COC Statement on Academic Integrity
and Plagiarism
Approved by Academic
Senate in May, 2010
Students
are expected to do their own work as assigned. At College of the Canyons, we
believe that academic integrity and honesty are some of the most important
qualities college students need to develop and maintain. To facilitate a
culture of academic integrity, College of the Canyons has defined plagiarism
and academic dishonesty. Due process procedures have been established when
plagiarism or academic dishonesty is suspected.
At
COC, we define plagiarism
as follows: Plagiarism is the
submission of someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own, without adequate
attribution. When a student submits work for a class assignment that includes
the words, ideas or data of others, without acknowledging the source of the
information through complete, accurate, and specific references, plagiarism is
involved. This may include dual submissions of a similar work for credit for
more than one class, without the current instructor’s knowledge and approval.
To
be specific, below are some of the situations that will be considered
plagiarism at COC:
·
Use
information from any source, online or in print, in one’s own writing without acknowledging the source in the
content and in the reference page of the assignment;
·
Simply
list the sources in the reference page, without parenthetical citations in the
body of the essay;
·
Take
more than one printed line of words consecutively from the source without
putting quotation marks around them, even though the student has put the
author’s name in the parentheses or in the reference page;
·
Turn
in work done for other classes, regardless how big or small the assignment may
be, without the current instructor’s approval—this is considered
“self-plagiarism,” which is a form of academic dishonesty; or,
·
Turn
in work by another student, even by accident.
In
addition, COC has strict rules against using electronic
devices during exams without the instructor’s approval. To be specific, absolutely
no cell phones or any electronic devices can be on the desk or in sight during test
or exam without the instructor’s approval. The presence of electronic devices
in sight during exams may be considered as intention to cheat and will be
processed as a form of academic dishonesty.
Cases
of alleged academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism or cheating, will be
referred to the Dean of Student Services for investigation. See your syllabus
for course specific policies, rules, and guidelines on plagiarism and academic
dishonesty.