Plagiarism

Plagiarism is considered a serious violation of academic and ministerial ethics. Plagiarism constitutes stealing the ideas of another and representing them as one’s own. This is just as fundamentally dishonest as stealing someone’s property or money.

Three kinds of writing may appear in a paper you submit:

1. Your own analysis, synthesis, and reflection which is captured in your own words and ideas. This is the most valuable kind of writing you can do because it indicates your depth of understanding of a subject and the ability to expand beyond the work of others. As students, you are to build your own thinking and acting on what you have learned in your courses.
2. The work of others that you draw on for ideas and concepts. Within your paper you will analyze, synthesize, adapt, and paraphrase these ideas and give a citation of their source. Since you have not copied the words directly from your sources, you do not need to show these as a quotation.
3. The work of others that you copy verbatim from a source. Here, you must indicate that the material is taken directly from your source either by setting it off in quotation marks (for short quotations) or by using an indented paragraph (for long quotations).

What is Plagiarism?

Any act of incorporating into one’s own work the work of another without indicating that source. Plagiarism is a form of stealing (Ex 20:15) – it’s saying something is yours when it belongs to another. This may include:

1. Idea plagiarism – Students may freely discuss ideas and concepts with other students since such discussion is valuable in the learning community. However, ideas received from others and used in a paper must be properly cited, since the paper must express your original thoughts. Stringing several properly cited quotations together is technically not plagiarism but it is often a poor way to write a paper.
2. Not citing sources – Texts, media, interviews and other sources you use should be acknowledged.
   Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Students often have trouble distinguishing between privileged information and common knowledge when deciding what materials should be footnoted. For example, one would not cite a reference if one included the fact that Martin Luther was a German theologian who was a leader of the Reformation.

Examples of Plagiarism

1. Idea Plagiarism – You will often come across key ideas that you wish to discuss. It’s fine to use the idea and build your thought around that Idea. However, you need to cite the source of the idea.
2. Key Term Plagiarism – Sometimes you will come across a key term or catchy phrase in your courses that you would like to use. As with idea plagiarism, it’s fine to use the key term, but you need to cite the source.
3. Word for Word Plagiarism – This is simply copying the words of someone else as if they were your own. Sometimes students identify a well-written sentence or paragraph and just copy it without citing the source. Facilitators often already know the material and quickly identify it as plagiarism. Again, it’s fine to use the quote if it is put in quotation marks and the source Is identified.
4. Paraphrasing Plagiarism – It’s fine to paraphrase a quotation using words that may be more understandable than those of the original author. But again you need to say where the original material came from.

Why Do Students Plagiarize?

1. Students may so value the material above their own ideas that they take the material as their own without citing the source. Solution: Cite the source.
2. Students are busy and are pressed for time so they become careless. Thinking takes time so original ideas are not adequately developed. Solution: manage your time carefully to allow for the time you need to write well.
3. Students may have insufficient knowledge on how to cite a source. This can become a complex process with different standards in different countries. At ITEE University we seek a simple process. Here are a few examples:
   • A key idea—State who originated the idea and where you found it: “The gospel of Matthew elaborates Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God.”
   • A key term—State the term and the source: “In its preamble, the 1945 constitution sets forth Pancasila as the embodiment of the basic principles of an independent Indonesian state. These five principles were announced by Sukarno in a speech known as “The Birth of the Pancasila,” which he gave to the Independence Preparatory Committee on June 1, 1945.”
   • A direct quotation—Copy the quote, put it in quotation marks, and cite the reference: “The just shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11; Rom 1:17).
   • A paraphrase—Give the essential thought in your own words and the source: “During the January 5 Introduction to Preaching course, Professor X said that the final exam would be postponed.”

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

iTEE University exists to bring relationally-driven biblical ministry education to church leaders lacking access to it. Biblical education aims to develop people into more mature disciples of Jesus Christ, maturing them in their Head (knowledge), Heart (character) and Hands (skills). As this type of personal development is the goal of our programs, new Artificial Intelligence tools present both advantages and challenges to biblical education. Faster, more capable technology may improve our ability to research and acquire new, more accurate and more comprehensive knowledge quickly. On the other hand, it may stunt the personal growth that is the core of our ministry. It may also result in inaccurate information that is not properly attributed to its original creator/author.

In general, therefore, iTEE University allows the use of AI tools for research (such as finding a commentary, concordance, articles) as long as the material is cited appropriately. However, iTEE University forbids the use of AI tools to generate content for submission or completion of any course work.

Here are some problems that can result from submitting AI-generated coursework:

• Our facilitators expect that all work submitted is the student’s original content and reflects the student’s understanding of the material. Submitting AI-created work instead of original work is misleading to the facilitator and other students. It falsely communicates that the student has understood and interacted with the course content. Thus, it can damage trust and hinder the relational component of education, the learning community.
• Submitting AI-created work avoids the student’s having to personally learn, understand and communicate biblical truth. This thwarts his or her personal growth and therefore the very purpose for studying with iTEE University. It is a missed opportunity for transformation.
• Submitting AI-created work may violate applicable copyright laws and/or result in the student being guilty of plagiarism.

Therefore, the policy of iTEE University is that students may not use AI to generate any content for coursework, either in online classes or face-to-face classes. Students may not submit any AI-generated work (fully or partly produced by AI) in iTEE University classes. Students may use AI tools for personal research. However, students should also use appropriate caution in depending on AI for research purposes, and should always cite sources correctly.