Cheating and Plagiarism

CEGEP Champlain – St. Lawrence takes academic integrity seriously. The following information on cheating and plagiarism is taken from the IPESA (Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement) approved by the Board of Governors of Champlain Regional College. Please consult the IPESA for more complete information.

YOU WANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY? We invite students to take the tutorial created by the Office of Academic Integrity at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario). Through the illustration of exam scenarios, assignment scenarios and collaboration scenarios, students can better understand what academic integrity means. Cegep Champlain – St. Lawrence gratefully acknowledges the permission it has received from the University of Waterloo to provide this helpful link to our students.

5.4 Academic Integrity

Cheating and plagiarism are serious forms of academic dishonesty that are completely at odds with the values of the College and will be dealt with severely. They are an offence against the College, one’s teacher and one’s peers.

The DAA is responsible for keeping track of all cheating and plagiarism incidents along with their outcomes.

5.4.1 Cheating

Cheating is any deceptive or dishonest practice relative to academic coursework and evaluation intended to provide oneself with undeserved advantage. Teachers have an obligation to provide students in advance with clear information about the kinds of materials, instruments or assistance that are permitted for a given evaluation.

Examples of cheating in testing situations include but are not limited to:

• copying or attempting to copy another’s work;
• obtaining or attempting to obtain unauthorised assistance of any kind;
• providing or attempting to provide unauthorized assistance of any kind;
• possessing or using any unauthorized material;
• possessing or using any unauthorized instruments which can be used as information storage and retrieval devices;
• taking an examination, test, or quiz in someone’s place;
• having someone take an examination, test, or quiz in one’s place; and
• engaging in unauthorized communication during an examination, test or quiz.

Other examples of cheating in coursework and Comprehensive Assessments include but are not limited to:

• falsifying lab reports or any facts or sources in any assignment; 
• preparing an assignment for someone else or having someone else prepare an assignment;
• knowingly allowing other students to copy work for the purpose of submitting as their own;
• dishonestly claiming to have submitted work which in fact was never submitted to the teacher;
• making false representation which may affect a grade (such as submitting a false medical certificate, etc.); and
• utilizing or providing any kind of prohibited assistance or collaboration.

Students found guilty of cheating by their teacher in an evaluation activity will receive a grade of zero for that activity.

All incidents of cheating must be reported by the teacher to DAA’s Office. Upon a second or further incident of cheating or plagiarism at the College, failure of the course or disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion may result, as determined by the DAA.

5.4.2 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use by a student of someone else’s language, ideas, images, statistical information or other original material without acknowledging its source. This applies to texts and other media published in print or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the work of other student writers.

To avoid plagiarism of others’ work, material must be in a student’s own words or appropriately quoted. Furthermore, written and oral material, statistical information and images must be properly referenced.

Teachers have an obligation to provide students in advance with clear information about what constitutes plagiarism in the context of the course and the methods of evaluation that have been chosen. Furthermore, consequences of plagiarism will be explained in the course outline.

Examples of plagiarism are:

• using verbatim quotes without quotation marks or appropriate indentation;
• using verbatim quotes without either a parenthetical reference or footnote to the original source;
• not providing complete and valid references in the bibliography;
• paraphrasing or summarizing ideas in a text where only a few words have been changed and that contain the same ideas found in the original source; and
• using statistical information or an image without reference to the original source.

Students found guilty of plagiarism by their teacher may receive a grade of zero for that activity, given the context of the incident.

All incidents of plagiarism must be reported by the teacher to the DAA’s Office. Upon a second or further incident of plagiarism or cheating at the College, failure of the course or disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion may result, as determined by the DAA.

[1] Adapted from: Council of Writing Administrators (2003). Defining and avoiding plagiarism: The WPA statement on best practices. (http://wpacouncil.org/files/WPAplagiarism.pdf).