Department of Political Science, Queens College

The Political Science Department policy is that incidents of plagiarism, cheating, or other forms of academic dishonesty will be penalized. Penalties will vary from an F in the assignment to a grade of F in the course, and will be reported to the Dean of Students. Students should be aware that the College may impose additional penalties, including requiring special coursework on intellectual honesty, temporary suspension, or dismissal from the college.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's ideas, research or writings as your own. The following list, drawn from the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity, includes examples of plagiarism, but it is by no means exhaustive:
* Copying another person’s actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source.
* Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source.
* Using information that is not common knowledge without acknowledging the source.
* Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignments.
* Submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source.
* “Cutting and pasting” from various sources without proper attribution.

Cheating is the use or attempted use of unauthorized material, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. The following list, also drawn from the Policy on Academic Integrity, includes examples of cheating, but it is by no means exhaustive:
* Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work.
* Unauthorized collaboration on a take home assignment or examination.
* Using notes during a closed book examination.
* Taking an examination for another student, or asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you.
* Changing a graded exam and returning it for more credit.
* Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to more than one course without consulting with each instructor.
* Preparing answers or writing notes in an exam booklet before an examination.
* Allowing others to research and write assigned papers or do assigned projects, including use of commercial term paper services.
* Submitting someone else’s work as your own.
* Unauthorized use during an examination of any electronic devices such as cell phones, palm pilots, computers or other technologies to retrieve or send information.