Academic Dishonesty

Intellectual honesty on the part of all students is basic to individual growth and development through college course work. When academic dishonesty occurs, the teaching/learning climate is seriously undermined and student growth and development are impeded. For these reasons, any form of intellectual dishonesty is a serious concern and is therefore prohibited. -- Preamble to the College Policy on Cheating/Plagiarism

Annotated Resources

Why Can't Johnny Respect Copyrights?

An article in Salon points to a report from the U.K.'s Creative Industries Task Force which recommends, in part, the issue of copyright be brought into the regular curriculum at an early age as part of the citizenship program. Why don't we do that in the U.S.?

College Policy on Cheating/Plagiarism

The full text of the College Policy is included here, along with college definitions and procedures for dealing with cheating or plagiarism

Preventing Academic Dishonesty

This is a chapter in the text, Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Life-Educational Development, University of California, Berkeley, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1993. It includes definitions and examples of plagiarism.

Cheating in Schools

This is a National Public Radio Talk of the Nation show, broadcast on May 21, 2001. It examines the impact of advances in technology on the way students cheat. Downloading papers from the Internet is on the rise but technology also provides means for faculty to discover cheating.

Plagiarism Resource Center

This web site was created by Dr. Lou Bloomfield in reaction to his recent discovery of over 100 suspect papers in his introductory physics course (see NPR Talk of the Nation show listed above). This site includes the most recent version of the copyfind program used by Dr. Bloomfield.

Academic Dishonesty Electronic Style

A collection of resources compiled by Jim Niessen and Brian Quinn at Texas Tech University for a panel discussion on cyberplagiarism, March 29, 2000. It includes both term paper sites as well as countermeasure sites.

Cheating 101: Paper Mills and You

From Coastal Carolina University comes this abbreviated presentation from Margaret Fain and Peggy Bates. It provides both an overview of paper mills online and advice on tracking down and detecting plagiarized papers.

A Faculty Guide to Cyber-Plagiarism

The University of Alberta Libraries has created an extensive help site for faculty as they confront the possibility of plagiarism in their classrooms.

Electronic Plagiarism Seminar

From Le Moyne College comes a web site developed for a seminar for Le Moyne College faculty in 1999 and most recently updated on May 24, 2001. It contains information for both faculty and students with many linked references.

Plagiarism in Colleges in the USA

By Ronald Standler, this legal essay describes the law of plagiarism, especially as applied to higher education. Did you realize that a college degree can be revoked after being granted if academic dishonesty has been discovered?

Legal Aspects of Academic Dishonesty: Policies, Perceptions, and Realities

By Dennis Bricault, North Park University, this is another paper focussed on the legal aspects and consequences of academic dishonesty.

Virtual Fake Outs

Written by Hervey Pean, a Student.Com correspondent, this article describes how the Internet is used for cheating and recommends against it. There is also a reference to an article by Dr. Jamie McKenzie, editor of the education technology journal From Now On, titled The New Plagiarism: Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in an Electronic Age.

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Examples of Plagiarism

• from Princeton University, this page shows examples of textual plagiarism (verbatim copying, selected copying and paraphrasing)and plagiarism of a computer program.
• from Cal Tech, citing an example from the Harvard University Handbook of General Education, this demonstrates additional forms of plagiarism including the mosaic and the "apt" term.
• from Northwestern University, an extensive description of the very many forms of plagiarism.

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Other Resources

• at SUNY Oswego:
  • The Learning Skills Center
  • The Math Center
  • The Tutoring Center
  • The Writing Center
• from Northwestern University, Avoiding Plagiarism
• from Purdue University, Avoiding Plagiarism. Same title, but additional advice and includes references.
• from the University of Toronto, How Not To Plagiarize by Margaret Procter.

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