Georgia State University has a specific policy on Academic Honesty and it is your responsibility to read and know about it. As the policy says, “Lack of knowledge of this policy is not an acceptable defense to any charge of academic dishonesty. All members of the academic community—students, faculty, and staff—are expected to report violations of these standards.”
You can view the full GSU Academic Honesty policy here.
A very brief summary is:
“As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The university assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts.”
5 Types of Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s words, images, or creative work as your own, whether you use their ideas, a single sentence, or an entire work. It doesn’t matter whether the source has been published or unpublished, or can be found on the Internet. Just because something is freely available on the Internet does not mean it is free to use without giving credit to the creator. Downloading, buying research papers online, and/or copying and pasting is plagiarism. Paraphrasing (changing the words around) is also plagiarism unless you cite your source. If you are unsure whether or not you are guilty of plagiarism, ask your instructor or one of the librarians for help.
Cheating on Examinations: Don’t do it! Copying from another person’s exam, using unauthorized notes during an exam, getting copies of an exam before taking the test, and texting answers to another student are several examples of the way students cheat. Cheating techniques have become more sophisticated, but so are the means to detect them. If you are unprepared for an exam, talk to your instructor.
Unauthorized Collaboration: If you are submitting an assignment for a grade, UNLESS YOU HAVE SPECIFIC PERMISSION OF YOUR INSTRUCTOR, you may not collaborate with another student. So unless your teacher says it is OK to work together as a group, your work must be done by yourself alone.
Falsification: If you’ve forgotten which sources you used for a paper or project, don’t make up a citation. Leaving out a citation is also considered falsification. Writing your paper first and then adding citations that you haven’t used to write the paper is another example of falsification. Examples of falsification include using Wikipedia, but not citing it after your professor has said that you may not use it; changing your lab results so that they are the same as other students’; faking your attendance; logging in with another student’s password; and/or taking a test for someone else.
Multiple Submissions: Let’s say you write a paper for an English 1101 class and the next semester you have a similar assignment for English 1102. You cannot submit this paper for credit again. You can build upon your original paper, but you must do significantly more research and writing to ethically submit it for a grade. If you have questions about whether or not you might be guilty of multiple submissions, check with your instructor.
Students who get caught cheating on exams, plagiarizing research, or any of the other forms of academic dishonesty run the risk of both academic and disciplinary actions. These can be anything from a failing grade for the course up to expulsion from the school with a permanent note on your transcript. Before you decide to violate the Academic Honesty policy, ask yourself—“Is this really worth the risk?”
Academic life is challenging. Learning to conduct college-level research and handle multiple assignments at once can be overwhelming. But mastering these skills will help you, not only during your college years, but in everyday life as well. So don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are unprepared for an exam, don’t cheat—let your instructor know before the exam. Don’t plagiarize—if you are unsure how to cite your resources in a paper, talk with your instructor or one of the university librarians. We want you to succeed!