|
Honor Code
The following actions are examples of scholastic dishonesty: 1. Copying graded homework 2. Working together on a take home test or homework when specifically prohibited by the professor 3. Looking at another student's paper during an exam 4. Looking at your notes when prohibited 5. Taking an exam out of the classroom when prohibited 6. Giving your work to another to be copied 7. Giving someone answers to exam questions during the exam 8. After taking an exam, informing a person of questions that appeared on the exam 9. Giving or selling a term paper or class work to another student 10. Copying homework answers form your text and handing them in for a grade 11. Quoting text or other works on an exam, term paper or homework without citing the source 12. Handing in a paper purchased from a term paper service or from the Internet 13. Handing in another's paper as your own 14. Taking a paper from an organization's files and handing it in as your own 15. Passing information from an earlier class to a later class 16. Having someone take your test for you 17. Changing a graded paper and requesting it be regarded 18. Transferring a computer file form one person's disk/file to another
How Does Scholastic Dishonesty Affect You? · It may affect your grade if scoring is based on a curve. · It destroys "equal opportunity" in competitive atmospheres. · It hinders development of self-reliance. · It will affect the reputation of your particular school
What Can You Do to Help? · Prepare thoroughly for examinations and assignments. · Take the initiative to prevent other students from copying your exam or assignments, e.g. shield your answer sheet during examination, do not lend assignments to be turned in to other students. · Confront students if you have evidence that they have committed acts of scholastic dishonesty or inform your instructor if you suspect someone is cheating. · Do not look in the direction of other students' papers during examinations.
Don’t you dare!!
Papers, or any part(s) of papers, that are identical or significantly similar are plagiarized and will receive 0’s for all grades involved. I should not be able to find anywhere an identical or very similar paper. Any paper or part of a paper, paragraph or part of a paragraph, group of words, etc. that can be found intact in a book or any publication [including Cliff’s, on-line books notes, etc.] and that is not quoted [in quotation marks] and documented appropriately is plagiarized and will receive 0’s for all grades involved. Between two students it matters not who copied whose paper. Except in the case of provable theft, both parties receive 0’s for all grades involved. Do not “lend” your paper to anyone except someone whose morals you trust completely. Do not count on having the opportunity to redo such a paper or assignment. Presenting the work of tutors, parents, siblings, or friends as your own is plagiarism, dishonesty, and is not acceptable. Though certainly one may get help and proofreading from others, the work must be primarily that of the student whose name is on the paper. Be aware: many teachers keep papers for several years. They will not read the same paper year after year without knowing it. Plagiarism is plagiarism; the penalty is always 0’s for all grades involved. Also be aware that many of your teachers have Internet access and are aware of the paper sites on the Internet. If you found it, so can they, perhaps even faster than you can! Papers are not to be published to the Internet. The only purpose in publishing school papers to the Internet is to encourage plagiarism; thus, you may not turn in to any D. H. Conley teacher a paper that has been published to the Internet by you or by anyone else. Any attempt to turn such a paper in will result in 0’s for all grades involved, no questions asked. Paraphrased material [putting it in your own words] and using another person’s idea must be documented. [It should not be in quotation marks, but one must give credit for where the material came from.] Along the same lines there is "syntactic plagiarizing" -- keeping the sentence structure and some of the connecting words but changing the other vocabulary, perhaps with a thesaurus or in some other way, which is totally unacceptable. Material taken from a source word for word must be in quotation marks. Plagiarism can also be committed when a student paraphrases with or without attribution and in so doing uses much of the original wording, thereby passing off the original prose as the student's own. If you question whether or not you should document, ask your teacher. In any case, when you are in doubt as to whether you should document, document. When you write a paper about a novel we read in class, material taken from the novel should be documented. [If in doubt, discuss with your teacher.] Though the attempt is not to pass material off as your own, it is indeed a kind of plagiarism, and you must tell where the specific details from the novel [short story, poem, drama, etc.] come from.
Suggestions: As a rule, avoid an extensive use of quotations. Papers should never be long quotations strung together with a few words of your own. Use quotations only for the telling phrase, the unbeatable metaphor, the perfect description, or the controversial point of view that deserves expression in the original. Most of what you take from other sources should be paraphrased, and it is at this point that many students get into trouble. When paraphrasing, you must be certain that you express the ideas from your source in your own words. You cannot change a few conjunctions or articles, throw in or cut out a few words here and there, alter the syntax a bit and pretend that it is your writing. It is not. The structure and most of the phraseology remains that of the author, and your paraphrase is a kind of plagiarism. One basic rule might help: never take five consecutive words from a source without placing them within quotation marks. Even fewer words, of course, should be placed in quotation marks if these words are distinctively the author’s. This is not to say any of your teachers will actually count words. Copying four words is just as much plagiarism as copying six words is.
Generally speaking, to avoid plagiarizing, absolutely do not have your criticism or Spark notes or Cliff notes or anything else sitting beside the computer while you type or beside your desk or table while you write. It is too easy to do it “accidentally,” and the intent is not relevant. Plagiarism is plagiarism, whether you meant to do it or not. No instructor can judge your intent; he can only judge what you turn in to him. Date _____________________________________ Year 20______ Signature _________________________________ English teacher _____________________________ Period __________ Print your name ____________________________ |
