This statement is issued in response to a directive passed by the faculty at its May 1976 meeting.
We expect our students to conduct themselves with honor and integrity at all times. In the classroom this means respecting your fellow students and their personal intellectual accomplishments. We define academic dishonesty as any act or intention to deceive any member of the Department when submitting any work for a grade. During tests or exams this means a failure to abide by any test-taking condition established by the course instructor. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, it will be understood that the use of “crib sheets,” copying from other students, and any use of notes, books, electronic aids, or other reference materials is prohibited while taking any quiz or test in any Department course. The Lafayette Student Handbook offers a more detailed discussion of academic honesty, including the procedures followed in cases of academic dishonesty and the possible penalties arising from it.
Our insistence on academic honesty carries over to all written work or artwork you submit for a grade, including laboratory reports. Students are cautioned to be particularly vigilant against plagiarism, which is a common form of academic dishonesty. The Lafayette Student Handbook includes an extensive section on plagiarism, and students are encouraged to become familiar with this material. One of the most common, but no less serious, forms of plagiarism is the re-writing of someone else’s work without crediting the original author. Rewording a passage from another source and failing to cite that source is a form of plagiarism and will be treated as a breach of academic honesty. In crediting the work of others, all sources are treated as equal: you must cite material produced by other students, material found in the primary or secondary literature, course handouts, and any material obtained from the Internet.
If you have any questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty in general or in a specific situation, it is your responsibility to discuss the matter with your instructor.
Approved by the Biology Department on November 5, 2002.
If you have any question about what constitutes academic dishonesty in any specific situation be certain to discuss it with your instructor.