Academic Honesty

Background

Whenever I catch a student cheating — either by copying a paper from someone else, by downloading something from the Internet, or by looking at a neighbor's test answers — I feel sad and betrayed. I feel sad because the student is violating the first principle of scholarship, which is to be honest. In the world of science, the consequences of dishonesty can be fatal, for example, in the falsifying of drug testing results. In the world of the humanities, the consequences can be just as fatal; for example, when we ignore those with whom we disagree, or when we do not include the arguments or data against our positions. I feel betrayed because I automatically trust that everyone will be honest, and when someone isn't, it is a rude shock.

But personal feelings aside, the consequences of academic dishonesty are severe indeed. On pp. 96-97 of the 1999-2000 SDSU Catalog the penalties for cheating are listed under "Student Discipline and Grievances." Here is what it says:

"Following procedures consonant with due process established pursuant to Section 41304, any student of a campus may be expelled, suspended, placed on probation or given a lesser sanction for one or more of the following causes which must be campus related:

The 1999-2000 catalog defines plagiarism on page 97:

"Plagiarism is formal work, publicly misrepresented as original; it is any activity wherein one person knowingly, directly, and for lucre, status, recognition, or any public gain resorts to the published or unpublished work of another in order to represent it as one's own work. Work shall be deemed plagiarism:

• (1) when prior work or another has been demonstrated as the accessible source;

• (2) when substantial or material parts of the source have been literally or evasively appropriated (substance denoting quantity; matter denoting qualitative format or style); and

• (3) when the work lacks sufficient or unequivocal citation so as to indicate or imply that the work was neither a copy nor an imitation.

This definition comprises oral, written and crafted pieces. In short, if one purports to present an original piece but copies ideas word for word or by paraphrase, those ideas should be duly noted."

The University goes on to state that "Wittingly or willfully to ignore or to allow students' ascription of others' work to themselves is to condone dishonesty, to deny the purpose of formal education, and to fail the public trust." In other words, SDSU takes this matter as seriously as I do.

The consequences of cheating or plagiarizing are listed on page 96 of the catalog. Let me state at the outset that, at a bare minimum, if you are caught cheating in my classes, you will not be allowed to re-do or make-up that work. You will receive a zero for the assignment. The consequences may be even more severe depending on the nature of the infraction. In other words, you may risk probation, suspension, or even expulsion if, after due process, it is determined that you are guilty of cheating or plagiarzing.

In other words, it is not worth the risk! It is better to turn in an assignment late, than to turn in a product that is not your own. It is better to make an honest C, an honest D, than to steal an A from your classmates, from the University, and from me.