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Academic Integrity

Academic integrity means upholding the values of your school with respect to the production of your academic work and the completion of quizzes, tests, and exams. Algonquin College’s policies on plagiarism and academic dishonesty explain what academic integrity means at Algonquin. Make sure you understand your responsibilities as a student and scholar.

Tips

  • Read The Policy Become familiar with Algonquin College’s plagiarism policy and academic dishonesty policy. Not knowing the policy will not prevent you from facing disciplinary action.
  • Know When To Work AloneMake sure you know when it's okay to work in groups on an assignment and when you ought to work alone. Collaborating on a test, quiz, or assignment can get you into trouble if you are supposed to be working alone. 
  • Start FreshRecycling is good for the environment, but using work from an old class on a new assignment is almost always against the rules. Start fresh on each and every project with new ideas and up-to-date research.
  • Cite Your SourcesWhen doing your research, keep excellent records of your information sources and learn to cite them accurately. Accidental plagiarism is still plagiarism. For help citing your sources, visit the Research Guide.

These tips were modified by the AC Library from the Academic Integrity module on The Learning Portal, available under a CC BY NC license.t is available under a CC BY NC license.

Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism includes more than just "coping and pasting". Any time you use content that is not your own, you need to give credit to the original creator using citations. This doesn't just include text; you need to cite images, figures, ideas, and more.

Examples of plagiarism:

  • Deliberately copying work from another student or copying and pasting from the internet
  • Submitting a paper or assignment that you bought online
  • Using any source or image in your assignment without citing it properly
  • Misquoting or not including quotation marks (" ") around exact quotations
  • Re-using your own past work (self-plagiarism)
  • Collaborating with other students on assignments that are meant to be individual (group or team plagiarism)

Algonquin’s Plagiarism Directive

Algonquin College's policy on plagiarism, AA48: Academic Integrity, states:

Plagiarism, whether done deliberately or accidentally, is defined as presenting someone else’s work, in whole or in part, as one’s own. This applies to ideas, wording, code, graphics, music, and inventions from all sources, including the Internet, television, video, film, and recordings; all print and written sources, such as books, periodicals, lyrics, government publications, promotional materials, and academic assignments; and all verbal sources such as conversations and interviews. Sharing one’s work with other learners where this has not been authorized is also considered an act of plagiarism. The reuse of one's own words, ideas, artistic expression or work from preexisting material especially without acknowledgment of their earlier use, is self-plagiarism

Academic sanctions for plagiarism can vary from having to complete a course on academic integrity to being suspended.

How Do I Avoid Plagiarizing?

Here are a few important things you can do to avoid plagiarizing in your own work:

  • Don’t present anything you didn’t create yourself as your own work.
  • Keep track of where you find your information so you can cite it.
  • Give appropriate credit in your work using correct citations. If you have a hard time with citations, use one of the resources available so that you can learn to do it correctly.
  • When working with a group, look at what your group is handing in. You may still be responsible if a group member plagiarized.

Find more information to help you avoid plagiarizing in the resources below:

Consequences of Plagiarism

The consequences for students who plagiarize depends on the case. Per the college Academic Integrity policy (AA48: Academic Integrity), some possible consequences at Algonquin College are as follows:

  • Requirement that the student resubmit the assignment.
  • Requirement that the student submit additional work.
  • Reduction of the weight for the assignment towards the overall course grade.
  • Assigning the grade of zero for the assignment.
  • Assigning the grade of F for the course.
  • Suspension from the Program.
  • Suspension from the College.