Exams

Exams in this class are closed-note and non-collaborative. Students may not assist one another on exams, and the use of books, notes, and technology (e.g., cell phones, laptops) are not permitted during the exam period for any reason. Students should be mindful during exams to keep their eyes on their own exam paper and to be aware of how their own exam paper may be visible to others. Students should also be mindful that some students miss the initial exam session due to illness or other personal emergencies. Discussing the exam with a student who has not yet taken it is considered cheating. 

Research and Writing Project

Research does not occur in a vacuum; scientists learn from and build upon the work of others. Scientists follow specific principles for ethical scholarship to ensure that other scientists can meaningfully build on the work of others. As part of the Research and Writing project, you are expected to learn and follow these same principles.

We have different AI use guidelines for each assignment, so check and confirm approved and non-approved uses (using the corresponding AI disclosure form) for a given assignment before completing it. However, here are our general guidelines for this project:

Properly citing your academic sources: It is critical that scientists give credit where it is due; all ideas or writing that are not your own should be cited appropriately using the APA style guide on page 17 of this handout. For resources on citation conventions, visit https://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism and library.duke.edu/research/citing.

Represent others’ ideas accurately: Misrepresenting others’ ideas hurts scientific progress and credibility. At a minimum, you are responsible for reading the abstract of every paper you cite and ensuring you represent the ideas in that paper accurately. Including nonexistent sources or incorrect sources for a given idea is considered plagiarism.

Don’t use others’ words: When describing cited work, you must put ideas into your own words and indicate any verbatim language borrowed from academic sources using quotes. Borrowing language from other writers without crediting them, even if you change a few words here and there, is still plagiarism.

Do your own work: All final products must reflect your original, independent work. You may not turn in a paper or project that was used in a prior course or that was produced in collaboration with other students.

Only use generative AI in approved ways: In this class, the process of learning to think and write scientifically is more important than the product, and students of all writing levels can succeed. As such, students may only use generative AI tools in approved ways that do not undermine the learning process and must disclose their use of such tools (see assignment instructions for details on how to do so). 

Approved uses include:

• Finding leads for research articles to find and read, such as with consensus.app. Note that many other AI tools, such as ChatGPT, generates fake (non-existant) references. Recall that you are responsible for confirming the accuracy of the academic references and the ideas in any references you cite.

• Brainstorming ideas for research questions to get you started, key terms to use to search for articles, titles for your paper, or measures and methods that you might use to address your research question. But note that you are responsible for finding, citing, and accurately representing the original research on which those ideas are based.

• Basic editing of spelling and grammar at the word or sentence-by-sentence level (e.g., Microsoft editor, Grammarly grammar checker).

Non-approved uses that interfere with the learning process for this assignment include:

• Do not use AI to design your entire study for you. You are free to use generative AI to identify possible  measures and methods, but the overall design of the study should be yours.

• Do not use AI to outline your essay for you.

• Do not use AI to draft entire sentences, paragraphs, or sections of your paper. You should not directly use language that was created by generative AI systems, including the AI-generated text produced by Google searches!

• Do not use AI to revise your paper beyond the occasional sentence. Revising at the level of multiple sentences, paragraphs, or entire sections (e.g., standard AI-enabled version of Grammarly, ChatGPT) is not allowed. This includes using AI to generate solutions for addressing TF or peer feedback for Part 4 beyond the approved uses above (e.g., ok to brainstorm possible measures/methods/articles but not ok to revise writing to incorporate those points).

Do not upload documents to AI tools that do not belong to you, including materials created by your instructors or peers. 

Final Integrative Essay

You may use any of your notes or other provided course materials to help you write this essay. You may even discuss your essay ideas and examples with your classmates and your TF. However, because this essay is meant to reflect your personal connection to the course and content, it must represent your OWN ideas. Writing an essay in direct collaboration with others or with the assistance of generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, AI features in Grammarly) is academic misconduct. Please be sure your essay is also in your own words and does not plagiarize other sources, including AI (e.g., ChatGPT), the textbook, and the essays of current or former students in the class. 

Students must not provide false or misleading information to gain unfair academic advantages. This means using Incapacitation Forms and reporting any errors in Acadly attendance records truthfully. Attempting to falsify evidence of attendance or claim attendance without being present in class (i.e., sending one's phone to class with a classmate) is considered lying and a violation of Duke's Community Standard. 

Course materials (e.g., including course documents but also lectures, test questions, any videos of lectures that are shared with you) are the intellectual property of the instructors, who has worked extremely hard to develop a high-quality course that will serve YOU and future students. Attempting to save and distribute course materials without the instructors’ permission violates her rights and compromises the future learning experience for students.  

Recording of lectures or section meetings is strictly prohibited, unless approved by the instructor beforehand. All lectures and section meetings are the intellectual property of Duke University. Unauthorized recording will be considered a violation of the Duke University Community Standard (see below) and subject to disciplinary action. 

If a lecture recording is shared with you due to an excused absence, you are NOT permitted to share this recording with other students.