Academic Integrity, Cheating and Plagiarism

TC3 takes infractions of academic integrity quite seriously. As at other colleges and universities, students caught cheating or plagiarizing suffer consequences for their actions. Depending on the severity of the offense, penalties might range from flunking a quiz to expulsion from school.

At the reference desk and at the Writing and Research Center, librarians and writing tutors are committed to helping you perform your academic work in a spirit of integrity and honesty and are happy to work with you as you learn to use and cite resources accurately. Feel free to drop by the reference desk and the Writing and Research Center or email Ask a Librarian for help with learning how to cite and quote accurately. The following resources might also be of assistance to you.

TC3 Statement of Academic Integrity Policy

This page contains detailed information on the College's policies and procedures regarding academic integrity. It also gives information on your rights if you are accused. Every TC3 student should be familiar with this policy and procedures. Take a few minutes to read through this statement. When you enrolled at TC3, you agreed to follow the behavior outlined here.

How to Avoid Trouble

Cheating and plagiarism in any form, even unintentional, are never acceptable in academic work. If you need assistance in developing study skills and habits and in learning how to cite sources, tutors at the Baker Center for Learning and the Writing and Research Center will be happy to help you. The following websites also provide information that can help you avoid plagiarizing.

• Avoiding Plagiarism This great website from Purdue University offers help on everything from paraphrasing accurately to proper footnoting. This is well worth browsing through before you start researching.
• Citation Guide: How to Cite Sources Prepared by Margaret Anderson, the TC3 Web Librarian, this website lists links to dozens of sites that can help you with footnotes and bibliographies.
• Library Lessons Online tutorials prepared by Barbara Kobritz, the instructional librarian at TC3, offer tips on how to cite, find resources and evaluate evidence.
• Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement Developed at Dartmouth College, this website explains how to cite a wide variety of sources, and also provides a good introduction to intellectual property and what is plagiarism.

Turnitin

Teachers have gotten savvy at finding work copied off the Internet. Turnitin.com is an online software program that identifies unoriginal material in research papers and other student work. TC3 subscribes to Turnitin and your teacher might submit any of your written work to it. Other teachers require submission of rough drafts. You can only use Turnitin if your instructor has arranged for access for you in a particular course.

Last update: Wednesday, August 31, 2011