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*PLAGIARISM DEFINED
(From the Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition, 3rd ed., by Harold C. Martin, Richard M. Ohmann, and James H. Wheatley, pages 268-273. Copyright 1963, by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. Reprinted by permission of CBS College Publishing.)
- “The spectrum [of plagiarism] is a wide one. At one end there is a word-for-word copying of another’s writing without enclosing the copied passage in quotation marks and identifying it in a footnote, both of which are necessary. (This includes, of course, the copying of all or any part of another student’s paper.) It hardly seems possible that anyone of college age or more could do that without clear intent to deceive. At the other end there is the almost casual slipping in of a particularly apt term which one has come across in reading and which so admirably expresses one’s opinion that one is tempted to make it personal property. Between these two poles there are degrees and degrees, but they may be roughly placed into two groups. Close to outright and blatant deceit...is the patching together of random jottings made in the course of reading, generally without careful identification of their source, and then woven into the text, so that the result is a mosaic of other people’s ideas and words, the writer’s sole contribution being the cement to hold the pieces together. Indicative of more effort and, for that reason somewhat closer to honesty, though still dishonest, is the paraphrase, an abbreviated (and often skillfully prepared) restatement of someone else’s analysis or conclusion, without acknowledging that another person’s text has been the basis for the recapitulation."
- All students and faculty members are responsible for familiarizing themselves with Hobart and William Smith regulations and definitions concerning plagiarism and other forms of cheating. Plagiarism is defined as the adoption or reproduction of ideas or words or statements of another person as one’s own, without due acknowledgment. Cheating ranges from downright dishonesty to subtler practices which are questionable from the point of view of the value of individual improvement of skills.
- Any student who has been judged by an instructor to be guilty of plagiarism or cheating as defined above, or of knowingly assisting another student in such an act, will withhold the grade for the course and report the facts to the Dean. All cases of suspected plagiarism or cheating, whether deliberate or seemingly inadvertent, must be so reported, in order to invoke the hearing procedure, as follows: Any student accused of plagiarism may request a Committee on Standards hearing. Determination of the student’s guilt or innocence will be made at this hearing; until that time, the grade for the course will be withheld. At this hearing, the dean, in consultation with the Committee on Standards, will review the case, study the student’s complete record, and hear from both the student and the instructor. At the end of the hearing and after consultation with the Committee, the instructor will determine an appropriate grade for the course, but the dean and the Committee on Standards may consider further penalties which may include suspension or separation from Hobart and William Smith. If the student is exonerated, the incident will not be entered in their permanent record, and all communications pertaining to the case will be destroyed. If suspended, the student will not be permitted to take final examinations in any of their courses. It should be noted that normally, guilt or innocence of plagiarism or cheating is determined by the Committee on Standards and the Dean primarily on the basis on the factual evidence submitted by the instructor. A Student’s ignorance of what constitutes these offenses or of the rules concerning them is not considered to bear on this question. If a student is judged guilty, circumstances surrounding their action may be taken into consideration in determining appropriate penalties. Students who are found guilty of plagiarism or cheating normally will not be eligible for academic honors or prizes.