The sections in this Guide are designed to inform the TWU community on Copyright, Fair Use and related topics. It is not intended as legal advice nor is it meant to replace the advice of legal counsel.
Copyright protection exists from the moment a work is created in a fixed, tangible form of expression. The copyright immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author, or those deriving their rights through the author, can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer—not the writer—is considered the author.
Background: The University has approved the purchase of a license for a web-based antiplagiarism software service, Turnitin, which may be used by students or their instructors to compare the text of writing assignments to an extensive electronic database.
Plagiarism defined at TWU: Plagiarism occurs when a student obtains portions or elements of someone else's work, including materials prepared by another person or agency, and presents those ideas or words as her or his own academic work. The intentional or unintentional use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement shall constitute plagiarism.
Students are responsible for following guidelines of the appropriate course or discipline (i.e.; MLA, APA):
Antiplagiarism technology should be used as a teaching tool. Antiplagiarism technology is merely a tool. The tool alone does not determine whether a paper has been plagiarized. Conversely, students cannot use antiplagiarism tools to prove they have not plagiarized. Instead, that judgment must be made by the individual faculty member.
Use of antiplagiarism tools is optional, but if they are used, they must be used according to the policies and guidelines set forth in this document. Instructors must discuss plagiarism and academic integrity with students at the beginning of each course.
If students do not consent to having their original work archived in the antiplagiarism tool databases,individual faculty members may use alternative assignments or use other, more traditional, methods for detecting plagiarism.
Student work submitted to Turnitin by an instructor will use an alias for the student name, and delete any personally-identifiable information.
If faculty members suspect that a paper has been plagiarized, the procedures outlined in Chapter 4 of the Student Handbook must be followed.
The following statement must appear on a course syllabus if an antiplagiarism tool is used in the course:
In an effort to ensure the integrity of the academic process, Texas Woman’s University vigorously affirms the importance of academic honesty as defined by the Student Handbook. Therefore, in an effort to detect and prevent plagiarism, faculty members at Texas Woman’s University may now use a tool called Turnitin to compare a student’s work with multiple sources. It then reports a percentage of similarity and provides links to those specific sources. The tool itself does not determine whether or not a paper has been plagiarized. Instead, that judgment must be made by the individual faculty member.
[Optional statements: All required assignments in this course may be checked for plagiarism using Turnitin.com or Some of the required assignments in this course or Assignments will be randomly checked...]
APPROVED: 5/09
Turnitin is an electronic text matching system that compares text in a student assignment against a database of sources. Turnitin is frequently used as a plagiarism detection application. Best practices from instructors suggest that Turnitin OriginalityCheck can be used as a teaching tool to address citation and academic honesty.
The following statement must appear on a course syllabus if Turnitin or other antiplagiarism tool is used in the course:
In an effort to ensure the integrity of the academic process, Texas Woman’s University vigorously affirms the importance of academic honesty as defined by the Student Handbook. Therefore, in an effort to detect and prevent plagiarism, faculty members at Texas Woman’s University may now use a tool called Turnitin to compare a student’s work with multiple sources. It then reports a percentage of similarity and provides links to those specific sources. The tool itself does not determine whether or not a paper has been plagiarized. Instead, that judgment must be made by the individual faculty member.
Optional statements:
Turnitin resources available include:
TWU resources available include:
Academic integrity is the foundation of the academic community. Because each student has the primary responsibility for being academically honest, students are responsible for reading and understanding all sections in the Student Handbook relating to standards of conduct and academic life. Students who violate University rules on academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure or removal from a course, disciplinary probation, and/ or dismissal from the University. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, fabrication, falsification, and falsifying academic records, other acts intentionally designed to provide unfair advantage to the student, and/or the attempt to commit such acts. Detailed definitions of these acts are provided in the Student Handbook.
Texas Woman’s University makes every effort to preserve the faculty/student relationship. The following procedure has been developed with this relationship in mind. Faculty members should clearly identify course specific standards which interpret University, college, and/or departmental policies related to academic integrity. These explanations should appear in the course syllabus.
In the event of alleged academic dishonesty, the faculty member who discovers evidence or receives reports of academic dishonesty should:
The formal hearing process is outlined in the Student Handbook. Pending the outcome of an investigation that is not resolved at the end of a semester or summer session, the faculty member must assign a grade of NG (no grade) to the student.
The following sanctions may be imposed by the Codes of Conduct Review Committee for academic dishonesty:
The faculty member may recommend a sanction to the Committee during the hearing process. If the assigned sanction involves an action involving a grade, the sanction will be communicated to the faculty member who will assign the sanction accordingly. Whether the matter is resolved administratively or through a formal hearing, the student may appeal by delivering a written notice of appeal to the Vice President for Student Life within 72 hours following the receipt of the decision. The decision of the Vice President for Student Life is final.
Records of scholastic dishonesty are retained in the Office of Civility & Community Standards Office and are kept separate from the student’s academic record or transcript. Student conduct records including academic dishonesty may be released to persons outside of the university only with consent of the student, or by exceptions described in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act including:
Texas Woman’s University’s Board of Regents Policy 4.02, “Intellectual Property,” covers the ownership, distribution, and commercial development of intellectual property developed by TWU faculty, staff, students, and others participating in TWU programs.