Academic Honesty

Charles Lipson's book, Doing Honest Work in College, defines academic honesty simply and directly:

• When you say you did the work yourself, you actually did it.
• When you rely on someone else's work, you cite it. When you use their words, you quote them openly and accurately, and you cite them, too.
• When you present research materials, you present them fairly and truthfully. That's true whether the research involves data, documents, or the writings of other scholars.

These principles apply to every student, in every class or lab. The principles apply to papers, exams, projects, lab reports, translations and homework. They apply to students, professors, and administrators. Principles of academic honesty are required of every individual at the College. The AHA (American Historical Association) and the MLA (Modern Language Association) also demand academic honesty. The easiest and best way to uphold the required values of academic honesty is to be open and honest about every instance in which you consult or rely upon ideas and information from another source, whether that source is an article, a book, a reference, an interview or a website. Whether you quote, summarize or paraphrase the ideas of another writer, you must cite that writer's name and the source.

Of course, relying upon the work of another student and presenting that work as your own is never allowed. You may not copy, "borrow," buy or sell papers from any other source-not from another student, a essay or research service on the Internet, or an article/published source that you have not cited. These are cases of overt and deliberate plagiarism. There are, however, other ways that plagiarism occurs, often without as much calculation by the offender.

Plagiarism can occur through ignorance or laziness. It occurs when a writer uses ideas from a source but "forgets" to cite the source, or when a writer does not know how to cite a source (say, an on-line article or a critical analysis supplied by an electronic database) and so chooses not to include the citation in his or her work. It occurs when a writer quotes a source but fails to use quotation marks, or when a writer summarizes or paraphrases a source and uses a citation just once near the end of the paragraph or essay. It occurs when a writer reads an article "just to get some ideas," and then uses one of those ideas for the thesis of her paper. All plagiarism is plagiarism. To be sure, the College handles different cases of academic dishonesty in different ways, but each of these instances does constitute academic dishonesty nonetheless.

Here is Saint Anselm College's official statement on academic honesty. You can find this statement in the College Catalogue and in the Student Handbook. You should consult these sources for a full list of examples of academic dishonesty and the procedures the College uses to handle such cases. Familiarity with the College definitions and policy will ensure that you will not commit an inadvertent act of academic dishonesty and that you will know what to do if you are the victim of an individual who copies or steals your work and presents it as his or her own. The following consitutes the College's position on academic honesty:

"Since the assignments, paper, computer programs, tests and discussions of college course work are the core of the educational process, the College demands the strictest honesty of students in their various academic tasks. To ensure that the standards of honesty essential to meaningful accomplishment in the classroom are maintained, the College sets forth the following clarification of academic dishonesty and sanctioning procedures."

Academic Dishonesty

• Copying from another student’s examination paper or allowing another
  to copy from one’s own paper during an examination.
• Using unpermitted material (notes, texts, calculators, etc.) during
  examination.
• Revising, without the instructor’s knowledge, and resubmitting a quiz or
  examination for regrading.
• Giving or receiving unpermitted aid on a take-home examination or on
  any academic assignment.

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism means the presentation by a student of the work of another
  person as his or her own. It includes wholly or partially copying,
  translating, or paraphrasing without acknowledgement of the source.
• Since the wording of a student’s paper or computer program is taken as
  his or her own work, paragraphs, sentences, or even key phrases clearly
  copied from a book, article, essay, lecture, newspaper, program, another
  student’s paper, notebook or program, or any other source, may be
  included only if presented as quotations and the source acknowledged.
• Similarly, since the ideas expressed in a paper, report, or computer program
  are accepted as originating with the student, a paper or program that
  paraphrases ideas taken from a book, article, essay, lecture, newspaper,
  program, another student’s paper, notebook, or program, or any other
  source may not be submitted unless each paraphrased source is properly
  cited. A student may incorporate in his or her paper, report, or program,
  without citation, ideas from texts, discussions, lectures or other programs
  only, when over time, a true synthesis of those ideas has made them his
  or her own.
• A student may make use of the particular skills of a proof-reader or typist,
  but wholesale corrections and revisions of a course paper or computer
  program by these individuals are not allowable. The student alone is
  responsible for any errors or omissions in material submitted as his or
  her own work.
• No paper or computer program may be submitted for credit if it has been
  or is being used to fulfill the requirements of another course, in whatever
  department, unless permission to coordinate work has been granted by
  both professors.
• No student shall allow his or her paper or program in outline or finished
  form to be copied and submitted as the work of another; nor shall a
  student prepare a written assignment or program for another student to
  submit as that student’s work.
• Students should be prepared–up to one month beyond the due date of
  a paper or program–to submit all notes, drafts, and source information
  which might be requested by an instructor, chairperson, or committee
  investigating the authenticity on that work. The failure to produce
  such material upon request may be considered prima facie evidence of
  plagiarism.
  

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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle and Meg Cronin, 2006.