Academic Honesty

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism Defined

According to the Definition of Plagiarism of the Student Conduct Policy, “Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or works as one’s own without giving credit to the source, including artificially-generated content. Such an act is not plagiarism if it is ascertained that the ideas were arrived at through independent reasoning or logic or where the thought or idea is common knowledge.”

Cheating and plagiarism have serious consequences. This is a writing and research course, so you will regularly be using outside sources to further your arguments. Learning how to cite those sources properly will be a key component of this class. We will spend time learning how to use our sources appropriately and conduct the research necessary for success on research-based essays that require secondary sources. Even using a short passage from someone else’s work without properly citing the source is considered plagiarism. 

Types of Plagiarism

Copying another student’s work is not “sharing” or “working together.” It is cheating and will face consequences. While I encourage you to work together and share ideas, the words that you ultimately write down should be your own. Furthermore, student work in this class should be original. Students may not recycle old work from previous classes and submit it as original.

Furthermore, passing off AI-generated writing, including work heavily laundered by such services as Grammarly, Microsoft Word Editor, QuillBot, or ChatGPT as any portion of submitted work is expressly forbidden. A paper or discussion does not need to be 100-percent AI-generated to be considered plagiarized.

According to the Student Code of Conduct: “Acknowledgement of an original author or source must be made through appropriate references, i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following: the submission of a work, whether in part or in whole, completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas, statements, facts or conclusions which rightfully belong to another; in written work, failure to use quotations marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a part thereof; close and lengthy paraphrasing of another's writing or programming. A student who is in doubt about the extent of acceptable paraphrasing should consult the instructor.” 

Consequences of Plagiarism

The standard penalty for plagiarism in any form is a 0 on the assignment. Upon identification of plagiarism, previously-submitted work may be re-checked and retroactively scored as zero if any plagiarism is detected.

However, as enforced by District Policy, the CC Catalog additionally states that "Every instructor has the responsibility and authority for dealing with such instances of cheating and plagiarism as may occur in class. An instructor who determines that a student has cheated or plagiarized has a range of many options, which may be as severe as giving the student a failing grade for the course. Furthermore, the student may face other penalties as stated in the college’s Student Conduct Policy. Finally, it must be understood that a student who knowingly aids in another student’s cheating e.g., permitting the other student to copy a paper or examination question, is as guilty as the other of the offense.”

Keep in mind that plagiarism is prohibited in all college coursework, including homework, and that paraphrasing without citing the original source is just as serious as neglecting to provide citations for direct quotes.

All course work this semester will be run through plagiarism detection software, including AI detection software. Depending on the extent and severity, work deemed to be plagiarized may be ineligible for revision. 

Note: Class discussion, group work and peer review work are considered the free exchange of ideas: build upon ideas you get in class and make them your own as you write your papers. You do not need to cite classmates or professors for ideas generated in discussions or suggestions received on essay drafts. However, you may not take word for word another student’s work. We will regularly be sharing drafts of our work throughout the semester, so be careful when using another student’s ideas, as stealing from their writing will be considered plagiarism and will result in the same consequences as stealing from a website or other source.