Academic Integrity Office Tips for Students: Group Projects

Group projects can be a fun and challenging way to learn new material and complete a shared assignment. However, it’s never fun being in a group that gets flagged for plagiarism. Here are a few ideas for ways to approach a group project and avoid academic integrity issues.

• Starting an assignment early is key! Take the initiative to email everyone to set up your first meeting right away.
• At your first meeting, bring up the topic of academic integrity and how everyone is responsible for the entire assignment (not just the part you may write).
• Have a group discussion on roles and determine how you will collectively complete the project.
• Before ending the first meeting, review assignments with everyone so there are no miscommunications.
• If available, run your project through Turnitin before the final due date to check for content that may need a citation.
• Establish a group agreement that the final assignment will not be turned in until everyone in the group is able to review and sign off on the final draft by a deadline determined by the team.

For more information, check out the Academic Integrity Office website and the Fulton Schools Resources page.