• Cheating
• Plagiarizing
• Fabricating information or citations
• Facilitating acts of dishonesty by others
• Unauthorized access to examinations or the use of unauthorized materials during exam administration
• Submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the mentor
• Tampering with the academic work of other students

A student who is charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge. If the mentor or College official believes the infraction is serious enough to warrant referral of the case to the academic dean, or if the mentor awards a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and the mentor will be afforded formal due process.

If a student is found cheating on an examination or using unauthorized materials, he or she will automatically receive a grade of F on that examination. Students who believe they have been falsely accused of academic dishonesty should seek redress through informal discussions with the mentor, through the office of the dean, or through an executive officer of Thomas Edison State College.

Plagiarism
Passing off the work of someone else as your own is plagiarism. Although it may seem like simple dishonesty, plagiarism is against the law. Thomas Edison State College takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing will be severely penalized. If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources.

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, with whatever degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.

QUICK JUMPS

Use the following links to go directly to the principal sections of the Handbook:

• Introduction
  
  
• Contacting Your Mentor
  
  
• Course Materials
  
  
• Doing the Work of the Course
  
  
• Preparing and Submitting Assignments
  
  
• Examinations
  
  
• Online Discussions
  
  
• Extensions
  
  
• Academic Integrity
  
  
• Academic Standards