(Last modified Tue Apr 01 09:47 2008)

The situation

Academic honesty self-test

The fundamental principle of academic honesty is that you do not misrepresent anything you present as your own work.  You do not claim another person's work as your own, whether what you are using from that person's work is the entire work or only a part, even a small part. 

There are other aspects as well, and you should consult UCI's academic honor code for more information about them. 

Where is the boundary of academic honesty in each of these cases that have arisen in past classes? 

Quoting and citing

1. You are writing a paper, and you find a wonderful long quotation that you use in your paper. 
   1. You enclose the quotation in "" marks and identify it by a citation to the source from which you got it.
   2. You rephrase the quotation in your own words, do not enclose them in "", and follow them with a citation to the source from which you got the thought that you re-expressed in your own words.
   3. You rephrase the quotation in your own words, do not enclose them in "", and do not follow them with a citation.
   4. You use the quotation in your paper without "" or citation.
2. As before, but the quotation is three words long. 
3. As before, but the quotation is only two words long. 
4. As before, but the thought expressed in the quotation is common knowledge in the area you are writing about, and could have been found in any of several references. 

Group assignment

You are struggling with a homework problem in an assignment that is specifically identified as group work. 

1. You discuss the problem with someone who isn't in your group, jointly come up with a solution, take this solution to your team meeting, and jointly submit it as the work of your team.
2. You discuss the problem with someone who isn't in your group, get ideas for a solution, take the ideas to your team meeting and jointly come up with a solution using them, and jointly submit it as the work of your team.
3. You discuss the problem with the professor or TA, get ideas for a solution, take the ideas to your team meeting and jointly come up with a solution using them, and jointly submit it as the work of your team.
4. You take it to your team meeting, discuss the problem, jointly come up with a solution, and jointly submit it as the work of your team.

Individual assignment

You are struggling with a homework problem in an assignment that is not specifically identified as group work. 

1. You take it to your study group meeting, discuss the problem, jointly come up with a solution, and:
   1. individually submit it as your own work.
   2. later work out the same solution from the ground up on your own, and individually submit that as your own work.
   3. later work out a similar solution from the ground up on your own, and individually submit that as your own work.
   4. later work out a similar solution from the ground up on your own, include the diagrams that your group produced because they look so good, and individually submit that as your own work.
2. You take it to your study group meeting, discuss the problem, come up with a solution on your own later, and submit it as your own work.
3. You go to your group meeting, discuss the kind of problem that you are struggling with (but not the specific problem), come up with a solution on your own later, and submit it as your own work.
4. You are struggling with a homework problem in an assignment (group or individual), take it to your professor or TA for help, and turn in a solution you work out based on that help. 

Evaluating a presentation

You have an assignment to evaluate a presentation given in class.

1. You attend that class meeting, listen to the presentation, write your evaluation, and submit the evaluation as your work.
2. You attend that class meeting, listen to the presentation, write an evaluation jointly in a group, and submit the evaluation as your individual work.
3. You attend that class meeting but do not arrive in time to hear the entire presentation.  You write an evaluation based on the portion of the presentation you heard, and submit the evaluation as your individual work noting that you only heard part of the presentation. 
4. You attend that class meeting but do not arrive in time to hear the entire presentation.  You ask a friend what the presentation was about, write an evaluation based in part on what your friend told you, and submit the evaluation as your individual work except for the part based on what your friend said, which you clearly identify as joint work with your friend.
5. You attend that class meeting but do not arrive in time to hear the entire presentation.  You ask a friend what the presentation was about, write an evaluation based in part on what your friend told you, and submit the evaluation as your individual work.
6. You attend that class meeting but do not arrive in time to hear any of the presentation.  You ask a friend what the presentation was about, write an evaluation based entirely on what your friend told you, and submit the evaluation as your individual work.
7. You miss class that day, ask a friend what the presentation was about, write an evaluation based entirely on what your friend told you, and submit the evaluation as your individual work.

Oh, my

You advertise for someone to do your assignment on the Internet for pay. 

1. You submit the resulting work as your own. 
2. You have second thoughts, view the money you paid as a cheap lesson in ethics, do the work yourself, and turn your work in as your own. 

In summary

In the cases above that are violations, a student is taking credit for another student's work or a stranger's work, which devalues the grades other students rightfully receive for their hard work.  This is not right, and every member of the academic community has a responsibility to avert it where possible and make it public otherwise. 

Exceptions

Well, there aren't any.  Here are some example situations that make no difference: 

1. You have a very busy schedule this quarter and don't have time to do the work yourself. 
2. Due to breaking your leg while skiing, you are unable to do your assignments without help, and (whatever it was) was just "help". 
3. Your other professors let you work in groups. 
4. At (some other prestigious university), all homework assignments are done in groups. 
5. You learn more by working in a group, so turning in group work is educationally effective. 
6. You didn't know that (whatever it was) was wrong. 
7. Some other students cheat. 

Changes of heart

If you commit a violation of academic honesty in work submitted for my class, and have a change of heart and admit your misconduct before it has been verified, then ordinarily you will either receive a 0 for that assignment only or be given an opportunity to re-do the assignment, whichever is more appropriate.  An explanatory letter will be placed in your ICS file to forestall future violations (this is required by UCI's policy), but no notation will appear on your transcript. 

Be sure

If you are unsure where the boundary lies in any of these cases, and most definitely if you are unsure where the boundary lies in your particular situation, consult me.  Please do not submit as your own any work that is not unequivocally your own. 

Thomas A. Alspaugh
Assistant Professor, Informatics Dept.
School of Information and Computer Sciences