ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
AND THE GCSU HONOR CODE
In 2002, in order to further incorporate the GCSU Honor Code into the culture of the university, GCSU's Academic Council and University Council approved the following university "Honor Statement" that faculty may choose to have students write, sign, and date on the bottom of the work they submit:
"In submitting this work, I have upheld the GCSU Honor Code."
The Council also suggested that the following URL for the Honor Code <http://www.gcsu.edu/studentlife/handbook/code.htm> be sent to all university faculty for those who may choose to include it in their syllabi. The most common form of academic dishonesty reported is downloaded, uncited text from online sources.
Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty can result in both academic and non-academic penalties for the student. The faculty member decides on any appropriate academic penalty, then decides whether or not to forward the matter to the Vice President for Student Affairs for consideration of additional non-academic penalties by the Student Judicial Board.
Students who have been cited for plagiarism often indicate that they resorted to it when they felt they were running out of time to complete assignments or to study. Students often do not appreciate that at a smaller university such as ours, faculty become accustomed to the "voice" in which students write and can frequently tell at a glance that a submitted paper does not "sound" like their writing.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (Bruce Harshbarger) and/or your school's faculty advisor to the Student Judicial Board (Jennifer Hammack, CLAS; Bee Crews, Education; Sally Hendry, Business; Alice Loper, Health Sciences) can provide you advice and support for situations involving suspected academic dishonesty.
GCSU STUDENT JUDICIAL BOARD PLAGIARISM RATING SCALE
| 0 | An honest error by a student attempting to produce original work. |
| 1-3 | Paraphrasing of cited text is done, but may not be adequate. The inadequately-cited text appears in small blocs (a paragraph or less) and is often blended with other, more adequately-cited sources. A significant number of sources are used - some cited, others not - and arranged like a mosaic in a design of the student's own creation. The source of the student's problem appears to be a lack of knowledge or sophistication about using footnotes and citations. |
| 4-6 | There is some attempt at paraphrasing. The inadequately-cited blocs of text are paragraphs or longer and are assembled in a mostly-original fashion (like a cruder or more rudimentary "mosaic" created with larger "tiles"). More than one source is used in the paper; some may be cited more appropriately that others. The student's lack of knowledge or sophistication about using footnotes and citations may appear to be combined with a desire for expediency, resulting in plagiarism. |
| 7-9 | There is little or no paraphrasing. Large blocs of text are appropriated from a small number of sources and arranged in a manner that shows little original design by the student. The apparent source of the problem appears to be the student's laziness or desire for expediency. |
| 10 | A complete work is downloaded or copied and the student's name substituted for the author's. |
Source: New Faculty Orientation Handout, 13 August 2008
TurnItIn: The Plagiarism Spectrum
Tagging 10 Types of Unoriginal Work
| Clone | Submitting another's work, word-for-word, as one's one |
| CTRL-C | Contains significant portions of text from a single source without alterations |
| Find - Replace | Changing key words and phrases but retaining the essential content of the source |
| Remix | Paraphrases from multiple sources, made to fit together |
| Recycle | Borrows generously from the writer's previous work without citation |
| Hybrid | Combines perfectly cited sources with copied passages without citation |
| Mashup | Mixes copied material from multiple sources |
| 404 Error | Includes citations to non-existent or inaccurate information about sources |
| Aggregator | Includes proper citation to sources but the paper contains almost no original work |
| Re-tweet | Includes proper citation, but relies too closely on the text's original wording and/or structure |
Source: TurnItIn, 27 November 2012 [I highly recommend downloading and reading the full study, linked at the top of the page]
Plagiarism Procedure
This is the procedure to follow if you suspect a student of plagiarism.
- Familiarize yourself with the section on academic dishonesty from the Academic Affairs handbook and the Student handbook Honor Code:
- Highlight the offending passages from both the paper and the plagiarized source(s) and make four copies: one for you, one for the student, one for the Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, and one for Student Affairs.
- Notify the Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, and provide copies of the paper and plagiarized sources.
- You as the instructor can do one of three things with regard to Student Affairs:
- Nothing, do not contact.
- Report the incident to Student Affairs to be put in a plagiarist database. Send Gina Chambers a memo and copies of the paper and plagiarized sources: Gina Chambers, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs, gina.chambers@gcsu.edu, 206 Parks Hall, CBX 027,
(478) 445-5169. - Before submitting a name to the student database, know that Housing has access to the database.
- Ask the Judicial Board to consider taking non-academic actions via Gina Chambers (see #2).
- Return to the student a copy of the highlighted assignment, a copy of the highlighted plagiarized source(s), and a printout of Section 3.01 Academic Dishonesty (linked above); and schedule a conference with her.
- Do not disclose specifics of the case over email; if you must email the student, simply say that you have concerns about the originality of her paper and you need to conference. Here is a sample note to be written on the paper or via email: "I have concerns about the originality of your assignment. We need to have a conference. In advance of this meeting, reread the plagiarism policy on the syllabus. Reread the Honor Code: http://www.gcsu.edu/studentlife/handbook/code.htm. Read the Academic Affairs Handbook section on Academic Dishonesty: http://www2.gcsu.edu/policies/overall/academic-dishonesty.htm."
- Hold an informal conference. At the end of the conference or within 24 hours of it, make your decision of the penalty. Inform the student that you have reported her to Student Affairs. Inform her that she has the right to appeal your decision.
- You might consider asking another Teaching Fellow to be "working" in your shared office when you meet with the student—this gives you another set of ears as well as moral support.
- If the student is satisfied with the outcome and if the case is not presented to the Judicial Board, then the case is closed. If she appeals, then refer to the Academic Affairs handbook > Academic Dishonesty > Procedures for Academic Misconduct > B. Formal conference with student enrolled in course.
Source: Coordinator of the Teaching Fellows, 30 July 2009 / Updated 6 August 2012