As defined in the GSWeathervane (2001-02 page 9), the student handbook, and the GSW Bulletin (2000-02 pages 54-56) integrity is equated with honesty, and, therefore, to have academic integrity means that students should "submit for credit only the product of their own efforts." Moreover, it is our belief that academically dishonest activities, such as plagiarism and cheating on tests derive from a basic misunderstanding of the educational process. If you are here to get grades and get a degree by any means necessary, then you misunderstand the possible benefits of education. The true benefits of education result not from report cards and diplomas, but from the changes that take place in your abilities to read, to write, and to think critically. These skills will do far more to improve the quality of your future life than will any number of framed documents hanging on a wall. In order to reap the true benefits of education, you need to be honest with your peers, your mentors, and, above all, yourself.
Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty in which the work of other authors is appropriated and represented as one's own work. Plagiarism typically involves copying the works of others without quotation marks or proper citations. In essence, plagiarism is an academic theft of another person's writing.
People who plagiarize may feel that plagiarism is harmless. However, the act of plagiarism can irreparably ruin a person's reputation. Consider the following high profile cases that involved plagiarism.
The widespread use of computers for word processing has facilitated plagiarism. It is easy for students to cut-and-paste information from web-based documents into a research paper. In addition, students can share word processing files or download complete term papers from web sites.
Robert Harris, author of The Plagiarism Handbook, has written an excellent summary article about plagiarism. He covers motivations behind plagiarism, strategies to prevent plagiarism, and ways to detect plagiarism.
The detection of plagiarised writing can be like finding a needle in a haystack. However, there are a number of tools that can check documents for plagiarism.
Plagiarism is not the only form of academic dishonesty. Unauthorized assistance in writing papers is dishonest. Duplication of previous term papers is also dishonest conduct. For example, turning in the same written work for two or more classes is dishonest. Turning in a friend's paper as your own work is also prohibited.
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