Atascocita High School English Department Academic Honesty Contract

"I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating."

Sophocles

One of the fundamental expectations of all of our students is academic honesty. In-class cheating is only one example of a lack of academic integrity; plagiarism of someone else's work and/or ideas is a form of cheating.

The English Department adheres to the district policy regarding cheating, including plagiarism:

"Cheating on an assignment or test will result in a zero being recorded for that assignment or test. In addition,

cheating is considered a level 2 conduct violation and is subject to additional disciplinary measures as discussed in

the Student Code of Conduct."

Please keep in mind the following guidelines as you prepare work for submission:

**Plagiarism = Cheating**

1. Using exact words from a source without using quotation marks and providing documentation is plagiarism.

2. Paraphrasing or summarizing sections of a source without documentation is plagiarism. In order to avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing or summarizing, students must change the language and the style of the original. Minor changes are not sufficient.

3. Borrowing another student's paper and duplicating his/her ideas and/or exact words is plagiarism. This includes the process of rewording that person's ideas. If you allow someone to copy (or reword) your work, whether it is a class assignment, a test, or an essay, you are just as guilty of cheating as the person who copies your work, and the same consequences apply.

4. Cutting and pasting information from the Internet is plagiarism.

5. Allowing another person to revise your work is plagiarism. (This is different from having someone proofread for errors, which is highly recommended.)

6. Purchasing or duplicating a paper or any part of a paper from any source at all is plagiarism.

Caution:

**Do not to work as a team on an essay. Inevitably, the two students' essays turn out to be too similar in ideas and supporting information, and this constitutes plagiarism.

**"I didn't know" is not an excuse for plagiarism. ASK!

**Turnitin.com is used by the entire English Department and is an extremely reliable tool in detecting plagiarism. Turnitin.com not only shows the teacher the percentage of plagiarized information, it also highlights the plagiarized passages and provides the teacher with a list of the works from which the material is plagiarized (including other AHS students' work).

When a person cheats, he/she is demonstrating a lack of integrity and a lack of self-respect.

I hereby attest to the fact that I understand what constitutes plagiarism; I understand that using someone else's ideas or words without giving proper credit is plagiarizing. I understand that if I ever have a question about whether or not to give credit to a source, I must ask someone knowledgeable of MLA requirements (such as my teacher, not another student). I further understand that if I lend my paper to another student who subsequently copies or rephrases part of my paper, I am just as guilty of plagiarism as that student is. Therefore, I will not lend a copy of my paper to anyone for any reason; nor will I borrow a paper from another student. I understand that the penalty for plagiarism in Humble ISD is a 0 and a referral for disciplinary action. I understand that saying, "I didn't know," is not an excuse for plagiarism. I am personally responsible for the integrity of every assignment I submit.

Student's Printed Name______Class Period______

Student's Signature______Date______

Parent/Guardian's Signature______Date______

By signing above, I acknowledge that I will be held accountable for all policies that pertain to plagiarism, including the 0 on the assignment and the office referral.