Cheating

According to the University Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism, “cheating includes but is not necessarily limited to:

• Plagiarism.
• Submission of work that is not the student's own for papers, assignments or exams.
• Submission or use of falsified data.
• Theft of or unauthorized access to an exam.
• Use of an alternate, stand-in or proxy during an examination.
• Use of unauthorized material including textbooks, notes or computer programs in the preparation of an assignment or during an examination.
• Supplying or communicating in any way unauthorized information to another student for the preparation of an assignment or during an examination.
• Collaboration in the preparation of an assignment. Unless specifically permitted or required by the instructor, collaboration will usually be viewed by the university as cheating. Each student, therefore, is responsible for understanding the policies of the department offering any course as they refer to the amount of help and collaboration permitted in preparation of assignments.
• Submission of the same work for credit in two courses without obtaining the permission of the instructors beforehand.”

Cheating at Carnegie Mellon

In academic life, cheating can include copying someone else’s work, having someone else complete an assignment or take an exam for you, or stealing an exam or paper. Paying other students to do your work or buying papers is also prohibited. Accessing unauthorized information including from a cell phone during an exam constitutes cheating just like looking at someone else’s exam. And finally, reusing work from another class, even if it is your own, without the permission of the course instructors is also considered to be a violation of university policy.

Of the 167 total number of academic integrity violation reports that were submitted to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs during the 2010-2011 academic year, 22% were cases of cheating exclusive of plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration and carried a range of consequences. However, it is important to know that cheating is 100% avoidable and there are many strategies that both students and instructors can employ to prevent these types of violations from happening.