How Many Ways Are There to Cheat?
Form a small group and brainstorm as many ways as you can think of to cheat. Once you have exhausted your ideas as a group, compare your ideas with the lists below. Be ready to share with the class how your list compared to what is in the textbook.
Consider the impact of cheating on:
- you
- WCC
- our community
I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating. —Sophocles
Academic Honesty and Dishonesty
At most educational institutions, “academic honesty” means demonstrating and upholding the highest integrity and honesty in all the academic work that you do. In short, it means doing your own work, not cheating, and not presenting the work of others as your own.
The following are some common forms of academic dishonesty prohibited by academic institutions:
Deception
Deception is providing false information to an instructor concerning an academic assignment. Examples of deception include taking more time on a take-home test than is allowed, giving a dishonest excuse when asking for a deadline extension, or falsely claiming to have submitted work.
Fabrication
Fabrication is the falsification of data, information, or citations in an academic assignment. This includes making up citations to back up arguments or inventing quotations. Fabrication is most common in the natural sciences, where students sometimes falsify data to make experiments “work” or make false claims about the research performed.
WCC’s Definitions of Cheating and Plagiarism
WCC has a clear and complete compilation of what is considered academic dishonesty and unacceptable academic behavior. The following are WCC’s definitions on cheating and plagiarism, examples of academic dishonesty.
WCC STUDENT HANDBOOK
VII. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery,
plagiarism, and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the College’s educational mission
and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Westchester Community College
students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work and to uphold the
ideal of academic integrity. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the
academic process will be sanctioned. Cheating harms the college community in many
ways. Honest students are frustrated by the unfairness of cheating that goes undetected
and therefore unpunished. Students who cheat will skew the grading curve in a class,
resulting in lower grades for students who have worked hard and did their own work.
DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research, or writing as your own work. Examples include:
1. Copying another person’s actual words without both the use of quotations and
documentation.
2. Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without documentation.
3. Using information that is not considered common knowledge without acknowledging the source.
4. Using a paper-writing “service” or having a friend write the paper for you.
Note: The guidelines that define plagiarism also apply to information secured on Internet
websites. Internet references must specify precisely where the information was obtained
and where it can be found. You may think that citing another author’s work will lower
your grade. In some unusual cases this may be true, for instance, if your instructor has
indicated that you must write your paper without reading additional material. But in fact,
as you progress in your studies, you will be expected to show that you are familiar with
important work in your field and can use this work to further your thinking. Your professors
write this kind of paper all the time. The key to avoiding plagiarism is that you show clearly
where your own thinking ends and someone else’s begins.
For more information on the topic of plagiarism please visit our library’s website at:
www.sunywcc.edu/plagiarism.
Cheating
Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids,
devices or communication during an academic exercise.
Examples include:
TESTS AND EXAMS:
1. Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy
your work.
2. Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination.
3. Using unauthorized devices during an examination.
4. Asking or allowing another student, or anyone else, to take an examination for you.
5. Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit.
6. Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an
examination.
7. Taking an examination for another student.
8. Taking an examination or any examination material out of an examination room
at any time without the expressed permission of the instructor who created that
examination.
TAKE-HOME TESTS AND INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS:
1. If tutors or others aid the student in the preparation of an assignment, the submitted
assignment should represent the student’s current level of ability.
2. Unauthorized collaborating on a take-home assignment or examination.
3. Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without consulting the
second instructor.
4. Using a paper-writing “service” or having someone else write the paper for you.
5. Preparing an essay or assignment, or allowing one’s essay or assignment to be copied by someone else.
6. Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper or using someone else’s outline to write
your own paper.
7. Intentionally citing inaccurate or nonexistent source materials.
COLLABORATIVE (GROUP) ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Failure to acknowledge group members on homework and lab assignment.
2. Turning in another group members work as an example of your individual work.
Notes: Group projects require careful division of responsibility and careful coordination
to control the quality of the final product. Group work calls for a different kind of effort,
not less of it. When group projects are assigned, the instructor is usually interested in the
mastery of group process, as well as the subject. Ask the instructor to clarify individual
responsibilities and suggest a method of proceeding.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Below are some useful guidelines to help you avoid plagiarism and show academic honesty in your work:
- Quotes: If you quote another work directly in your work, cite your source.
- Paraphrase: If put someone else’s idea into your own words, you still need to cite the author.
- Visual Materials: If you cite statistics, graphs, or charts from a study, cite the source. Keep in mind that if you didn’t do the original research, then you need to credit the person(s) or institution that did.
The easiest way to make sure you don’t accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work is by taking careful notes as you do research. If you are doing research on the web, be sure to copy and paste the links into your notes so can keep track of the sites you’re visiting. Be sure to list all the sources you consult.
There are many handy online tools to help you create and track references as you go. For example, you can try using Son of Citation Machine. Keeping careful notes will not only help you avoid inadvertent plagiarism; it will also help you if you need to return to a source later (to check or get more information). If you use citation tools like Son of Citation, be sure to check the accuracy of the citations before you submit your assignment.
Lastly, if you’re in doubt about whether something constitutes plagiarism, cite the source or leave the material out. Better still, ask for help. Stop by the tutoring center or library for help. If you are an online student, check out the Library’s resources online for research help. Taking the time to seek advice is better than getting in trouble for not attributing your sources. Be honest about your ideas, and give credit where it’s due.
Consequences of Academic Dishonesty
In the academic world, plagiarism by students is usually considered a very serious offense that can result in punishments such as a failing grade on the particular assignment or the entire course or even being expelled from the institution. Individual instructors and courses may have their own policies regarding academic honesty and plagiarism; statements of these policies can usually be found in the course information sheet.
Cheating of any sort causes stress because of the worry of being caught and because those students don’t really know the necessary information. It also lowers self-esteem. Students who cheat are telling themselves that they are simply not smart enough to handle learning, which is almost always not the case. Students who cheat are robbing themselves of the feeling of satisfaction that comes from genuine success.
ACADEMIC HoNesty Research
- Describe three different actions that would violate your college’s academic honesty policy.
- Check out Indiana University’s clever list of different types of plagiarism by going to this link and reading through the various examples. The names used for different types of plagiarism can help you learn how to avoid situations of academic dishonesty. Jot down a few notes on examples that are new to you.
- Find information about plagiarism in one of your courses. You may find information on the course syllabus and/or the course website. You may want to bookmark this information or make a note to yourself. Knowing your rights as a student may help if there is a misunderstanding.
