Academic Code of Conduct

In addition to the normal and well-understood strictures against cheating on exams, altering transcripts, and etc., there are other varieties of academic misconduct described in the BU College of Arts and Sciences Academic Conduct Code which you must be aware of when working on assignments.

The most relevant section of the Academic Code of Conduct for the assignments in this class relates to Plagiarism.

Plagiarism. Any attempt by a student to represent the work of another as his or her own. This includes:

  • Copying the answer of another student on an examination or copying or substantially restating the work of another person or persons in any oral or written work without citing the appropriate source, and collaborating with someone else in an academic endeavor without acknowledging his or her contribution.

  • Knowingly allowing another student to represent your work as his or her own. 

  • Submitting the same work in more than one course without the consent of the instructors.

Policy on Collaboration:

There is nothing wrong in principle about discussing the topics covered in the course with your friends and colleagues. However, there are severe consequences to plagiarism. In particular, when you submit a homework with your name on it, you are claiming that the work contained therein is your own; it is Plagiarism to submit work under your own name in which:

  • You collaborated with another student (current, former, friend, etc.) in solving the homework problems;

  • You copied the solution from another student; or

  • You obtained the solution from a book or other sources.

The above is nothing less than plagiarism and will be punished accordingly.

If you are in a situation whereby you have collaborated with a student on a homework problem, or obtained homework solutions (or parts thereof) from some other source, then you should clearly and unambiguously disclose this in your write-up. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism.

If you are caught cheating in a test or plagiarizing a homework, you will automatically receive an F and the matter will be reported to CAS Academic Conduct Committee, who recommends sanctions to the Dean of the College.

Handing in your own assignment a day or two late will affect your grade far less than turning in a copy of someone else's work on time!

For more information on the Academic Code of Conduct for the College, please refer to the web page available at http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/.