Most popular search tools:
|
|
As part of a scholarly community, you are expected to make honest and ethical decisions throughout your academic life. Actions of academic dishonesty are considered an offense at UPEI. Of course, avoiding plagiarism is only one part of academic integrity. There are many other ways that one may violate the University's academic integrity policy, purposefully or not.
According to Regulation 20, actions constituted as cheating include the following:
While many of these seem obvious, cheating is still far too common among students. According to a survey done by the International Center for Academic Integrity, 68% of undergraduate students and 43% of graduate students admitted to cheating on written tests or assignments.
There are many reasons that students may be inclined to plagiarize or cheat. Sometimes, it is done purely out of a lack of understanding of what is considered academically dishonest. As a general rule, if you did not complete the work yourself, taking credit for that work is dishonest.
Contract cheating is the act of having a third party undertake one's assessed work. It could be in the form of impersonating you during an exam, writing a paper for you, or completing other homework for you. This is plagiarism, whether it is paid or unpaid, and could lead to severe punitive action against you. In this digital age, it is becoming easier than ever to outsource a paper or assignment. Many service providers now strategically advertise their contract cheating services to students through deceptively benign means, like on social media websites.
According to the International Journal for Educational Integrity, contract cheating is a form of fraud and has "ramifications for individuals’ learning outcomes, institutional reputations, educational standards/credibility, professional practice and public safety, particularly if it is somehow normalised as an acceptable way for academic work to be accomplished". When you participate in contract cheating, you are not growing as a scholar. Instead of pursuing your own learning, you are giving yourself an unfair advantage that is highly dishonest.
Another form of academic dishonesty covered by Regulation 20 is the falsification of records or documents submitted to the University. Some examples of this are:
Falsifying leads to similar consequences to plagiarism and cheating. In some cases, the repercussions may be severe.
Committing acts of academic dishonesty may be tempting to some students. Here are some of the most commonly cited reasons for why cheating may happen: