2.2. Academic Offence Types Explained
2.2.1 Plagiarism
There are four categories of plagiarism:
Plagiarism 1a)
The student submits another person’s work as their own academic work.
Submitting someone else’s work as your own, or passing someone else’s work off as your own, is the classic definition of ‘plagiarism’. This other person could be another current student, someone who was previously a student, someone who is or was a student at another school, someone you’ve never met but you found their work online or via social media, or it could be someone who wrote or contributed their writing to a website, book, or article. Regardless of who this other person is, if a student submits another person’s work as their own assignment or includes another person’s work within their assignment but doesn’t cite that person, then plagiarism will have happened.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This category of plagiarism is easy to avoid:
- Prepare, complete, and submit your own academic work.
- Avoid using course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU because there is no guarantee that the assignments on these sites were done correctly, followed instructions or achieved decent grades. Students are strongly discouraged from uploading to and downloading from these sites.
- Avoid responding to social media ads and messages when people offer to complete assignments in exchange for payment.
- Avoid sharing your academic work with others and protect your work if you’re sharing computers.
- When you’ve conducted research, always cite the people and their work whenever you’ve incorporated their work into your assignments.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
Plagiarism 1b)
The student does not credit the original source of ideas, images, information, quotations, or other intellectual property.
Citations are used to give credit to people and their work. When you’re working on assignments, you’ll likely be writing in one of these three different ways:
You’ll be writing your own thoughts in your own words which won’t require any citing because your name will be on the assignment.
You’ll be writing your own thoughts in your own words that will have been informed by research that you’ve conducted and sources that you’ve referred to – these sentences and any paraphrased sentences will require citations at the end of them. The citation indicates the source that you referred to or that informed your thoughts.
You’ll be incorporating someone else’s thoughts in their own words into your assignment to demonstrate that you’ve conducted research and consulted sources – these sentences will need to be within quotation marks and have citations at the end of them. The quotation marks differentiate someone else’s thoughts from your own thoughts and the citation indicates the source that you referred to or consulted.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
Citing is a new skill that many students need to learn and develop. This category of plagiarism is also easy to avoid:
- Attend the workshops that are delivered through the Library Learning Commons.
- Make an online or in person appointment to get assistance from the staff in the Library Learning Commons.
- Take the APA Citation Resource Course within FanshaweOnline.
- Remember that citing requires two components: in-text citations and a references list. Both components are required in order to meet citing requirements.
- Create a free TurnItIn account within FanshaweOnline so that you can pre-scan your assignments before submitting them. The pre-scan will show you highlighted sentences which should be followed by citations.
- Keep a list of the sources that you consult and use while working on assignments so that you can remember which sources to cite.
- Avoid the use of spin bots and word generators. They may make sentences look different from how they appear in their original sources but rearranging words in sentences and exchanging words in sentences for other words does not constitute you rewriting someone else’s work in your own words. Even if you did rewrite someone else’s work in your own words, you would still need to include a citation at the end of those sentences.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
Plagiarism 1c)
The student submits electronic files or data without the Course Instructor’s permission.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This category or plagiarism is easy to avoid:
If you’re using spreadsheets, templated spreadsheets, data sets, statistics, computer programming code, etc. that is not original to you, you should have a conversation with your Course Instructor to make sure that those electronic files or data can be used and that you’ll still be meeting the requirements of the assignment by using them.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
Plagiarism 1d)
The student submits academic work from another course without the Course Instructor’s permission.
Students and Course Instructors often refer to this category of plagiarism as ‘double submission’ whereby an assignment that has already been submitted and has already received marks is submitted once more to receive marks again. This Academic Offence tends to happen under the following circumstances:
- When students are retaking courses and they don’t realize that they are expected to re-do the assignments.
- When students are upgrading courses and they don’t realize that they should be upgrading their previously submitted assignments or re-doing the assignments.
- When students submit previously submitted and marked assignments as current assignments because the previously submitted and marked assignments address the same topics, themes, concepts, etc. as the current assignments.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This category of plagiarism is easy to avoid:
If you want to make use of assignments that you’ve previously submitted and have had marked, whether in another current course, another offering of the same course, for a previously taken course at Fanshawe, or for a previously taken course at another school, you should have a conversation with your Course Instructor to make sure that those assignments can be used and to make sure that you’ll still be meeting the requirements of the current assignment by using them.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.2 Acting to assist or facilitate an Academic Offence.
It’s important to remember that ‘obtaining or attempting to obtain an unfair advantage or credit for academic work’ is how Fanshawe College defines ‘Academic Offence’. So, it’s important to know that helping another student to commit an Academic Offence would, in itself, be an Academic Offence. If you give another student your completed assignment and that student submits it as their own work, then you will have assisted or facilitated another student’s Academic Offence of plagiarism. If you share test questions and answers with another student, then you will have assisted another student’s Academic Offence of cheating on a test.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Save and protect your work and your computer especially if other people have access to or use your computer.
- Avoid sharing your work and completed assignments with other people.
- Avoid uploading your work and completed assignments to course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU so that other students can’t download your work to submit it as their own.
- If other students have questions about an assignment, it’s one thing to answer their questions but it’s best to avoid providing them with your work and answers to assignment questions. Those students should be sending their questions to the Course Instructor.
- Avoid talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students or anyone while a quiz, test, or exam is in progress. The only device that you should be using during a quiz, test, or exam is the device on which you’re writing the quiz, test, or exam. Make sure that your phone and any other devices are out of reach and not in use so that you’re not tempted to check text messages or social media platforms. Also, make sure that any messaging apps or websites that are on your computer are turned off while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- Make sure that the quiz, test, or exam has ended and closed (for the whole class) before discussing the quiz, test, or exam with other students.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.3 Misrepresenting the reasons for a missed evaluation or deadline extension.
It is an Academic Offence to provide a Course Instructor with false information, a fraudulent Doctor’s note, describing an event that did not occur, etc. so as to write a quiz, test, or exam that was missed or to get an extension for an assignment. Misrepresenting the reasons for a missed evaluation or deadline extension is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage – it is not fair to the students who wrote the quiz, test, or exam at the scheduled date and time or submitted their assignment by the due date.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Plan ahead so that you are aware of when your quizzes, tests, and exams are scheduled and when your assignments are due. You will need to give yourself enough time to prepare for quizzes, tests, and exams, and to complete your assignments.
- If you know that you will need additional time to prepare for a quiz, test, or exam, or to complete an assignment, have a discussion with your Course Instructor so that they can help you make appropriate arrangements.
- If an emergency occurs that prevents you from writing a quiz, test, or exam on the scheduled date or it prevents you from completing your assignment on time, make sure that you provide your Course Instructor with legitimate documentation so that they can help you to make appropriate arrangements for a rescheduled quiz, test, or exam, or a deadline extension.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.4 Allowing another person to complete a student’s academic work.
Students are expected to prepare, complete, and submit their own academic work so that they can demonstrate their own understanding of course content and that they themselves are developing a mastery of the skills that they will need to progress through the course and program and excel in their future workplace. If students allow, pay for, or ask other people to do their academic work, it’s not fair to the students who did prepare, complete, and submit their own work. Also, if student’s obtain (rather than earn) marks and grades for academic work that they did not prepare or complete themselves, it’s not fair to the students who did earn (rather than obtain) comparable, higher, or even lower marks or grades.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Always prepare, complete, and submit your own academic work.
- If you are working with a peer tutor or having a friend or family member review or spell and grammar check your work, make sure that the academic work that you submit is reflective of your own thoughts and written in your own words. It’s important to keep in mind that there is a difference between having your work reviewed and having it edited. There is also a significant difference between having your work reviewed and having it rewritten.
- Avoid the use of spin bots and word generators. They may make sentences look different from how they appear in their original sources but rearranging words in sentences and exchanging words in sentences for other words does not constitute you rewriting someone else’s work in your own words. Even if you did rewrite someone else’s work in your own words, you would still need to include a citation at the end of those sentences.
- Avoid responding to social media ads and messages when people offer to complete assignments in exchange for payment.
- If someone asks you to complete their academic work (which would be acting to assist or facilitate an Academic Offence), it’s best to decline their request or avoid responding to their text message or email.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.5 Copying from another person during a quiz, test, or exam.
Ideally, students should use their quizzes, tests, and exams as opportunities to demonstrate how well they understand the course content and how much time and effort they put into preparing for the quiz, test, or exam. If a student copies another student’s or another person’s (someone who is not a student) answers to quiz, test, or exam questions, this results in the student missing that opportunity and it results in their quiz, test, or exam being compromised and ineligible for marks or grades.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Avoid talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students or people while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- The only device that you should be using during a quiz, test, or exam is the device on which you’re writing the quiz, test, or exam. Make sure that your phone and any other devices are out of reach and not in use so that you’re not tempted to check text messages or social media platforms. Also, make sure that any messaging apps or websites on your computer are turned off while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- Avoid taking pictures of quiz, test, or exam questions and answers and sharing them via text messages and social media platforms. Also, avoid writing quiz, test, or exam questions and answers in text messages and social media posts.
- If you’re writing a quiz, test, or exam in-person, try to protect your work and avoid looking over at anyone else’s work.
- If you have any questions or concerns about a quiz, test, or exam while it’s in progress, avoid consulting with other students or people. Direct your questions and concerns to your Course Instructor or the proctor – they will be available to you during in-person quizzes, tests, and exams, and they have to let you know how to reach them during online quizzes, tests, and exams.
- Avoid directing your questions and concerns to other students because the information that they provide you with could be inaccurate and talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students while a quiz, test, or exam is in progress would result in those quizzes, test, or exams being considered compromised and ineligible for marks. It would also result in Academic Offences.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.6 Participating in activities, in person or electronically, that are not permitted in the preparation or completion of academic work.
Consider the wording of this Academic Offence: activities that are not permitted or participated in either in person or electronically and they are activities that are not permitted in either the preparation or completion stages of academic work. Assignments, labs, quizzes, tests, and exams, are all examples of ‘academic work’. This Academic Offence tends to happen under the following circumstances:
- When a student collaborates with another student or as part of a group on an assignment that was to have been completed by students individually.
- When a student uses a spin bot or word generator to manipulate or disguise writing from another student’s assignment or a website so that they can submit it as their own work.
- When a student does not comply with assignment, lab, quiz, test, or exam instructions.
- When a student does not complete a proper environment check for their online quiz, test, or exam.
- When a student obtains another student’s completed assignment (from that other student or from a course content sharing site like Course Hero or StuDocU) and submits it as their own work or makes modifications, with or without a spin bot or word generator, and submits it as their own work.
- When a student uses a device, other than the device on which they’re writing a quiz, test, or exam, to look up answers to questions or communicate and collaborate with other students while the quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- When multiple Academic Offences occur in any one instance, the Course Instructor will document that multiple activities, that were not permitted, were participated in.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Pay close attention to the instructions for your assignments, labs, quizzes, tests, and exams because the instructions will tell you what is expected, what must be done, and how the academic work should be done.
- Not all assignments and labs are completed with partners or as groups. Make sure you understand when you’re permitted to work with a partner or as a group and when you’re expected to complete an assignment on your own.
- If you have questions or concerns about academic work, discuss them with your Course Instructor so that you get the clarification that you need from the academic authority.
- Avoid talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students or people while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- The only device that you should be using during a quiz, test, or exam is the device on which you’re writing the quiz, test, or exam. Make sure that your phone and any other devices are out of reach and not in use so that you’re not tempted to check text messages or social media platforms. Also, make sure that any messaging apps or websites on your computer are turned off while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- Avoid the use of spin bots and word generators. They may make sentences look different from how they appear in their original sources but rearranging words in sentences and exchanging words in sentences for other words does not constitute you rewriting someone else’s work in your own words. Even if you did rewrite someone else’s work in your own words, you would still need to include a citation at the end of those sentences.
- Avoid the use of course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU because there is no guarantee that the assignments on these sites are current, followed instructions, or achieved decent grades. Students are strongly discouraged from uploading to and downloading from these sites.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.7 Using material, resources, or technologies not permitted in the preparation or completion of academic work.
The instructions for your assignments will specify which material, resources, technologies, and tools are expected to be used and permitted for use. Maybe you’re permitted to consult specific websites or resources from the Library Learning Commons, maybe you’re expected to use a calculator or software that is relevant to your field, or maybe you’re expected to complete your assignment by expressing your own thoughts about and knowledge of course concepts. Ask your Course Instructor if you have questions or concerns about assignment instructions and what can and cannot be used to prepare and complete assignments. Your Course Instructors will provide you with accurate information that you can rely on and they will respond to your questions either in-person or by email within a reasonable amount of time.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Read your assignment instructions carefully and consult with your Course Instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
- Avoid directing your questions and concerns to other students because the information that they provide you with could be inaccurate and out-of-date.
- Only make use of material, resources, technologies, and tools that are permitted for use and avoid using those that are not permitted or not mentioned in the assignment instructions.
- Avoid the use of spin bots and word generators. They may make sentences look different from how they appear in their original sources but rearranging words in sentences and exchanging words in sentences for other words does not constitute you rewriting someone else’s work in your own words. Even if you did rewrite someone else’s work in your own words, you would still need to include a citation at the end of those sentences.
- Avoid the use of course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU because there is no guarantee that the assignments on these sites are current, followed instructions, or achieved decent grades. Students are strongly discouraged from uploading to and downloading from these sites.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.8 Possessing or using material, resources, technologies, or tools not permitted in a quiz, test, or exam.
Your Course Instructors will provide you with instructions for quizzes, tests, and exams, during classes, in your FanshaweOnline course sites, and in the quizzes, tests, and exams themselves. These instructions will specify which material, resources, technologies, and tools are permitted for use while the quiz, test, or exam is in progress. If certain material, resources, technologies, or tools are not mentioned in the instructions, then they are not permitted for use while the quiz, test, or exam is in progress. Ask your Course Instructor if you have questions or concerns about quiz, test, or exam instructions and what can and cannot be used to complete the quiz, test, or exam.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Read your quiz, test, and exam instructions carefully and ask your Course Instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
- If you have any questions or concerns about a quiz, test, or exam while it’s in progress, avoid consulting with other students or people. Direct your questions and concerns to your Course Instructor or the proctor – they will be available to you during in-person quizzes, tests, and exams, and they have to let you know how to reach them during online quizzes, tests, and exams.
- Avoid directing your questions and concerns to other students because the information that they provide you with could be inaccurate and talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students while a quiz, test, or exam is in progress would result in those quizzes, test, or exams being considered compromised and ineligible for marks. It would also result in Academic Offences.
- If your quiz, test, or exam is ‘open book’, this may mean that you’re permitted to use your textbook, lesson slides, or your own notes. ‘Open book’ does not mean that students can conduct Google searches or refer to websites to find answers to questions. It also doesn’t mean that students can talk to, communicate, or collaborate with other students while the quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- The only device that you should be using during a quiz, test, or exam is the device on which you’re writing the quiz, test, or exam. Make sure that your phone and any other devices are out of reach and not in use so that you’re not tempted to check text messages or social media platforms. Also, make sure that any messaging apps or websites that are on your computer are turned off while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- If you’re permitted to use a calculator during a quiz, test, or exam, make sure you’re using an actual calculator and not a calculator app on your phone.
- Make sure that your workspace is clear of any material, resources, technologies, or tools that are not permitted from use during the quiz, test, or exam. Being in possession of these things (even if you don’t use them) can result in an Academic Offence.
- Regardless of whether LockDown Browser or Respondus Monitor are in use or not, students are always expected to complete their quizzes, tests, and exams honestly and with integrity.
- Use your quizzes, tests, and exams as opportunities to demonstrate how well you understand the course content and how well you studied and prepared for the quiz, test, or exam.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.9 Improperly obtaining any evaluation, or portion of it, prior to the date and time scheduled for the evaluation.
Course Instructors may provide students with previous terms’ quizzes, tests, or exams to prepare for current terms’ quizzes, tests, or exams – these evaluations would be properly obtained. If students refer to course content sharing sites like Course Hero, StuDocU, or Chegg to access and use previous terms’ quizzes, tests, or exams, these evaluations would be improperly obtained. Online quizzes, tests, and exams may be scheduled for short amounts of time, such as 30 to 90 minutes during or outside of class time, or they may be scheduled for longer amounts of time, such as 3 or more hours or they can be written at any time within a 24 to 36 hour period. Regardless of when a quiz, test, or exam is scheduled and regardless of when individual students write and complete their quizzes, tests, and exams, students should not be sharing or requesting questions, answers, or information about quizzes, tests, and exams with anyone at any time.
Student Tip: How to Avoid This Type of Offence
This Academic Offence is easy to avoid:
- Avoid talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students or anyone while a quiz, test, or exam is in progress. The only device that you should be using during a quiz, test, or exam is the device on which you’re writing the quiz, test, or exam. Make sure that your phone and any other devices are out of reach and not in use so that you’re not tempted to check text messages or social media platforms. Also, make sure that any messaging apps or websites that are on your computer are turned off while your quiz, test, or exam is in progress.
- Avoid taking pictures of quiz, test, or exam questions and answers and sharing them via text messages and social media platforms. Also, avoid writing quiz, test, or exam questions and answers in text messages and social media posts.
- Make sure that the quiz, test, or exam has ended and closed (for the whole class) before discussing the quiz, test, or exam with other students.
- Avoid using course content sharing sites like Course Hero, StuDocU, and Chegg.
- Avoid directing your questions and concerns to other students because the information that they provide you with could be inaccurate and talking to, communicating with, and collaborating with other students while a quiz, test, or exam is in progress would result in those quizzes, test, or exams being considered compromised and ineligible for marks. It would also result in Academic Offences.
Refer to the Appendix: Student Supports and Services for help and resources .
2.2.10 Altering or falsifying academic records in any way or submitting false documentation for academic purposes.
It is an Academic Offence to alter or falsify academic records and provide Course Instructors, College staff, and College administrators, with false information and fraudulent documentation. Applicants who are found to have applied for admission to the College by submitting altered, falsified, or fraudulent documentation, are not admitted to the College or may have their admission revoked.
Enrolled students who are completing co-ops, field placements, internships, and apprenticeships, are required to have their mentors or supervisors sign and authorize documents that are needed for accreditation, certification, and completion purposes. If students sign these documents on their mentor’s or supervisor’s behalf, without their written authorization, this would jeopardize and compromise their accreditation, certification, and completion processes.
Enrolled students should always provide legitimate documentation upon request by the Registrar’s Office, Counselling and Accessibility, their Course Instructors, their Academic Advisors, or other College departments, staff or administrators.
2.2.11 Allowing another person to take a quiz, test, or exam on the student’s behalf.
Students are expected to write and complete their quizzes, tests, and exams individually so that they can demonstrate their own understanding of course content. Students are not permitted to make arrangements or allow another person to attend, write, or complete their in-person or online quiz, test, or exam on their behalf. This Academic Offence tends to occur under the following circumstances:
- Someone attends an in-person on-campus quiz, test, or exam so as to intentionally write and complete a student’s quiz, test, or exam on that student’s behalf.
- Someone attends an online quiz, test, or exam so as to intentionally write and complete a student’s quiz, test, or exam on that student’s behalf.
- Someone accesses a student’s FanshaweOnline account so as to intentionally write and complete a student’s online quiz, test, or exam on that student’s behalf while that student appears present and engaged in academic work via Respondus Monitor.
Students are always expected to write their own quizzes, tests, and exams and to do so honestly, ethically, and with integrity.
Questions?
If you have any questions about Academic Offences, please feel free to email the Academic Integrity Office at academicintegrity@fanshawec.ca
Policy A136: Academic Integrity: https://www.fanshawec.ca/sites/default/files/2021-06/a136.pdf
