Research+Integrity


 * Research Integrity**

**Rationale**      We at Gettysburg Area High School understand and value the concept of intellectual property. Therefore, we strive to teach students the ethic of responsibly documenting the ideas of others in all formats. To do so, we believe that we must not only teach the ethics and mechanics of documentation, but we must also hold students accountable for the ethical use of the ideas and words of others.

**Plagiarism, in any form, is unacceptable.** **Responsibilities**      All teachers provide the instruction and scaffolding necessary for students to use research ethically, and we expect all students to exercise good faith in the submission of research-based work and to document accurately regardless of how they use the information (summary, paraphrase, and quotation) or regardless of the format in which they present the information (written, oral, or visual). Specifically, It is the **teacher’s responsibility** to provide:        an assignment sheet with explicit requirements and directions > > >      It is the **student’s responsibility** to: >
 * **Intentional plagiarism** is an unethical choice; the student knowingly submits someone else's words or ideas as if they were his/her own.
 * Indicators of **unintentional plagiarism** are lack of or imprecision in documentation and/or inattention to format issues.
 * a specific rubric for assessment of the process and the product
 * checkpoints to facilitate the research process, to assist students in time management, and to provide opportunities to help students during the process
 * extra help availability for students who are having difficulty with note-taking, documenting, or formatting procedures
 * clear guidelines for acceptable help from human sources (peers, adults)
 * meet checkpoint deadlines
 * ask questions and to seek help from teachers and librarian
 * follow the //Gettysburg Area School District Research Guide// guidelines and MLA or APA format per teacher direction
 * submit an Acknowledgments page to credit help given by others (help that has been approved by teacher giving the assignment)
 * use in-text or in-project documentation accurately and appropriately
 * use Works Cited and Works Consulted pages accurately and appropriately
 * submit only his/her own work

**Examples of plagiarism** **signals:** >
 * Direct copying of the work of another submitted as the student’s own (from that of another student or other person, from an Internet source, from a print source). Indicators are unusual sophistication in diction or sentence structures, or teacher recognizes source.
 * Lack of in-text or in-project documentation
 * Incomplete in-text or in project documentation
 * Documentation that does not check out or does not match Works Cited/Works Consulted.
 * Work that suddenly appears on final due date without a clear provenance (lacks evidence of process and/or did not meet checkpoint dates)

// This Research Integrity information was adapted from the Springfield Township (PA) School District. //