| Definitions | Why It's Wrong | The Penalties | The Excuses | Examples to Avoid |
*** iStudy Module - You can read and upload the iStudy Academic Integrity Module for further examples about plagiarism.
Academic Integrity is one of the four Penn State Principles. The statement in Policy 49-20 of the Faculty Senate reads:
"Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University's Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students' dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts."
-- www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-20
Acts which are violate the University's Code of conduct would be acts of Academic Dishonesty. Some examples of different acts of Academic Dishonesty are listed on www.pserie.psu.edu/faculty/academics/integrity.htm.
Plagiarism is the act of stating or implying that another person's work is your own. You commit plagiarism if you:
This is not a definitive list - any action in which misleadingly imply someone else's work is not your own can constitute plagiarism.
Sometimes the boundaries can be ambiguous, but read the OWL Avoiding Plagiarism Web site for a good discussion on the boundary between using other people's research and plagiarism.
The opportunities for inappropriate copying and use of copyrighted material extend into other media including audio, video, graphics files and even data sets. You must still have written permission before downloading and using someone else's graphics, video or audio.
Some Web sites may have a page listing circumstances in which a file could be downloaded and used (e.g. "educational or non-commercial uses"), but if you do not see anything, do not download. When in doubt: DO NOT COPY.
Some Links
Penn State University is an institution of both learning and research. When you commit plagiarism, you hurt yourself and the community in the following ways:
Each college and campus has a specific policy for dealing with allegations of plagiarism. However, if the matter is not resolved to the satisfaction of the instructor and the college or campus, then the case could be formally referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs (www.sa.psu.edu/ja/) for a hearing. There, a number of sanctions could be imposed if the student if he or she is found guilty of Academic Dishonesty. The most severe sanction is the XF grade which states that the student failed a class specifically because of Academic Dishonesty. The XF grade is a formal University disciplinary sanction and is reserved for the most serious breaches of academic integrity.
Many colleges and campuses at Penn State have their own policy statements on Academic Dishonesty and plagiarism. Here are links to some of them.
You may think you have a good excuse for plagiarism, but you should think again.
Maybe you think you have too many credits or are working too many hours to be able to complete your assignments. However, it is your responsibility to make sure you have scheduled adequate time to complete all your assignments.
If you discover that you do not have enough time to complete an assignment, it is far better to either discuss your situation with your instructor or TA, than to commit plagiarism.
The worst that you can happen to you is that you could fail a class and have to retake it. While failing a class is embarrassing and retaking it is inconvenient, it is not as bad as being found guilty of Academic Dishonesty and receiving sanctions.
Maybe you feel that the quality of your work is so poor that you could never pass the class. But, faculty do not expect your work to be 100% perfect. The purpose of any assignment is for you to learn and practice new skills.
If you feel your skills are especially weak, it is far better you discuss your concerns with your instructor. He or she may be able to point you to resources that can help you improve your grade.
Remember, it is always better to fail honestly than to be found guilty of Academic Dishonesty.
Some students honestly feel that the only way to a high G.P.A. is through cheating, but that simply is not true. Students have achieved high G.P.A.'s without cheating, and, in fact, a Penn State Pulse survey and other studies have shown that cheaters tend to have lower G.P.A.'s than non-cheaters.
Ask yourself this - would you want a doctor who passed his or her courses only because of cheating?
It is your responsibility as a Penn State student to know what constitutes plagiarism. That's what this Web page is all about.
If you find that you are in a situation where you are not sure if your work could be construed as plagiarism, ask your instructor or look for examples of what not to do. Some are provided in the Plagiarism Examples Web page , and, your department or college may have have examples of plagiarism related specifically to that field.
Just because they're faculty and TA's doesn't mean they are unaware. Many faculty are aware of on-line "paper mill" Web sites and have also seen enough other assignments to know if something looks "too familiar" or "doesn't seem right." In addition, educators are developing and using technologies which can look for similar phrases across papers.
Get into the habit of inserting citations, even in your rough drafts. If you are familiar with using index card for references, that is one way you can keep track of your references - other methods are equally successful. If you don't know which citation to use, put in some question marks in the draft and track it down later.
If you need access to citation guidelines, you can access the Penn State Library Citation Styles. There are many citation styles, so you should ask your instructor which one is appropriate if he or she has not indicated one already.