Lesson · 20 min

Academic Integrity and AI

What counts as your own work, how to cite honestly, and where AI sits in that.

By the end of this lesson you can

Define plagiarism, including the accidental kind
Cite a source correctly and know when a citation is required
Explain your institution's position on AI use
Use AI in ways that support learning rather than replace it

📘 Reading Lesson

Lesson Notes

Read through the key concepts before you try the challenge.

Most plagiarism is not cheating

On the job

You are writing your first college paper.

You find a passage that explains something better than you could, change a few words, and include it. You are not trying to cheat — you did not know that counts. The consequence is the same as if you had been.

Your task: Learn what the rules actually are, since intent is not the test.

Situation	Cite?	Note
Direct quotation	Yes	Quotation marks and a citation, both
Paraphrase in your own words	Yes	The idea is still someone else's
A statistic or specific fact	Yes	Even if you found it in three places
Common knowledge	No	Widely known and uncontested facts
Your own prior work	Yes	Reusing it without saying so is self-plagiarism
An idea AI helped you develop	Follow your institution's policy	Policies vary, and they are usually explicit

What requires a citation

Changing a few words in someone else's sentence is still plagiarism. A genuine paraphrase means reading the passage, closing it, and writing the idea in your own construction — and it still needs a citation. If your paraphrase has the same sentence shape as the original, it is not one.

AI policies differ by institution, by course, and sometimes by assignment. Some prohibit it, some permit it with disclosure, some encourage it for specific tasks. There is no general rule to fall back on, so read the policy for each course and ask when it is unclear. Asking is never held against you; assuming is.

Where AI is permitted, the useful framing is the one ENGL0150 uses: AI can suggest, you decide. Asking it to explain a concept you are stuck on, or to identify what is unclear in your draft, supports your learning. Asking it to write the paper produces work you cannot defend in a conversation with your instructor — and being unable to explain your own submission is its own problem, separate from any policy.

Check your understanding

You read a passage, rewrite the idea in your own words, and include it in your paper. Do you need a citation?

Challenge

Apply what you've learned in this lesson.

Find your actual policies, not the general principle.

Find your institution's academic integrity policy and write down the penalties for a first offence.
Find the AI policy for each course you are taking. Note where they differ.
Take a paragraph from any article, paraphrase it properly, and write the citation in the style your course requires.
Write three sentences explaining the difference between a paraphrase and a close rewording, using an example of each.

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