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The University, the Colleges, and the majors have established certain academic requirements that must be met before a degree is granted. While advisors, directors, department chairpersons, and deans are available to assist the student meet these requirements, it is ultimately the responsibility of the student to be acquainted with all policies and regulations, and be responsible for completing requirements. If requirements for graduation have not been satisfied, the degree will not be granted. The information presented here represents the University Academic Policies. Colleges and departments may have additional requirements. Check with your College Graduate Coordinator or your Department Director for more information. Courses, majors, and requirements described in the Catalog may be suspended, deleted, restricted, supplemented, or changed at any time at the sole discretion of the University and the Board of Trustees.

See also USF Student Rights and Responsibilities; USF Regulations and Policies; USF Graduate Catalog

Source: Student Responsibilities, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Members of the University community support high standards of individual conduct and human relations. Responsibility for one’s own conduct and respect for the rights of others are essential conditions for academic and personal freedom within the University. USF reserves the right to deny admission or refuse enrollment to students whose actions are contrary to the purposes of the University or impair the welfare or freedom of other members of the University community. Disciplinary procedures are followed when a student fails to exercise responsibility in an acceptable manner or commits an offense as outlined in the Student Conduct Code. Refer to the USF 6.0021, Student Code of Conduct.

Source: Student Conduct, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) is a critical element in training for scholarship.  USF has information about RCR available online at:  grad.usf.edu/rcr.php   Effective Spring 2013, the Office of Graduate Studies requires all new doctoral students to have basic RCR training by completing the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) module most relevant to the student's major of study. The CITI modules have been designed to introduce researchers to various elements of research conduct ranging from research misconduct to data management to mentoring.   As this is a minimum requirement, specific doctoral programs may require training that goes beyond the basic components introduced in this module. Majors that have received Office of Graduate Studies approval for rigorous RCR training consistent with disciplinary standards and practices may exempt their students from the CITI requirement.  Students must complete the module, or provide evidence of previous qualified RCR training to their Graduate Director and Office of Graduate Studies, in the first semester enrolled in a doctoral major.  Previous RCR training should have been completed within the past year.  Students will be unable to register for courses in a future semester until successful fulfillment of this RCR requirement.  Once the training is completed, the Registration hold will be lifted.

Source: Responsible Conduct of Research, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Shared Authorship and Research Education Policy  

USF contains a broad range of academic majors in diverse disciplines, and the USF faculty recognize that the conventions on shared authorship and credit for scholarship vary among disciplines. In general, sharing in authorship implies both substantive intellectual contributions to the work and also approval of the work as it appears in public. Right to authorship credit is not automatically conveyed by being the instructor of a course, being a student's major professor, or being a research assistant working with faculty and professional researchers; neither is credit automatically prohibited because of such status.

Each college/major that includes research education shall include an explicit discussion of shared authorship issues and disciplinary conventions as part of the formal curriculum addressing research methods and ethics, including the conventions of the discipline's publications. In addition, each college or major shall have a formal statement about shared authorship made available to students (such as on a college or major website) or given to students at the same time as they are given notice about other major and college expectations.

Each college/major shall also have a written procedure for resolving questions or conflicts about shared authorship where students are involved. The college and major may use the same procedure for resolving questions for non‐student employees, but the procedure for resolving questions or conflicts involving students must address the educational needs of students (e.g., explicitly asking about the nature of the research methods and ethics education as experienced by a student involved in the case at hand).

This written procedure must be made available to students (such as on a college or major website) or given to students at the same time as they are given notice about other major and university expectations.

Source: Intellectual and Scholarship Integrity, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Reference USF Regulation 3.027 - Academic Integrity of Students

USF considers the following behaviors as violations of the academic standards for both Undergraduate and Graduate students. They are: (1) Cheating; (2) Plagiarism; (3) Fabrication, Forgery and Obstruction; (4) Multiple Submissions; (5) Complicity; (6) Improper use of teamwork credit; (7) Solicitation or Purchase; (8) Misrepresentation; (9) Misconduct in Research and Creative Endeavors; (10) Computer Misuse; (11) Misuse of Intellectual Property; and (12) Violation of State or Federal laws with regard to Intellectual Property.

To search for current regulations and policies, go to the USF System Regulations and University Policies Index.  Please note the sections that specifically pertain to graduate students.

Source: Academic Integrity of Students, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Reference USF Regulation 3.025 - Disruption of Academic Process

Source: Disruption of Academic Process, Section 7 - Academic Policies and Regulations, USF Graduate Catalog

Plagiarism will not be tolerated and is grounds for failure. Refer to USF Academic Integrity of Students website.

The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service (Turnitin), which allows instructors and students to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. The course instructor reserves the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted as electronic files, 2) submit students’ assignments to Turnitin, or 3) request students to submit their assignments to Turnitin through the course site. Assignments are compared automatically with a database of journal articles, web articles, the internet and previously submitted papers. The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student’s paper was plagiarized.

NOTE: An institution may not release a paper to a plagiarism detection software without the student’s prior consent unless all personally identifiable information has been removed, such as a student’s name, social security number, student number, etc.. Note that a paper/essay is considered an educational record and an institution may not ask a student to waive their rights under FERPA for the purpose of submitting papers to a plagiarism detection software.

For more information about Plagiarism and Turnitin, visit:

Avoiding Plagiarism

Submitting a paper by file upload through Turnitin