When taking an exam where independent work is required, a student who copies another student's work is guilty of academic misconduct.

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Male. Oh man. This exam is harder than I thought. I probably should’ve studied harder last night! Catherine seems to know what she’s doing. Maybe I could just take a peek. No. I should do this myself! Besides If I got caught, we’d both be in trouble.

If you are taking an exam where independent work is required and you allow another student to copy your work, you are guilty of academic misconduct.

This is a violation of the fairness principle, because aiding the unfair advantage of one student over any other student interferes with a culture of academic integrity.

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Student sitting writing an exam. Female. This is perfect. I studied all this stuff, I’m gonna ace this exam! Awesome. What is he doing? He’s totally trying to see my answers. Well, he did help me out last year with studying. Maybe… No way! I studied super hard for this! And if he cheats off me, I’m just as guilty as he is. Besides, I’ll be earning my mark.

If you witness situations of academic misconduct, such as copying exam answers, you should communicate your observations to the instructor. This promotes a culture of academic integrity.

Reporting someone's academic misconduct isn't always easy, but it is the right thing to do.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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Students writing an exam. Male. Did I just see that!?! That girl just pulled a cheat sheet out of her sleeve! Am I the only one that sees this? That makes me so mad. She’s gonna get an awesome grade because she cheats! I really want to tell the prof, but I’m not a snitch. I have to tell him. It really is the right thing to do.

Fabricating is the invention or alteration of information or data, with the intention to mislead.

Lying, by using a false note or excuse to postpone writing an exam or quiz, is a form of fabrication and is a violation of the honesty and trust values inherent in academic integrity.

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Male student talking with female student sitting on couch while she reads a magazine.

Male. I don’t know what I’m going to do – there’s no way I’m ready for this exam! Female. That sucks. Maybe you shouldn’t have gone out last night. Male. I have to get out of it…I know! I’ll tell the prof that my grandma died! Then I’ll get some extra study time! Genius!!! Female. That is so wrong! On so many levels… you can’t lie to get out of an exam! Male. You’re right…. I’ll just have to write it today.

It is considered cheating to collaborate on exams, tests, projects or assignments when faculty instructions are to work separately.

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Two students talking on a bench. Female 1. Hey! Grab your take home exam and let’s get workin’! Female 2. oh, we’re allowed to work on it together? Female 1. Who’s gonna know? It’s a take home! Female 2. Well, The prof told us we had to work on it alone. If we work together we’d be cheating. Sorry, you’re on your own! Female 1. No worries, see you later!

Your professor hands back marked exams and tells the class to carefully check the grading, in case an exam has been graded unfairly. You realize you have answered a question wrong, even though you knew the correct answer. You scribble in the correct answer and resubmit the paper. This is an example of academic misconduct.

Tests submitted for re-grading may not be altered in any way, even if you did know the correct answer at the time of the exam.

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Ok everybody, remember to check the grading and come see me if TA’s missed anything! Student. Oh no I didn’t finish answering a question and lost marks! If I add it now and say it was the TA’s mistake no one will know! No I can’t do that it’s not the TA’s mistake and I’ll just have to live with it!

Any assignment you submit (essays, papers, lab assignments) must be your own work. Representing someone else's work as your own is plagiarism.

If you submit someone else's work as your own, even with permission, you are not only violating the principles of academic integrity, but you are also implicating that person in academic misconduct. Allowing someone to represent your work as their own is also academic misconduct.

It is a serious offence to take credit for a paper that you did not write yourself, for example: a paper prepared by an essay-writing service. Such an offence may result in suspension or expulsion from the college.

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Two females driving in a car.

Female 1. I’ve got 3 papers due in less than a month. I don’t know if I can do it?! Female 2. Oh don’t worry. I’ve heard of these websites that sell papers. They’re pretty cheap too. Female 1. I don’t know, it doesn’t sound right. Besides turning someone elses’ paper in seems pretty dishonest. It would be like saying I wrote it. Female 2. Well yeah. It’s plagiarism, but whatever! You’ll pass your course and get on with it. No big.

Later day that. Female. So, have you heard of buying a paper off the net. You know, when you’re in a pinch? Male. Yeah, I’ve heard. But those things are bad news. Its plagiarism and you could get expelled. Besides, you’re here to learn. Writing a paper yourself is the whole point! Why don’t you talk to your prof, I’m sure she’ll calm you down a bit. Female. Yeah, I think I will talk to her. They wont be easy to write, but at least they’ll be mine.

To avoid committing plagiarism, you must acknowledge the source¹ of anything included in your submitted assignment that is not your own work.

Your assignment can include a passage of text, an audio or visual object, computer code, data set, or someone's original idea. Your source may be a book, journal article, the Internet, even a conversation or email message. You must acknowledge the origin of the work.

Your instructor needs to know what parts of the work are your original thoughts, ideas and research.

Citing sources is an important part of the academic process. Your readers need to know where to locate the source in order to pursue further work on the subject.

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Female student and male student looking at papers. Female. Whoa!! What an awesome diagram! It’s so clear and to the point. Male. I know right?! Total luckout surfing the web. Female. I completely thought you did it yourself. Male. Yeah! It was pretty cool site. Some grad student put up his results. Female. You should credit the guy. Your prof may want to check it out. Male. Most likely… besides, I wouldn’t want my prof to think I came up with this on my own.

¹ Adequate acknowledgement is typically achieved through citing your source and including it in a reference list formatted according to one of the standard style guides. See cite your sources for more information.

Credit your source if you are using someone else's ideas in your paper.

Not only should you cite your source for quoted text, you must cite your source for ideas that are not originally yours¹ and are not common knowledge².

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Two female students sitting on the couch with a cat in between them. Female 1. So… while researching my paper, I came across this brilliant idea! I never would have thought of, but it’ll totally make my paper! Female 2. Awesome!!! Where did you find it? Female 1. Well…I don’t really remember. I was doing so much reading and scanning! Female 2. I know what you mean…but you can’t use the idea without saying whose it is! Female 1. I’ll try to track it down…I don’t want to mislead anybody into thinking that it was my own original work… that’d be pretty dishonest!

¹ As a rule, error on the side of caution and provide a citation if you have any doubt. When to provide credit can be a matter of judgment. Your sense of when a citation is needed will develop with experience.

² "Common knowledge" is information that is widely known and easily verified in a standard reference work.

To avoid inadvertent plagiarism, follow these tips:

1. Keep track of potentially useful sources as you find them
2. Take notes as you research and investigate your topic
3. Know how to cite your sources

One method of keeping track of sources is to use index cards. Enter a source's publication information on an index card. Format the entry in the citation style you will be using in your paper.

Take notes as you research and investigate your topic

Indicate whether you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting and be sure to include a connection with your source. Use note card (a larger index card), and try to restrict content to one main idea.

Know how to cite your sources

Your citations must be consistently formatted in a particular style. Citation and style guides links to online guides and support for style guides. Your choice of style depends on your area of research. Ask your instructor or a librarian for advice.

Contact your instructor before submitting a paper that you previously submitted for a different assignment or purpose. If you would like to use the same paper, or papers with significant overlap, for different courses, explicit permission from the instructor of each course is necessary.

Reusing a paper is not always wrong. A paper you have already written may be very appropriate and speak to the topic assigned. The consideration is to avoid misleading the instructor. A student of academic integrity will communicate with the instructor to explain why a previously written paper is appropriate for the current assignment, and request permission to use it again. The student should be honest.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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Male and female student talking.

Male. Boy! Did I luck out! The paper I wrote last term is perfect for an assignment I have for this term. Female. What are you thinking, that you can hand in the exact same paper twice? Male. Well, I did put a lot of work into that paper. And it is the exact same subject. Female. Why not see what your prof says? As long as she knows what you’re doing and approves, I say do it!

You pay a tutor for editing assistance, and they drastically re-write your original paper. Can you submit this new, edited version to your professor?

No, this is called collusion, which involves receiving unauthorized help from tutors and friends in writing your essay. It is important to clarify with your professor or teaching assistant what type of help (if any) is acceptable for a specific assignment.

If you use your friend's work without crediting them, your friend is also guilty of academic misconduct. Even if your friend is not aware that you are plagiarising their work, your friend will still be subject to penalties.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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Two students walking. Male. Hey! Wait up! You got a sec? I need help with an assignment. Female. Sure! What kind of help? Male. Just some editing and rewriting parts. My tutor can’t help me in time. Female. Oh, did your prof say you could get this kind of help? Cause if she hasn’t , technically we’d be cheating. Male. It’s cool. You’re completely right. The prof told us to work alone. I should just do the rewrites myself. Female. Sorry man.

One of your courses has a series of online quizzes, which students have to master before moving on to the next stage. Several people in your residence are in the same class and you normally do the modules together.

The college would consider this to be unauthorized cooperation or collaboration, and is an example of academic misconduct.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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A group of students talking.

Male. Oh perfect. You guys are working on that UWACE quiz!? Awesome! We can work on it together. Female. Well, actually, you missed class yesterday. We were told we couldn’t do the quizzes together. It’s called collusion. Male. But, we always work on stuff together! What does that even mean…collusion? Female. It means cheating. And we can only work together on stuff if we have permission. And for this, we don’t. Male. Oh, I get it.

Sharing code for a computer program is only appropriate when your instructor has explicitly permitted collaborative work. If you are required to write code for a project, the code must be your own work. Do not borrow code or the solution from another student or source.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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Male. Yes!!! Finally! I got it!”. Female. Hey!!! I’m getting nowhere on the code for this project! Have you made any progress at all? Male. You know… I’d really like to help, but we’re supposed to work on our own for this. Female. Can’t you just help me with one little part!?! It’s the only piece I’m stuck on! Male. I really can’t help you with any of it…sorry. Female. I know I’ll get it on my own, I just need to give it another go! I’ll come back when I’m done and we can both celebrate!

If your instructor has indicated that independent work is required, you cannot work together or share answers.

Graphic by Sara LeBlanc

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Students talking. Male. Hey! Do you two want to work on this assignment with me? Of we each take a section, we’ll get it done 3 times as fast! Female 1. Sure, why not. Female 2. Well, we were told we have to do all the work ourselves. That means we cant share answers or work together at all! Male. Yeah, but if we don’t all use the same words, who’s gonna know!?! Female 2. We’ll know! And I’m not gonna cheat just to save a little time.