If you suspect a student/s has engaged in academic or research misconduct, follow these steps. Contact the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) with any questions.
  1. Contact the student/s to share your suspicions (students may wish to meet, discuss by phone, or interact via email).
  2. Allow the student to respond by asking if they admit or deny responsibility for the misconduct.
    • For steps 1 and 2, click here for sample language you can use when emailing or discussing the allegation with a student.
  3. If they deny responsibility, do not assign a grade until OSC has completed its review and process (leave grade as N for grade processing).
  4. If they admit the misconduct, you may assign a grade consistent with your syllabus and discretion.
  5. Submit the case and information to OSC using the report form, including related materials such as comparable work, plagiarism reports, emails, and websites. Be sure to include any communication with the student.
  6. When an outcome is determined by OSC, you will be notified along with the student, and may assign a grade if one was pending.

To submit a referral for an allegation of academic misconduct, please complete the reporting form found here, including all documentation.

Timeliness of Referrals
Timely referrals are critical to ensuring due process, fairness, and educational impact. Cases referred long after coursework is completed are harder to address fairly, and outcomes lose their connection to the original behavior.

As a guideline, referrals submitted more than five weeks after the due date (excluding exams and final projects) are unlikely to result in formal charges, though informal or educational options may still be possible. Please call OSC (515-294-1020) if you have questions about a delayed referral. 

Use of AI Detection in Academic Misconduct Cases

Turnitin’s AI detection tool is enabled at Iowa State, but it is not a definitive measure of misconduct.

For this reason, the Office of Student Conduct will not accept AI detection reports (such as Turnitin’s AI percentage scores or highlighted text, or other AI detection program reports) as a stand-alone basis for referral. Turnitin acknowledges that AI detection should be treated as one indicator, not as conclusive proof.

What this means for faculty:

  • An AI detection report by itself is not sufficient to initiate a case. Concerns must be supported with additional context or evidence, such as inconsistencies with a student’s prior work, missing or fabricated sources, etc.
  • Faculty are encouraged to consider drafts, assignment history, and conversations with the student in evaluating potential AI use.
  • This approach ensures fairness, as AI detection scores cannot be independently verified and may generate false positives.