Plagiarism Policy

Intention

A goal of All Saints Studies Group is “to form our children's minds, hearts, and souls in the image of Christ in all we do.” As ethical behavior is part of Christ’s virtue of justice, it is important to have a clear policy concerning plagiarism and other forms of academic cheating.

Definitions: According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own

• to use (another's production) without crediting the source

• to commit literary theft

• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

ASSG distinguishes between two different degrees of plagiarism. They are defined as follows:

Intentional Plagiarism is defined as, but not limited to:

· Obvious, substantial, verbatim reproduction of information

· Fabrication of sources, falsification of page numbers, or other deliberate misdocumentation

· Submission of others' work as the students' own. This applies to uncited paraphrasing of another's ideas as well as verbatim use of others' words. (Others' may refer to either scholarly sources, online "cribbed" essays, or the work of other students).

Technical Plagiarism is defined as, but not limited to:

· Poor paraphrasing, amounting to "pearling" or "translating" another's work

· Improper citation or documentation that misrepresents a source

· Insufficient citation of factual information not held to be common knowledge (common knowledge is defined as facts readily available from a variety of sources)

· Poor integration of direct quotations with the student's own writing

Determination of Plagiarism/Cheating

Parents must be informed immediately when a student is suspected of plagiarism or cheating. Through the use of internet search engines, teachers will, in most cases, be able to provide documented evidence of plagiarism. Teachers must review any suspected incidences of intentional plagiarism with a board member. The purpose of the board review will be to determine that evidence of plagiarism exists and which definition applies. Penalities are prescribed below.

Academic and disciplinary consequences

Evidence of intentional plagiarism shall result in the student's receiving a grade of zero for the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs. If a first offense, the student will be permitted to repeat the assignment for a separate grade. A second offense of intentional plagiarism shall result in the student’s receiving a grade of zero for the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs, without an opportunity to make it up. A third instance of intentional plagiarism will result in the student being asked to leave ASSG.

These offenses apply to any instance of intentional plagiarism in any class over the entire academic career of a student with ASSG.

Evidence of technical plagiarism shall result in a deduction of points – the number of points to be determined by the teacher, based on the severity and number of occurrences – for the assignment in which the plagiarism occurs.

Resources Consulted

“Plagiarism/Cheating Policy.” Ledyard High School. http://www.ledyard.net/lhs/parents/plagiarism.html. Accessed 6/5/2015.