Provided below are some examples of statements you can use at the top of your assignments and exams, or alter as appropriate for your course.
Data suggests that the incidence of dishonesty is minimized by having the first question on exams be a verification that the student will complete the remainder of the test without unauthorized assistance. Consider the following text as the first question of your exams:
- I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this exam and that all work will be my own.
- I will complete this exam in a fair, honest, respectful, responsible, and trustworthy manner. This means that I will complete the exam as if the professor was watching my every action. I will act according to the professor’s instructions, and I will neither give nor receive any aid or assistance other than what is authorized. I know that the integrity of this exam and this class is up to me, and I pledge not to take any action that would break the trust of my classmates or professor, or undermine the fairness of this class.
It is helpful to request that students confirm the following statement upon submission, or include on their assignments:
- I certify that the writing contained in this paper is my own and that any direct quotations have been identified and cited. Additionally, I have cited references in any place where I have significantly borrowed someone else’s ideas.
For math and science (to protect against websites like Chegg) you can require students to confirm the following statement upon submission, or include on their assignments:
- I certify that the calculations and data in this assignment were generated independently, using only the tools and resources defined in the course and that I did not receive any external help, coaching or contributions during the production of this work.
