Here are the policies and procedures (excerpted from the Graduate Bulletin)

There is also an excellent article that gives very detailed examples of academic dishonesty (click here).

Standards of Academic Integrity

Throughout their history, institutions of higher learning have viewed themselves and have been viewed by society as a community of persons not only seeking truth and knowledge, but seeking them in a truthful and ethical fashion. Indeed, the institution traditionally trusted by the public and the one to which it most often turns when unbiased, factual information is needed is the university. Thus, how a university behaves is as important as what it explores and learns.

The University at Albany expects all members of its community to conduct themselves in a manner befitting this tradition of honor and integrity. They are expected to assist the University by reporting suspected violations of academic integrity to appropriate faculty and/or administration offices. Behavior that is detrimental to the University's role as an educational institution is unacceptable and requires attention by all citizens of its community.

These guidelines, designed especially for students, define a context of values within which individual and institutional decisions on academic integrity can be made. It is every student's responsibility to become familiar with the standards of academic integrity at the University. Claims of ignorance, of unintentional error, or of academic or personal pressures are not sufficient reasons for violations of academic integrity.

Examples of Academic Dishonesty

The following is a list of the types of behaviors that are defined as examples of academic dishonesty and are therefore unacceptable. Attempts to commit such acts also fall under the term academic dishonesty and are subject to penalty. No set of guidelines can, of course, define all possible types or degrees of academic dishonesty; thus, the following descriptions should be understood as examples of infractions rather than an exhaustive list. Individual faculty members and the judicial boards of the University will continue to judge each case according to its particular merit.

Plagiarism: Presenting as one's own work, the work of another person (for example, the words, ideas, information, data, evidence, organizing principles, or style of presentation of someone else). Plagiarism includes paraphrasing or summarizing without acknowledgment, submission of another student's work as one's own, the purchase of prepared research or completed papers or projects, and the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else. Failure to indicate accurately the extent and precise nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences for violating University regulations.

Examples of plagiarism include: failure to acknowledge the source(s) of even a few phrases, sentences, or paragraphs; failure to acknowledge a quotation or paraphrase of paragraph-length sections of a paper; failure to acknowledge the source(s) of a major idea or the source(s) for an ordering principle central to the paper's or project's structure; failure to acknowledge the source (quoted, paraphrased, or summarized) of major sections or passages in the paper or project; the unacknowledged use of several major ideas or extensive reliance on another person's data, evidence, or critical method; submitting as one's own work, work borrowed, stolen, or purchased from someone else.

Cheating on Examinations: Giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include collaboration of any sort during an examination (unless specifically approved by the instructor); collaboration before an examination (when such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the instructor); the use of notes, books, or other aids during an examination (unless permitted by the instructor); arranging for another person to take an examination in one's place; looking upon someone else's examination during the examination period; intentionally allowing another student to look upon one's exam; the unauthorized discussing of the test items during the examination period; and the passing of any examination information to students who have not yet taken the examination. There can be no conversation while an examination is in progress unless specifically authorized by the instructor.

Multiple Submission: Submitting substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once, without the prior explicit consent of the instructor(s) to whom the material is being (or has in the past been) submitted.

Forgery: Imitating another person's signature on academic or other official documents (e.g., the signing of an advisor's name to a program adjustment card).

Sabotage: Destroying, damaging, or stealing of another's work or working materials (including lab experiments, computer programs, term papers, or projects).

Unauthorized Collaboration: Collaborating on projects, papers, or other academic exercises which is regarded as inappropriate by the instructor(s). Although the usual faculty assumption is that work submitted for credit is entirely one's own, standards on appropriate and inappropriate collaboration vary widely among individual faculty and the different disciplines. Students who want to confer or collaborate with one another on work receiving academic credit should make certain of the instructor's expectations and standards.

Falsification: Misrepresenting material or fabricating information in an academic exercise or assignment (for example, the false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of experimental or computer data, etc.)

Bribery: Offering or giving any article of value or service to an instructor in an attempt to receive a grade or other benefits not legitimately earned or not available to other students in the class.

Theft, Damage, or Misuse of Library or Computer Resources: Removing uncharged library materials from the library, defacing or damaging library materials, intentionally displacing or hoarding materials within the library for one's unauthorized private use, or other abuse of reserve-book privileges. Or, without authorization, using the University's or another person's computer accounts, codes, passwords, or facilities; damaging computer equipment or interfering with the operation of the computing system of the University. Computing and Network Services (CNS) has established specific rules governing the use of computing facilities. These rules are available at CNS and it is every student's responsibility to become familiar with them.

Penalties and Procedures

When a faculty member has information that a student has violated academic integrity in a course or program for which he or she is responsible and determines that a violation has occurred, he or she will inform the student and impose an appropriate sanction. A faculty member may make any one or a combination of the following responses to the infractions cited above:

Warning without further penalty;

Requiring rewriting of a paper containing plagiarized material;

Lowering of a paper or project grade by one full grade or more;

Giving a failing grade on a paper containing plagiarized material;

Giving a failing grade on any examination in which cheating occurred;

Lowering a course grade by one full grade or more;

Giving a failing grade in a course.

If a faculty member announces a failing grade in the course as a possible result of academic dishonesty, the student receiving such a penalty will not be permitted to withdraw from the course unless the grievance or judicial system rules in favor of the student.

Any faculty member encountering matters of academic dishonesty in an academic program or class for which he or she has responsibility may, in addition to, or in lieu of, the actions cited above, refer a case to the University Judicial System. After considering the case under the procedures provided by the University, the appropriate University judicial body will recommend the disposition of the case which can include disciplinary probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University. Faculty members are expected to report in writing to the Offices of Graduate or Undergraduate Studies, as appropriate, all sanctions they impose, along with a brief description of the incident, A copy of the report is to be given to the student. These offices will maintain a copy of such reports for the duration of a student's enrollment at the University. Upon graduation or separation of the student from the University, these confidential reports will be destroyed. Violations of academic integrity by graduate students are reported by faculty directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions for appropriate action. This office replaces the Office of Undergraduate Studies in all matters involving graduate student violations of academic integrity.

Students who feel they have been erroneously penalized for an academic integrity infraction or think that a penalty is inappropriate may grieve these issues through procedures developed for each college, school, program, or department of the University. Copies of the procedures are maintained in Deans' Offices, in the Office of Undergraduate Studies or Graduate Admissions, and in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. A copy of the disposition of any grievance arising in matters of academic dishonesty will be attached to the faculty correspondence in the Offices of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies.

When a student violates academic integrity in more than one academic exercise, whether those infractions occurred during the same or different periods of time, or in the same or different courses, the University regards the offense as an especially serious subversion of academic integrity. The matter becomes particularly severe when the student has been confronted with the first infraction before the second is committed. Whenever the Offices of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies receive a second academic integrity report on a student, the Dean will request a hearing before the University Judicial System.

The Director of Libraries or Computing and Network Services, upon a finding of theft, damage, or misuse of facilities or resources, will forward all such cases to the University Judicial System for review and disposition, which can include suspension or expulsion from the University. The Director of the Library or Computing and Network Services may, in individual cases, limit access to the Library or Computing and Network Services pending action by the University Judicial System. In all other cases of academic dishonesty by graduate students which come to the attention of any staff, faculty, or student, it is expected that the Dean of Graduate Studies will be notified of such infractions. The Dean of Graduate Studies will process all such alleged matters of academic dishonesty and refer them to the University Judicial System.

The University Judicial System was established by the governing bodies of this campus and is administratively the responsibility of the Vice President for Student Affairs. Any questions about the procedures of the University Judicial System may be secured by inquiry to that office.