From Denison's viewpoint:

Statement on Academic Honesty
Denison University

The students and faculty of Denison University and the Department of _____ are committed to academic integrity and will not tolerate any violation of this principle.  Academic honesty, the cornerstone of teaching and learning, lays the foundation for lifelong integrity.

Academic dishonesty is, in most cases, intellectual theft.  It includes, but is not limited to, providing or receiving assistance in a manner not authorized by the instructor in the creation of work to be submitted for evaluation.  This standard applies to all work ranging from daily homework assignments to major exams.  Students must clearly cite any sources consulted-not only for quoted phrases but also for ideas and information that are not common knowledge.  Neither ignorance nor carelessness is an acceptable defense in cases of plagiarism.  It is the student's responsibility to follow the appropriate format for citations.

As is indicated in Denison's Student Handbook, available through mydenison.edu, instructors must refer every act of academic dishonesty to the Associate Provost, and violations may result in failure in the course, suspension, or expulsion.  (For further information, see Click Here)

(Approved by the faculty in March, 2006 and taken from "First-Year Seminar Toolkit," Denison First-Year Program, 2006.)

From the viewpoint of national and international sources, cases of academic dishonesty can occur from two different perspectives: deliberate academic dishonesty is committed through plagiarism or cheating; unintentional academic dishonesty can occur through an ignorant or inept misuse of sources.  Whether deliberate or unintentional, the act still is a form of academic dishonesty. (See "Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices.")

Plagiarism/Cheating

• Fear of failure
• Poor time management
• Don't take seriously academic honesty
• Instructors fail to enforce school policy
• Don't believe in the consequences
• Believe that assignments are canned so responses can be, too.
• View of education as commodity rather than learning experience

Misuse of Sources

• Ignorance about and mistakes in incorporating sources
• Poor research skills and note taking
• Debatable definitions of plagiarism and cheating
• Ignorance about how to cite sources
• Cultural differences in how sources are treated
• Confusion about what is public knowledge and what is intellectual property
• Confusion between plagiarizing and paraphrasing
• Confusion between written and oral texts
  

Deter it.

• Model academic honesty by citing your sources.
• Discuss the notions of intellectual property and academic conduct, providing examples and illustrations.
• Promote a culture of education as a learning experience; encourage speculation.
• Identify instances of academic dishonesty and report them.
• Make clear in writing what you consider academically honest, including the forms of collaboration that you condone and condemn.
• Teach the proper methods of research and citation for your discipline; discuss the possible difficulties.
• Let students know you are aware of on-line paper mills.
• Encourage students to think of your discipline as a conversation which they are joining.
• Encourage students to use support resources on campus: Academic Support, the Writing Center, reference librarians.
• Use this handout ("Straight Talk About Plagiarism") to help students understand what
  plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Design its likelihood out of your assignments.

• Alter assignments from term to term and make clear their relevance.
• Make assignments specific to your course.
• Assign at least one in-class writing for evidence of writing abilities.
• Construct assignments that require in-depth coverage.
• Avoid open-ended writing or research topics.
• Help students build their research and writing topics over a period of time.
• Have students submit writing and research projects in stages, and teach your expectations for each of those stages.
• Ask students to include with an assignment their own evaluation of their work.
• Always make clear in writing your expectations for an assignment: length, types and currency of sources, citation style, whether students may collaborate.
  

"If a faculty member concludes that Denison's academic honesty standards have been violated, it is his or her responsibility to make the evidence available to the student involved and to report the incident to the Associate Provost."
(Faculty Handbook,  http://www.denison.edu/offices/provost/handbook/ar07s02.html)

Generally, Denison students have one chance to prove themselves capable of practicing academic honesty, since after the second report they are likely to be suspended.  Click Here for details about faculty responsibilities and student accountability.

"Assignment Design Strategies."  Dalhousie University.  May 1, 2006.  http://plagiarism.dal.ca/faculty/assignment.html  September 12, 2006.

Bean, John C.  Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2001.

Bedford St. Martin's "Straight Talk About Plagiarism."  Handout and Flyer.  http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/plagiarismtutorial/content/cat_470/pdf/StraightTalk-bw.pdf#search=%22bedfordstmartins%20plagiarism%20flyer%22

Bedford St. Martin's "Tutorial on Avoiding Plagiarism."  http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/plagiarismtutorial/default.asp?s=&n=&i=&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

Center for Academic Integrity at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.  <http://www.academicintegrity.org/>

Davis, Barbara Gross.  "Preventing Academic Dishonesty."  Tools for Teaching.  University of California, Berkeley.  April 11, 2002.  http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/prevent.html  September 6, 2006.

"Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices."  Council of Writing Program Administrators.  January 2003.  http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9  September 11, 2006.

Denison University Faculty Handbook.  "Community Standards and Policies."  54.

Denison University Writing Center Website.  www.denison.edu/academics/writingcenter/

"Deterring Plagiarism."  University of Toronto.  October 20, 2005.  http://utoronto.ca/writing/plagiarism.html  September 6, 2006.

Hacker, Diana.  The Bedford Handbook.  7th ed.  "Managing Information; avoiding plagiarism."  New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.  572-580.

"How to Avoid Plagiarism."  Undergraduate Academic Conduct Committee, Northwestern University.  June 7, 2006  http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/plagiar.html  September 6, 2006.

"List of Assignments Which Can Help Prevent Plagiarism."  Dalhousie University.  February 10, 2006.  http://plagiarism.dal.ca/faculty/assignexamples.html  September 12, 2006.

"Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism."  University of Texas Libraries.  June 29, 2005.  http://lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/faculty/plagiarism/prevention.html>  September 12, 2006.

"Preventing Plagiarism."  University of Alberta.   May 2005 http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/preventing/index.cfm>  September 6, 2006.

"Student Cheating, Plagiarism (and Other Questionable Practices), the Internet, and Other Electronic Resources."  Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin.  January 11, 2006.  http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/WomensStudies/plag.htm  September 6, 2006.

"Why Students Plagiarize."  University of Alberta.  May 2005.  http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/why/index.cfm  September 6, 2006.