usc plagerism

Student Integrity and Plagiarism
The USC reference guide, Trojan Integrity, provides a comprehensive explanation of how to identify and confront academic dishonesty among students. The guide also outlines the necessary steps for formally reporting plagiarism or cheating by a student, if his or her behavior merits such action.

Within the USC academic community, the more egregious acts of academic dishonesty – purchasing papers, cheating on exams, copying lab reports – are generally rare, yet it is the responsibility of the instructor to be alert to such possibilities and to create a learning environment in which such acts are openly discouraged and, if identified, appropriately punished. More likely, however, an instructor will encounter more subtle acts of academic dishonesty, many of which are conducted unwittingly by students who have yet to gain the necessary tools of effective research or proper time management.

It is the role of all instructors, therefore, to educate students on what constitutes cheating and plagiarism, to set a clear policy for how academic dishonesty will be handled, and to teach the value of maintaining academic integrity in one’s work. Examples of academic dishonesty, as outlined in SCampus, include the following:

Plagiarism:

• Submission of someone else’s work as one’s own, whether the material is paraphrased or copied verbatim.
• Improper acknowledgment of sources in essays or papers.
• Unauthorized collaboration:
• Submission of material that has been edited or revised by another person that results in substantive changes in content or style.
• Unauthorized collaboration on a project, homework, or other assignment.

Cheating:

• Any use of external assistance in the completion of an academic assignment and/or during an examination (unless permitted by the instructor), including communicating with fellow students during an exam, allowing another student to copy from an exam, possession or use of unauthorized notes, calculator, or other materials, and any instruments that can convey exam answers, such as cell phones.
• Submission of altered work after grading, including changing answers after an exam or assignment has been graded and returned.
• Obtaining for oneself or for another person a solution to homework or other assignments, or a copy of an exam or exam key without the expressed consent of the instructor.
• Using an essay, term paper, or project in more than one course without permission of the instructors of both courses.
• Taking a course or completing any coursework for another student, or allowing another individual to take a course, or complete coursework in one’s stead.