Noted as a standard definition, Plagiarism is presenting another person's work as one's own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student's work as one's own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else.

The submission of research or completed papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the instructor. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism.

Students should also understand that they could plagiarize themselves. For example, students may try to use a paper written for one class in another class. Instructors must determine and communicate whether or not they will allow this practice.

Finally, there may be forms of plagiarism that are unique to an individual discipline or course, examples of which should be provided in advance by the instructor. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility.

Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, "crib sheets," websites, electronic documents or notes, and computer programs during an examination (unless specifically approved by the instructor), or sharing information with another student during an examination (unless specifically approved by the instructor). Other examples include intentionally allowing another student to view one's own examination and forbidden collaboration before or after an examination.

At the extreme, there have been cases where students paid to have someone else take the online class for a guaranteed grade. Because this is expensive, occurrences of this are rare. However, because online instructors have little face-to-face interaction with students, this type of cheating can be hard to identify.

One issue that involves both plagiarism and cheating is the purchasing of papers by students. Numerous sites are readily available to students that offer pages of varying lengths and varying grades. Individual entrepreneurs, such as someone in a dorm, are also available to write papers for students.

Not all plagiarism is intentional. In some cases, students may not have been taught to surround verbatim material with quotes. In these cases, students believe that merely including the information in the “Reference” section of the paper is adequate. More often, students are not aware that using someone else’s idea requires citing the original author. For example, they may get an idea from a source but not include that source in the References.

Submission for academic credit of a work product, developed in substantial collaboration with another person or source but represented as one's own effort, is unauthorized. Seeking and providing such assistance is a violation of academic honesty. However, collaborative work specifically authorized by an instructor is allowed.

It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or fabricate information in an academic exercise, assignment, or proceeding. Some examples of falsification are:

• false or misleading citation of sources

• the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data

• false or misleading information in an academic context in order to gain an unfair advantage

It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the instructor(s) to whom the material is submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, or required. However, the student is responsible for indicating, in writing, that the current work submitted for credit is cumulative in nature.

In determining whether or not academic dishonesty has occurred, guilt must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that if the evidence that academic dishonesty occurred produces a stronger impression and is more convincing compared to opposing evidence, then academic dishonesty has been proven. In other words, the evidence does not have to be enough to free the mind from a reasonable doubt but must be sufficient to incline a reasonable and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than to the other. Evidence, as used in this statement, can be any observation, admission, statement, or document that would either directly or circumstantially indicate that academic dishonesty has occurred. Electronic means may be used to monitor student work for the inappropriate use of the work of others.

Consult your Institution’s Student Guide for further details on the Academic Honesty Policy.

See University of West Georgia Honor Code pages 6-7 available at https://www.westga.edu/administration/vpsa/assets/docs/student-handbook-2018-2019.pdf accessed November 1, 2018

Miller, Arden and Andena D. Young-Jones (2012) Academic Integrity: Online Casses Compared to Face-to-Face Classes Journal of Instructional Psychology (39.3/4),138-145.

Şendag, Serkan, Mesut Duran, and M. Robert Fraser (2012) Surveying the extent of involvement in online academic dishonesty (e-dishonesty) related practices among university students and the rationale students provide: One university’s experience Computers in Human Behavior (28), 849-860.

Tolman, Steven (2017) Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses: Considerations for Graduate Preparatory Programs in Higher Education College Student Journal (51.4), 579-584