The University of Alabama at Birmingham expects all members of its academic community to function according to the highest ethical and professional standards. Students, faculty, and the administration of the institution must be involved to ensure this quality of academic conduct. The purpose of the Academic Integrity Code is to support our academic mission and to maintain and promote academic integrity. All students in attendance at UAB are expected to pursue all academic endeavors with integrity, honor, and professionalism and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars.
View the full Academic Integrity Code policy opens a new website.
See What UAB Students Say About Academic Integrity
-
What does Academic Integrity mean to you?
To me, Academic Integrity is a doorway to being able to validly be proud of yourself when you finish something with a great result. Academic Integrity sets standards for yourself in one field, which contributes to your overall standard for yourself.
Academic Integrity, to me, means only using your own intellectual property when turning in assignments. Academic Integrity means having to be original. It means offering the world something that it does not already have, your true perspective.
Academic integrity is upholding the highest standards of learning through honorable behavior of conduct in assignments, projects, research, and testing and to observe professional standards in the students' chosen field.
Academic integrity means acting in a way that is honest, fair, and responsible in our academic work.
Academic Integrity means that I am not cheating MYSELF out of the knowledge I will need to excel at the next level.
-
In your opinion, why is Academic Integrity important?
Academic Integrity is important because when I learn the material I gain confidence that I will need when the time comes to apply the knowledge in the workplace. It's also important because cheating is contrary to my value system. My self-esteem depends on my acting with integrity in every area of life.
Academic Integrity is important to each student's journey. When you spend the time learning a topic yourself, and then expressing your views on the topic in your own words, you tend to remember everything you learned way more than if you had "copy and pasted" someone else's ideals.
Academic Integrity is important in maintaining your credibility as a scholar. It reflects on UAB, and their integrity as a university.
Accountability is very important. It forces people to take ownership of the results of their actions.
Academic dishonesty impedes a student's learning by belittling the meaning of a higher education.
-
How do you plan to maintain Academic Integrity while at UAB?
I plan to maintain my Academic Integrity in the same way that I maintain my integrity every day in real life - by displaying character through morality, even when no one is around to see it. Academic Integrity is the soul of your university experience!
Avoiding peer pressure and holding myself to a higher standard than others. Ensuring that I simply avoid apps/groups that encourage cheating.
I plan on maintaining Academic Integrity by avoiding cheating or plagiarism. For example, making sure I cite my sources in my papers, giving them correct attribution. I would go to the writing center, and make sure that my writing is completely my own. Even if it’s unintentional, plagiarism can happen and that’s the last thing I want.
Simply do the work. Put in the effort, study your books, and hold yourself to a standard that you can be proud of.
I will always do my own work, period. When I write research papers, I will cite my sources. I will never participate in any form of cheating even if asked to by peers. I will have a duty to act if I see or become aware of any academic misconduct.
-
What is an example of a violation of Academic Integrity?
One example of a violation of Academic Integrity would be sending someone a photo of your quiz answers via Snapchat.
Responding in a GroupMe conversation to students who ask if anyone has already taken an exam then asks if I can tell them which questions were on the exam. As previously stated, I just don't join them anymore.
Collaborating with someone on a closed-note individual test is an example of a violation of Academic Integrity.
An example of a violation of Academic Integrity is using a website like Chegg.com to cheat your way through an online course, easily making an A, and then advancing in your degree even though you know nothing of that subject. This takes resources away from passionate students who do want to learn the material and could advance in their degrees and careers by having actually learned and retained the material.
Asking for an extension on a paper or test because "I didn't know it was due today."
Required Academic Integrity Code (AIC) course
All students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Code (AIC) course in Canvas. Once admitted to UAB and registered for classes, students will be enrolled in the AIC Canvas course. The title of the course will include the enrollment term and “UAB Academic Integrity Code.” For example, “FA2022 UAB Academic Integrity Code” is the title of the AIC Canvas course for the Fall 2022 semester.
To access the UAB Academic Integrity Code course in Canvas, students must use their BlazerID and password to login to Canvas and locate the course on the Canvas dashboard. When students can’t see the course in Canvas, they should work through these possible solutions.
The deadline for completing the Academic Integrity Code varies each semester, and the completion date will be communicated via an announcement in Canvas. Completion of the Academic Integrity Code Canvas course is required, and failure to meet the deadline will automatically result in a registration hold (coded AI) preventing students from registering for classes for the subsequent semesters. To resolve the Academic Integrity Code hold, please contact
Frequently Asked Questions
-
I suspect an act of academic misconduct occurred. What should I do?
You should report your suspicions to the instructor of the relevant course. If you are uncertain of the relevant instructor, or otherwise do not wish to report to the instructor directly, you may report your suspicions to the Academic Integrity Coordinator of the school in which the suspect act of academic misconduct occurred. This may take the form of an online report, which will be used to by the Coordinator in your school or college to determine the next steps.
-
What are my rights as a student?
The procedures outlined in the Code afford you with procedural and substantive fairness; that is, you will be provided a fair a reasonable opportunity to defend yourself and the sanctioning process will be guided by recommendations so as not to be unduly arbitrary or biased. The specific rights afforded to you are outlined in the Code, including but not limited to a specific notice of charges, a right to inspect the case file prior to and during a conference of hearing, and the opportunity to appeal a finding of responsibility by a Hearing Panel.
-
What does the new code mean for students?
The new code is a way to provide assurances to students that the grades they received in their class reflects their honest academic efforts. Your fellow students have an interest in academic integrity because it ensures fairness in grading, protects the reputation of their degrees, and helps ensure that their future colleagues will act with honesty and integrity.
Even more fundamentally, the new Code is a tool to develop and preserve trust between students, faculty, and the broader community. No matter one’s area of study, acting with integrity and the preservation of trust with one’s colleagues is key to long-term success. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the importance of trust in public health. When public health representatives recommend to the public that they get vaccinated or how to safely interact with loved ones, these recommendations are only as effective as the amount of trust placed in public health by individuals and communities. When that trust is violated—as it was with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study—the damage can last for generations. Nancy Kass, a leading public health ethicist, has recognized trust as the most important asset of public health: “the most important asset that public health can have is the public's trust that work is being done on its own behalf.” — Kass NE. An ethics framework for public health. Am J Public Health. 2001;91(11):1776–1782.
The new Code means for students that UAB wants to help you develop the habit of honest work because we know that habits formed now will stay with you beyond graduation and shape your professional and personal lives.
-
What is the most important resource to avoid academic misconduct?
The most important resource to help you avoid academic misconduct is your instructor. We recognize that there will not always be easy answers about what constitutes academic misconduct. Together, students and instructors create the shared expectations about how to do your work. These expectations may vary from instructor to instructor, and it is your responsibility to understand and abide by each instructor’s expectations for doing honest work.