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Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values in a community of scholars. Doing your own work--and taking responsibility for that work--allows you to test your own abilities and receive honest feedback. Honesty and integrity within the University are fundamental to building the trust that is required for students and faculty to build communities of learning. Academic misconduct violates these fundamental principles. At MSU, such misconduct has been described as:

supplying or using work or answers that are not your own;
providing or accepting assistance with completing assignments or examinations;
interfering through any means with another's academic work;
faking data or results.

From this, it's obvious that you can't--or at least shouldn't:
turn in an exam, paper, or project that is not wholly your own work;
copy answers from another student's exam or test;
get questions and/or answers from students who have already taken an exam or quiz you are scheduled to take;

work with other students to create a common set of answers to problems without your instructor's permission;
have another person take a test for you;
submit the same paper for two or more classes;
download answers to problems or projects and submit them as your own;
collaborate with other students on projects or assignments without your instructor's permission.

Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating that involves representing someone else's work as your own. Reports of plagiarism have increased as students turn to the Internet as a major source of data. "Cutting and pasting" is a dangerous practice since it is easy to assume credit for someone else's work. Plagiarism may include:

copying sentences or phrases from the work of another without a citation;

using someone else's original idea without citation;

failing to cite the source of data or facts;

submitting a borrowed, purchased, or downloaded paper.

Properly attributing the ideas, words, processes, and results of others (that is, including a citation), demonstrates respect for another scholar's work and effort.

The consequences of academic dishonesty can be rightfully painful. If your instructor believes you have committed an act of academic misconduct, s/he may issue a penalty grade, including, but not limited to, a failing grade on the assignment or in the course. If your instructor gives you a failing grade in the course, the MSU policy on "Integrity of Scholarship and Grades" requires your instructor to send a letter to your dean to explain the circumstances. Depending on the seriousness and extent of the violation, the dean may call for a college-level hearing to consider additional punishment against you. The hearing board can impose sanctions which include issuing a warning, placing you on warning probation, instituting disciplinary probation, or suspending you.

To clarify policies and procedures concerning academic dishonesty at Michigan State University, visit the Office of the Ombudsman at MSU or the ombudsman's web site: http://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/.