Consider the following situations and decide whether or not an academic integrity violation has occurred.
1. Student A collaborates with Student B on a nursing cohort assignment. Student A takes Student B's assignment and uses it as her own for another class. Student B did not authorize Student A to use the assignments.
Answer: Yes, a violation has occurred. Both students are in violation for collaborating on an assignment without express permission from the instructor. Student B is also in violation of the Code of Conduct for cheating and plagiarism (specifically, presenting work that has been prepared by someone other than herself).
2. A student buys a test bank booklet with all the answers to the course assignments. The student proceeds to sell the test bank and collect funds for the test bank.
Answer: The student is in violation of several policies by buying and distributing the test bank. At no time is it acceptable to buy a test bank for any reason and doing so will result in University-level penalties. Here are the following violations:
Cheating and assisting others to cheat. This also includes dishonest activity or unauthorized use of any resources or materials in any academic exercise.
This is also considered unauthorized assistance - use of materials not authorized to complete an assignment, including exam answers, faculty materials, or answer keys/solution manuals.
3. A student has taken COM101 and has passed with a grade of "A". The student is now taking LDR825 and has a similar assignment to one he completed in COM101. He reuses one of his assignments and submits it as an assignment in LDR825.
Answer: This is a tricky one. Yes, this is considered "self-plagiarism". You cannot re-use any portions of a paper from another class and submit it for a current class. At Grand Canyon University, our rule for submitting work you have already submitted is that the items can be submitted for the "same class, same assignment." Please note, when you are retaking a class it is best to notify the instructor that you are retaking the course and may be resubmitting assignments. However, if your assignment was plagiarized the first time, this will be caught by Turnitin, and you are subject to penalties for plagiarism, regardless of whether you are repeating the course.
4. Student A finds students B's flash drive, which was lost months ago. Student B has taken many of the same courses that student A is currently taking. Student A submits all of student B's assignments as his own. Student B does not know his/her assignments are being used.
Answer: Yes, this is a violation of numerous policies. First, this is considered plagiarism, as you are using work that was not based on your own original thoughts and ideas. It is also considered presenting work that has been prepared by someone other than the student, which includes the purchase and sharing of work.
5. A student has a finance course and is struggling with the math problems. The student finds the math problem with the answer on the Internet. In turn, the student copies and pastes the answers from the Internet in the assignment and turns it in as complete.
Answer: Yes, this is plagiarism. Also, depending on the type of source in which the student located the information, this infraction could also be considered unauthorized assistance, which includes the use of items such as instructor guides or solutions manuals.
6. A student writes the below paper and receives a Turnitin rate of 97%, which was from www.oppapers.com. The student receives a zero for the assignment. The student feels they should receive maximum credit for the paper and feels the instructor is wrong for giving zero credit.
Answer: This is plagiarism. At no time is it okay to use an online term paper clearing house or other commercial websites distributing term papers.
