Academic integrity is a cornerstone of Purdue Global’s mission to deliver personalized education that enables students to develop essential academic and professional skills. Integrity in academic instruction and learning is important because it ensures that the Purdue Global community maintains the highest standards of honesty, fairness, transparency, and accountability. Academic integrity applies to faculty, staff, and students, and involves being honest and responsible in all academic pursuits including coursework, research, and publication. The following outlines expectations and resources for responsible conduct in learning and assessment to promote shared understandings and practices for all members of the Purdue Global community.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty can occur in connection with any University activity. The expectation to uphold the standards of academic integrity and honesty is a responsibility of every member of the University community. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty. Unintentional plagiarism can occur due to a lack of experience or knowledge. We recognize that mistakes are part of the learning journey. When these mistakes happen, we encourage self-reflection and a commitment to personal growth. Resources will be provided to you to support learning and improve understanding, so those mistakes do not occur again. You are expected to take responsibility, learn from the mistake, and make every effort to avoid the same or similar mistake in the future. 

The following behaviors will be considered breaches, for which you may be subject to disciplinary action as set forth in this policy, regardless of whether the breach was intentional or unintentional.

• Cheating: You are expected to adhere to the guidelines provided by instructors for academic work so that you do not gain an unfair advantage. Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, study aids, notes, or any other device in any academic exercise will not be tolerated. Unauthorized materials may include anything that or anyone who gives assistance that has not been approved by the instructor in advance. The University monitors internal and external websites. Therefore, cheating includes directly or indirectly sharing your work by posting it to a third-party website.
• Plagiarism:​ Using words, ideas, results, or images that are not your own without giving appropriate credit to the source, even when summarized or paraphrased; giving the impression that it is your own work. This includes but is not limited to the following:
  • Copying work, written text, or images from another student, the Internet, or any document without giving due credit to the source of the information and failing to include the copied content in quotation marks.
  • Purchasing or contracting another person or company to complete coursework, including obtaining a paper or assignment from the Internet, from a term paper company, or from another student, and submitting it as your original work.​
  • Presentation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or similar output as one’s own, or as any other person’s product without permission or proper authorization.
• Fabrication: Intentional and/or unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in any academic exercise. This includes but is not limited to: 
  • ​The changing and/or manipulation of research data, results, processes, or research record
  • The omission of results from the research record
  • The falsification or creation of data, statistics, findings, information, or sources 
• Multiple submissions: The submission of substantial portions of the same academic work for credit more than once without authorization from the instructor as described in the Coursework Resubmission Policy.
• Unauthorized collaboration: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate any regulation governing the standards of academic integrity described in these regulations. You may only collaborate on academic work within the limits prescribed by the instructor. 
• Misrepresentation: Misrepresentation occurs when someone presents themselves or their work in a false or misleading way. This can include exaggerating credentials, taking credit for work that was not done, falsely citing sources in work or assignments, or lying about personal circumstances to gain an advantage.

​Acts of Academic Dishonesty

Acts of academic dishonesty represent breaches to academic integrity. When a faculty member becomes aware of a potential act of academic dishonesty, they will verify to the best of their ability if a breach occurred. It is recognized that distinctions may be drawn between less serious and more serious academic integrity breaches, with less serious breaches often appropriately handled through an educative and/or developmental approach, and more serious breaches addressed through formal responses proportional to the seriousness of the breach. 

The faculty member will provide written notice via email to alert you of the suspected breach. At that point, you will have an opportunity to provide your response to the faculty member, who will gather information to assist with the determination. If it is determined that a breach has occurred, informal remediation activities may be recommended, depending on the act and circumstances surrounding it. Informal remediation requires you to complete an educational module that will review the breach, explain the reason the action constitutes academic dishonesty, and provide guidance on proper practices to avoid similar breaches in the future. If the informal remediation effort is unsuccessful or inappropriate for the instance of academic dishonesty, then a formal report of a breach may be filed, which may result in response(s) by the University including the following:

• Failure of the assignment in which the action occurred
• Failure of the course in which the action occurred
• Permanent dismissal from the University

All reports of academic dishonesty are recorded in Purdue Global's database and remain there permanently. All breaches you accumulate while completing a program will be carried over to any subsequent program at Purdue Global.

Please see the Appeals Policy for information on how to appeal a breach of academic dishonesty.

Coursework Resubmission Policy

Resubmitting and repurposing prior work within a course or from other courses may only be done with prior written permission from the instructor of the current course. Reworking prior work from one module course to another module course may only be done with prior written permission from the instructor of the current module course. See the definitions and conditions for each type of reuse below.

When resubmitting or repurposing an assignment, you must cite the original date of submission of the work itself. It is your responsibility to ensure that the previously submitted course materials meet current course requirements. Assignments will be graded according to the current rubric.

Citation example: This assignment was originally submitted on [give the date] for [give the course and the instructor].

Definitions and Conditions

• Resubmit: Resubmission occurs when you submit an assignment from a prior failed attempt in the same traditional or module course.
• Repurpose: Repurposing occurs when you submit a portion of an assignment previously submitted in a different traditional or module course. 
• Rework (module courses only): Reworking occurs when you revise an unsuccessful competency assessment in a module course based on feedback from the instructor and resubmit the revised assignment to attempt a passing grade in the same module course. Rework also includes reworking ideas from an assignment or part of an assignment from one module course to another module course in the same class. You must receive permission from your instructor before reworking an assignment from one module course to another module course.
  You may attempt a module course’s competency assessment an unlimited number of times within the term; however, after three unsuccessful submission attempts, your instructor may require specific learning activities be completed before additional submissions will be accepted.

The Coursework Resubmission Policy is not applicable to Purdue Global Law School students; see Purdue Global Law School's Academic Dishonesty policy for rules governing coursework resubmission for Purdue Global Law School students.