One of the most important traditions in the scientific community is the tradition of academic integrity. Scientists build on others’ achievements and they must be able to trust the integrity of the published literature they build on. Students want to work in communities where competition is fair, integrity is respected and cheating is not tolerated. At all science fairs, including the Western Manitoba Science Fair, students are required to present work that is the result of their own efforts. All assistance received from others must be acknowledged, and all written material that draws on the work of others must be accompanied by appropriate references.

Specific examples of violations include:

• Plagiarism – presenting the work of others as your own without acknowledging the source. This includes work done by a family member or a mentor.

• Fabricating or falsifying data

• Forging signatures

• Fabricating or falsifying registration information

• Entering a project that is either derived from a previous project or is a continuation or revision of a previous project by the student (or by another) without documentation of the previous work.