Academic Integrity
Identifying Cheating, Plagiarism and Avoiding the Pitfalls
What is cheating?
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the verb “cheat” means to deceive; do something which is not honest
Academic cheating is taking the work of another, on any assignment, and claiming it as your own
What does “academic cheating” look like?
Copying and/or offering homework verbally, in written form, or by electronic means
Copying and/or offering answers on tests verbally, in written form, or by electronic means
Pressuring other students to cheat Bringing in and using unauthorized information during class time,
including information stored in any electronic device Having anyone, including parents or tutors, complete assignments and
submitting the work as one’s own Presenting collaborative works as independent work and independent
work as collaborative. (In group work, one person should not and will not bear that burden for the entire group assignment.)
Copying answers from answer guides in texts. Fabricating data, information, or sources. Presenting made up material
as authentic.
Is he cheating?
Several people arrive in English class and Chris asks if anyone has the math homework that’s due next period. Susan, wanting to impress Chris, hands her homework over to him and he begins to copy down her answers.
YES!
Chris is copying homework in written form Chris is also inadvertently pressuring Susan
to cheat Susan is also guilty of cheating because she
offered information that was not meant to be shared
Is she cheating?
During the passing period, Becky receives a text from her friend, Sharon, asking for an answer to a question on Ms. Nugent’s literary terms quiz that she already took 1st period. Becky texts Sharon the answer, plus a couple hints on what else to expect on the quiz.
YES!
Becky offered Sharon answers on a quiz by electronic means
Becky also offered Sharon information that was not be shared
Is he cheating?
Students are given the first five minutes of class to study for their test using their review sheet. Ms. Groters asks everyone to put their stuff away and get out a pencil to take the test. Ted places his backpack over his review sheet. Upon getting stuck on the third question, he “accidentally” kicks the backpack aside and glances down for the answer.
YES!
Ted used unauthorized material while taking the test
Is she cheating?
Miranda is falling behind in history class because of her busy volleyball schedule. She asks Ms. Carey for extra credit so that she can get her grade up to passing and continue to play. Ms. Carey gives Miranda a newspaper article to read and summarize that is due next class. Miranda has a math test to study for that night and a big game the following evening. To help her daughter out, Miranda’s mom reads the article while Miranda is at her game and tells her what to write for the summary when she gets home. Miranda turns the extra credit assignment in to Ms. Carey the following day.
Yes!
Miranda’s mother completed her extra credit assignment, though she didn’t type it, she did it, and Miranda submitted the assignment as her own.
Are they cheating?
Gracie and Janice are trying to analyze a poem for Ms. Norman’s class. They need to find an example of a metaphor in the poem. Neither of them can remember what a metaphor is, so Janice “googles” metaphor on her iPhone. They find the definition and are able to identify an example in the poem.
No!
Gracie and Janice used resources appropriately to help them complete their homework successfully
Is she cheating?
Susan was disappointed with the group she was assigned to for her biology lab. She knew they were not responsible and wouldn’t do the work. So, Susan told the group that she would do all of the work and type up the lab report herself. Becky, Sharon and Ted agree to let Susan do it all.
Yes! They’re ALL cheating!
Susan is presenting her lab report as collaborative work even though she did it all herself
Becky, Sharon and Ted are taking credit for the work that they did not do
Are they cheating?
Ted and Chris are working on math problems. Coach Somerville has allowed the students to work in pairs. Ted and Chris get stuck on the eighth problem. Coach Somerville has left the teacher’s edition of the text at the front of the room and is helping some other students in the back of the room. Ted gets up to sharpen his pencil and notices the teacher’s edition of the text has been left open on the page with the answers to the problems. He quickly scans the page, sees the answer to the eighth problem, forgets to sharpen his pencil and goes back to his desk and writes the answer down.
No!...wait, I mean…Yes!
Ted copied the answer from the answer guide (teacher’s edition of the text)
Is she cheating?
Sharon is finishing her HUGE psychology research paper and discovers that she did not write down all of the citation information for the sources she used. Instead of going back to the library, she decides to make up page numbers, publisher names, and cities where the material was published.
YES!
Sharon fabricated sources and presented the material as authentic on her Works Cited page
What is Plagiarism?
Most students recognize intentional plagiarism which includes:– Purchasing papers from other students or online
sites and submitting them as your own work.– Using the copy and paste feature to recreate long
portions of text from other previously printed sources and claiming them as your own work.
So How Do We Avoid Plagiarism?
By Using Proper Citation Methods.
Unintentional Plagiarism
But, are you aware that many students are guilty of unintentional plagiarism?
Unintentional plagiarism occurs when:– You submit your own work which was previously turned in
to another teacher– You paraphrase or summarize information form a source
without proper documentation and citations– You confuse general or common knowledge with
information that needs to be cited– You do not follow all of the necessary formatting of your
prescribed citation style
Why do we cite our sources?
It gives credit where credit is due. It directs the readers of our work to find the
original material that helped us to formulate and support our ideas.
It convinces our audience that our claims are rationale, supported and well-thought out.
What Doesn’t Need to be Cited
Your own life experiences and personally gained knowledge
Common or General Knowledge– Items like well known dates
Declaration signed in 1776
– Information that all or most experts would agree upon.
George Washington was the 1st President
What Needs to be Cited
Any direct quote taken from another’s source (Books, Journals, Magazines, Newspapers, Speeches, Websites, BLOGs, Movies, etc.)
– These must be placed within quotation marks
(“ “)– You must indicate an author’s name and page number as
well– Even one or two words written verbatim must be enclosed
in quotation marks
Also Cite…
Any information you gained from reading or viewing another source
All summarized or paraphrased information must have an author referenced and page numbers included for your audience to be able to reference the original sources
If you are unsure if something needs to be cited—cite it!
Plagiarism at Play
Can You Identify the errors in the following Student Samples?
Here is the Original Passage from Newsweek Magazine
It is a familiar nightmare: a person suffers a heart attack, and as the ambulance fights heavy traffic, the patient dies. In fact, 350,000 American heart attack victims each year die without ever reaching a hospital. The killer in many cases is ventricular fibrillation, uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle. Last week a team of Dutch physicians reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that these early deaths can often be prevented by administration of a common heart drug called lidocaine, injected into the patient’s shoulder muscle by ambulance paramedics as soon as they arrive on the scene.
--from “First Aid for Heart Attacks,” Newsweek, November 11, 1985, page 88
Here is Sample One
It is a common nightmare: as the ambulance sits in heavy traffic, a person with a heart attack dies, often a victim of ventricular fibrillation, uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle. Today, however, these early deaths can often be prevented by an injection into the patient’s shoulder of a common heart drug called lidocaine, which may be administered by paramedics on the scene.
Has this student plagiarized? Why or why not?
Answer: Plagiarism
It is a common nightmare: as the ambulance sits in heavy traffic, a person with a heart attack dies, often a victim of ventricular fibrillation, uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle. Today, however, these early deaths can often be prevented by an injection into the patient’s shoulder of a common heart drug called lidocaine, which may be administered by paramedics on the scene.
Why is it plagiarized?•All highlighted areas are direct quotes that have not been offset by quotation marks.•No original source reference has been made.•No page numbers have been referenced.
Here is Sample Two
According to Newsweek, 350,000 American heart attack victims die before reaching help in hospitals (“First Aid for Heart Attacks” 88). However, a common heart drug called lidocaine, which may be injected into the patient by paramedics on the scene of the attack, may save many victims who die en route to doctors and sophisticated life-saving equipment.
Has this student plagiarized? Why or why not?
Answer: Plagiarism
What did they do right? They attributed their statistic to its source.
What did they still do wrong?
They left direct quotes without quotation marks (shown in yellow).
They borrowed most of the information in their paragraph from the article and only cited one statistic (shown in blue).
According to Newsweek, 350,000 American heart attack victims die before reaching help in hospitals (“First Aid for Heart Attacks” 88). However, a common heart drug called lidocaine, which may be injected into the patient by paramedics on the scene of the attack, may save many victims who die en route to doctors and sophisticated life-saving equipment.
Here is Sample Three
Ambulance paramedics can, and often do, play a vital life-saving role today. They are frequently the first medical assistance available, especially to those patients or accident victims far away from hospitals. Moreover, according to a Newsweek report, paramedics are now being trained to administer powerful drugs to help the sick survive until they reach doctors and medical equipment. For instance, paramedics can inject the common heart drug lidocaine into heart attack victims on the scene, an act that may save many of the 350,000 Americans who die of heart attacks before ever reaching a hospital (“First Aid for Heart Attacks” 88).
Has this student plagiarized? Why or why not?
Answer: Properly Cited
What did this student do correctly?– They used an introductory phrase to set off where
researched evidence was being included in their work.
Moreover, according to a Newsweek report
– They used a parenthetical citation with article name and a page number to show they were no longer referring to someone else’s work
(“First Aid for Heart Attacks” 88).
Remember…
Just because you are not using a direct quote, you must give credit to another’s ideas.
Quotation marks show exactly where and when a direct quote begins and stops.
With a summary or a paraphrase, your introductory phrase marks the beginning of another’s ideas. The parenthetical citation marks the end of their ideas.
The audience assumes that any text outside quotation marks or patterns of introductory phrases and in-text citations, are your original thoughts or experiences.
One Last Time
Citation is a good thing—it shows your ideas are supported with evidence.
Any information that isn’t commonly known or that was not experienced by you personally, must be cited.
If you had to look up the information, make sure you cited it (whether it’s a direct quote, a summary or a paraphrase).
Works Cited
Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well with Additional Readings. Seventh Edition. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008.
Colleyville Heritage High School Code of Academic Integrity
Ms. Nugent, Mrs. Groters, Mrs. Koehler, Mrs. Broker
Recommended
