"“I Didn’t Know That Counted”: Six Ways Students Accidentally Break the Academic Integrity Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

College comes with a lot of \u201cwait, am I actually allowed to do that?\u201d moments. Academic integrity might be one of them. The good news? You don\u2019t have to memorize the entire Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy<\/a> to stay on track. You just need to know where the lines are and what to do when you\u2019re unsure. According to the policy, students can be held accountable for academic integrity violations, even if they didn\u2019t intend to break the rules or didn\u2019t realize their actions were counted as a violation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, before you find yourself saying \u201cwait, I didn\u2019t know that counted,\u201d here are the six areas where students trip up the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. \u201cWe studied together, so our answers look alike.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Group chats before an exam, splitting the reading or having a friend “just look it over.” All of that is fine when your instructor allows collaboration or editing and is a violation when they do not. The easiest way to know where the line is? Check the instructions or ask your instructor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. \u201cIt was only a rough draft.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sources have to be credited in any draft you hand to an instructor, graded or not. And it is not just papers. Presentations, images and code, all count. If a presentation slide deck has a photo you pulled off the Internet, credit the photographer. If a classmate gave you the idea, credit the classmate. If you\u2019re not sure whether something needs a citation, it\u2019s always OK to ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. \u201cI already wrote this. It is literally my own work.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Submitting the same work for two different classes is a violation, unless you get advance written approval from every instructor involved. This applies to art, design projects, film, code and oral reports, not just essays. This also includes work you did in high school. In some cases, a professor may let you build on an old project or take it in a new direction. Just have that conversation first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong> \u201cMy professor never mentioned AI, so I figured it was fine.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the big one. The policy says permitted use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) changes from course to course and assignment to assignment, depending on what that assignment is supposed to teach you. Something allowed in one class might not be allowed in another. If your syllabus or assignment instructions aren\u2019t clear, ask your professor before using it. A quick email can save you from a much bigger headache later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two additional details worth knowing. First, standard features inside required software, like spell check or the thesaurus in Microsoft Word, are not treated as generative AI. Students are permitted to use sites such as Purdue OWL or thesaurus.com, but it is important to be cautious of embedded weblinks such as Citation Machine that may not be permitted by instructors. Your instructor can still set their own rules for what you can use, so when in doubt, ask.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. “My phone was on my desk.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having a prohibited resource within easy reach during an exam is a violation whether or not you actually use it. Leave it in your bag and save yourself a very awkward conversation. Before an exam starts, make sure you know what resources your instructor allows. If your instructor says your phone, notes or another resource are not allowed during an exam, put it away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.<\/strong> \u201cI really needed that extension.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Need an extension? Running behind? Something unexpected happened? Talk to your instructor instead of making up a reason. Communicating honestly is a big expectation, sitting right next to citing sources, doing your own work and supporting academic integrity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember: You are responsible for your own actions.<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to know every answer before you start an assignment. If you\u2019re unsure whether you can collaborate with a classmate, reuse something you\u2019ve written, use AI or bring a resource into an exam, ask before you act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Your instructor is the first stop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Next stop is the Academic Integrity Office<\/a>. You can email them at aio@syr.edu<\/a> or call them at 315.443.5412. And don\u2019t worry, you can ask them a hypothetical.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Knowing the rules ahead of time means less time worrying about whether you crossed a line and more time focusing on your actual work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Written<\/strong> By<\/strong> Ava Swidler ’27, College of Arts and Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    College comes with a lot of \u201cwait, am I actually allowed to do that?\u201d moments. Academic integrity might be one of them. The good news? You don\u2019t have to memorize the entire Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy to stay on track. You just need to know where the lines are and what to do when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":6771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6692"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6773,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6692\/revisions\/6773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}