CHEATING, COPYING, AND PLAGIARIZING

No Tolerance Policy. Period.

Honor: a keen sense of right and wrong; adherence to action or principles considered right; integrity (Webster’s New World Dictionary)

Cheating is prohibited in my classes (and THIS INCLUDES USING ONLINE SITES SUCH AS SPARKNOTES)

While peer sharing of ideas and questions is both permissible and encouraged, cheating is neither permitted, or tolerated, in this class. It is more responsible to admit to having difficulty with an assignment than to turn in fraudulent work. Any student caught copying an assignment or cheating on a test will be dealt with in the sternest manner possible.

What do I consider cheating?

Any time a student takes ideas or information from another student or a student “help” site like SparkNotes, he is cheating. This includes copying answers into study guides or taking notes from a source that is not the authentic and original text. Please see the information from the PRHS Code of Conduct on the next page. A student who "checks" answers against another student and makes changes to his original assignment is cheating.

COPYING HOMEWORK:

If a student is caught copying an assignment, both parties will receive a “0" for that assignment grade (this can not be erased with a homework pass or extra participation points). The students' parents will be notified. In the event that a student is caught copying or cheating more than once for homework, the matter will be referred to administration (Mr. Murphy).

CHEATING on a QUIZ OR EXAM:

In addition to the 0 for the assignment to any parties involved, the matter will immediately be referred to guidance and administration.

A Note About SparkNotes & Other Such “Study-Aid” Sites:

DO NOT USE THEM. If I suspect that the ideas expressed in your writing assignments, quizzes, or other assessments reflect those from any on-line “grade saver” sources, you will be given a 0 that will not be dropped from your score. If this happens more than once, actions will be taken not limited to notification to guidance and administration.

I have access to these sources as well. If I suspect that students are reading SparkNotes instead of the actual texts, I will ensure that students must read the texts by making the quizzes more specific, requiring much more careful attention to the texts.

From the PRHS Code of Conduct: What is Plagiarism? (page 48)

In its brochure “Academic Honesty Misconduct – Stop and Think,” Ohio University defines plagiarism as “the presentation of the ideas of writing of someone else as one’s own work.” It includes the following:

• Reproducing another person’s work, whether published or unpublished, including using materials from companies that sell research papers.
• Submitting as your own any academic exercise prepared totally or in part by another.
• Allowing another person to alter or revise your work substantially and submitting it as your own.
• Using another’s written ideas or words without properly acknowledging the source. If a student uses the words of someone else, he or she must put quotation marks around the passage and add indication of its origin. Simply changing a word or two while leaving the organization and content substantially intact and failing to cite the source is plagiarism. Students should also note that failure to acknowledge study aids such as CliffNotes, SparkNotes, or other common reference sources constitutes plagiarism.
• All sources, including the sources of ideas, must be acknowledged and cited in ways appropriate to one’s discipline. Sources include, but are not limited to, Internet pages, books, magazines, lyrics, photos, publicly printed matter, government documents, etc.

Failure to acknowledge sources is plagiarism, regardless of intention.

If a student is unsure about a question or plagiarism or cheating, he or she is encouraged to consult his or her teacher on the matter before submitting the material.

Included in the Range of Possible Consequences (page 49):

The student could be removed or barred from holding or being a candidate for any leadership position where character, honesty, or integrity are stated or implied qualifications, including athletic teams and clubs. Additionally, the student could be denied membership in the National Honor Society.