Academic Honesty

The university's goal is to foster an intellectual atmosphere that produces educated, literate people. Because cheating and plagiarism are at odds with that goal, they shall not be tolerated in any form. Students are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct. Therefore, all work submitted by a student must represent that student's own ideas and effort; when the work does not, the student has engaged in academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism occurs when a person passes in another person's work as his or her own or borrows directly from another person's work without proper documentation. For example, academic dishonesty occurs whenever a student:

buys a paper or other project, then seeks to receive credit for the paper or project
copies from another student's exam, either before, during, or after the exam
uses "crib notes" while taking an exam or uses information stored in a computer or calculator (if prohibited from doing so)
allows another person to take an exam in his or her place or takes an exam for another person
collaborates on take-home exams when such collaboration is forbidden
copies the work of another person and attempts to receive credit for that work
fails to properly document source material in a paper or project
receives editorial assistance that falls outside the scope of acceptable assistance

NOTE: The list above is intended only to provide general guidelines for recognizing and avoiding common types of academic dishonesty. It is in no way an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all the types of academic dishonesty.

Except in cases of major offenses, responding to academic dishonesty is the responsibility of the instructor of the course in which the dishonesty occurs. If a student is responsible of academic dishonesty, the student may be dismissed from the class and may receive a failing grade. Other penalties may include suspension or expulsion from school.

For more information about academic honesty, see the following publications:

Boise State University Policy Manual
Boise State University Student Handbook
Student Code of Conduct (www.boisestate.edu/osrr/)