Statement on Cheating and Plagiarism.

Please see the statement on Cheating and Plagiarism in the current schedule of courses for University regulations and penalties. In Chemistry 102, any work that you copy from another student or copy from the literature, that you represent as your own, will be considered plagiarism. Penalties can range from loss of all points on an hour exam or lab report, to dismissal from the course with an F, to expulsion from the University. A good portion of 102 deals with the production of lab reports that follow the same ethical standards used for professional papers, so violations will be treated very seriously.

Examples: The following list of examples and penalties is not all-inclusive, but does illustrate situations that have arisen in the past. The instructor reserves the right to apply penalties he/she deems appropriate for other examples of cheating and plagiarism that fall under the University regulations.

(1) A student turns in a lab report on Gas Chromatography. Several paragraphs in the theory section are copied from a textbook or downloaded from the Internet. No references to the origin of this information are given. A few minor rewordings are attempted to make it look like it wasn't copied. Penalty: The student is given an F for the entire course.

(2) A student turns in a lab report on Gas Chromatography. The theory section is copied directly from a textbook, but referenced. Penalty: Loss of all points for the Theory section. The reference prevented this from being called plagiarism, but since the student is being graded on the quality of his or her own explanation of the relevant theory, no credit is possible. (Remember, quoted references should be very brief and should be used very sparingly. The report must be your own work.)

(3) The instructor agrees that two students working on an instrument may share the data from one of the standard calibrations, but reminds them that all lab reports are to be solely the work of the author and that workup of the data collected must be done individually by each student. Student "A" works up the data on a spreadsheet, complete with statistical analyses and graphs. Student "B" asks to borrow a copy of this spreadsheet so that he/she can "study it." Except for minor label changes or shifting of positions, report A and B have virtually identical data workups. It is obvious that student B just used the work of student A. Penalty: BOTH Student A and Student B get zero points on the entire report, since it cannot be determined who copied from whom. "We just worked together" is not a defense for this kind of duplication.

(4) A student turns in a lab report that looks suspiciously familiar. Checking with a previous semester, it is discovered that the student had taken the computer file from a previous student, made a few minor changes, then printed out the report and turned it in. Penalty: The student is given an F for the entire course.

(5) A student turns in a lab report that seems suspicious. A search of the Internet uncovers that it was downloaded from a Lab Reports web site. Penalty: The student is given an F for the entire course.

Remember: Do all your own writing and data workups and all will be well. If situations arise where lack of time or instruments requires sharing of certain data, get approval from your instructor first, then reference the exact source of the data used. Shared data workups or shared written material may never be used on Chemistry 102 lab reports or other assignments.