Academic Honesty

By definition plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. Most people who plagiarize create many excuses as for why they do it. They try to justify their actions. No matter what there excuse is though, it cannot be justified. People use excuses such as “I didn’t have time to write my own,” or “I’m not creative enough.” One issue that is caused by cheating and plagiarism is the students who cheat create a curve in the grading scale which causes people who actually work hard to get lower grades. Another issue is that people who cheat are not getting a real education. They leave college not knowing anything because they did not do any of their own work. These people have a degree but are not fit to be in the work force. Another issue is that college prepares you for the rest of your life in many ways and if a person doesn’t get the full experience then they will not be prepared for the many situations to come in life. They will constantly have to look to someone else to show them what to do.

A couple of suggestions for stopping all of the cheating are practicing good study habits, having effect time and stress management skills, and by using your available resources. A good thing to do is to have a counselor help you enroll so that they can inform you of the approximate work load you will have. Another positive thing to do is to work, but not work to many hours. Do not make work more important than your education, and be sure to leave enough time to do your studies. And a final way is to start punishing people who are caught cheating. It is illegal so action needs to be taken.

Websites
http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm#suggestions
http://web.grinnell.edu/writinglab/CitationGuides/achondiscuss.html
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html
http://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/t10-02.htmhttp://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/t10-02.htm