Academic Ethics

Towson University

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Plagiarism Video Transcript

Hi. I am Alison Peer, Assistant Director of Student Conduct and Civility Education at Towson University

Why do we care about academic honesty? Our culture is one that values individualism and working independently. We celebrate each person’s accomplishments because achieving something means that a person has put in hard work and effort to reach that goal. We own what we have accomplished or created, and therefore, we want credit for having created it. In the world of academia, our creations are generally in the form of thoughts or ideas. Therefore, we value giving credit to the work of others that we are using to support the work that we are currently doing.

Beyond this cultural standard, in higher education, we award degrees to those who successfully complete an academic program. The higher the rigor of the academic program, the more value the degree has for the individual who receives it. We want every graduate to have a degree that will serve him/her well after college by providing the foundation and qualification he/she needs to obtain a job in the field of his/her choice. When students cheat or plagiarize, the value of each degree awarded is undermined.

Hi, I’m Conor Reynolds

Because of these reasons, colleges are in a position to not only educate students about how to avoid these situations, but also hold those who do plagiarize accountable. 

Plagiarism or using someone else’s information without giving proper credit, is one way that students violate academic integrity policies. Students accused of plagiarism offer rationales for their behavior. “I didn’t mean to plagiarize.” “I had no idea I had to cite my sources in my text.” “I was in a hurry and must have forgotten to cite my source.” “I took notes from my research and then wrote my paper.” These are a few of the explanations that students who are facing accusations of academic dishonesty might offer. Whether an instance of plagiarism is intentional or accidental, in order to preserve the integrity of the degree that the college or university offers, we have to take it seriously and respond.

Depending on the circumstance, the consequences for plagiarism could range from a grade reduction or failing grade on an assignment, to a grade reduction or failing grade in the course, to dismissal from an academic program, to suspension from school. While some of these might seem extreme, it is worth being aware of the consequences so that you understand how you can avoid facing them.

Furthermore, integrity and academic honesty are important beyond the college environment. Every industry and organization has a standard of ethics by which they ask their members to operate. This includes giving credit to the work of others and refraining from using information, ideas, or works without appropriate permission. It also calls members of that profession to represent themselves and the work that they have done with honesty and integrity. For example, fabrication or manipulation of data and results in a medical research lab would be of a huge concern to that industry. Or, as you may have seen in the media recently, failing to use valid sources in journalism can lead to scrutiny of a news source. Or, covering up for a mistake with false information could lead to job action. In the retail industry, embellishing the features of a product could cause the company to take a loss trying to rectify the failure of that product to meet consumer expectations. In any work environment, taking credit for the work of others can complicate office politics and lower productivity of the team. The value of adhering to a strong standard of ethics in the work that you do goes far beyond the college world.

In this learning module we’ll help you get an understanding of the core issues around Academic Integrity. Keep in mind that these concepts apply to music, art, computer code, oral presentations and/or those using programs like PowerPoint, and any other medium where ideas may be shared. However, in this module, we will focus on written work. We will cover:

Plagiarism – what it is, the different types and how to give credit to sources

Paraphrasing – what it is and some techniques to properly state information from other sources

Citation Styles – how to be sure you are using them correctly and where to get more details on specific styles.

So let’s get started.