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Academic Dishonesty
All forms of academic dishonesty are considered serious offences within the University community and a student who commits such an offence runs the risk of a range of sanctions including a failure in the course or a requirement to withdraw from the University. Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism as well as any deliberate attempt to gain unfair advantage academically for oneself or others. Dishonest practices include fabrication of data, cheating, or the uttering of false statements relating to academic work by a student. Plagiarism means presenting work done (in whole or in part) by someone else as if it were one's own.
 
Plagiarism should be distinguished from cooperation and collaboration. Often, students may be permitted or expected to work on assignments collectively, and to present the results either collectively or separately. This is not a problem so long as it is clearly understood whose work is being presented, for example, by way of formal acknowledgement or by footnoting. The following are some examples of academic dishonesty. As it is not possible to cover every circumstance of academic dishonesty or plagiarism, this list should be considered as a guide only.
  • Exams and Tests
    - Impersonating someone in an examination or test.
    - Copying from another student, or making information available to another student.
    - Submitting a take-home examination written, in whole or in part, by someone else.
    - Failing to obey or comply with exam regulations or instructions of a proctor.
  • Laboratories, Field Work and Research Reports
    - Copying a laboratory or field report, or allowing someone else to copy one's report.
    - Using another student's data unless specifically allowed by the instructor and the author.
    - Allowing someone else to do the laboratory or field work without the knowledge and approval of the instructor.
    - Using direct quotations or large sections of paraphrased material in laboratory or field report, research report, thesis, or publication without acknowledgement. (For additional information refer to the Code of Research Ethics, Queen's Gazette, Vol. 19, 8 December 1987).
    - Fabricating or falsifying laboratory or research data.
  • Essays and Assignments
    - Submitting an essay written in whole or in part by someone else as one's own.
    - Preparing an essay or assignment for submission by another student.
    - Copying an essay or assignment, or knowingly allowing one's essay or assignment to be copied by someone else for the purposes of plagiarism.
    - Using direct quotations or large sections of paraphrased material without acknowledgement.
    - Buying or selling of term papers or assignments and submitting them as one's own for the purpose of plagiarism.
    - Submitting the same piece or work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor(s).
    - Unauthorized removal from the library, or deliberate concealment of, library materials.
  • Official Documents
    - Altering transcripts or other official documents relating to student records.
    - Misrepresenting one's credentials.
    Creating or altering letters of reference.
    - Individual instructors or academic units will normally point out areas of specific concern not covered above. Students are encouraged to consult instructors regarding procedures and use of materials if in doubt about how they may relate to academic dishonesty. 

An instructor must notify the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, in writing, of all instances in which academic dishonesty is alleged. All findings of academic dishonesty must be reported, in writing, to the Education Registrar's Office. Where a case of academic dishonesty is suspected:   
a  The instructor may deal with it by assigning other work or a low grade, as judged appropriate.    
b  If the matter is more serious than these penalties would satisfy, the instructor shall refer the case to the Associate Dean, who may assign a Fail in the course (even if the deadline for withdrawing without failure has not passed). 
Where the above sanctions are deemed inadequate, the Associate Dean in conjunction with the Professional Studies Committee of Faculty Board may impose appropriate sanctions, such as forfeiture of the year, and may recommend to Faculty Board that the student be required to withdraw from the Faculty. Faculty Board may then make such a recommendation to Senate. Penalties imposed by the Professional Studies Committee are communicated to the student by the Associate Dean, Faculty of Education. 

If the matter is referred to the Associate Dean, the student and instructor must be fully informed at all stages of the process. Initially, in writing, the instructor must advise the student of the suspected academic dishonesty, set out the evidence on which the allegation is based, note the possible penalties, and give the student opportunity to respond. The student must be advised, in writing, of the opportunity to appeal to the Associate Dean. The student and instructor must be notified, in writing, of any hearing of the case (whether the Professional Studies Committee, Faculty Board, or Senate), invited to appear at the hearing, and advised of the right to have representation at the hearing. On matters of procedure, the Grievance Advisers of Queen's University are available for consultation. 

Student Appeal Process
If the student believes that the penalty is unjust, an appeal at the level above that at which the penalty was imposed may be initiated, as follows:
The student will first take up the matter informally with the instructor who made the decision, in order to ensure that the instructor is aware of all the facts which the student believes to be pertinent to the decision. This should be done as early as possible and must be done within two weeks of the decision having been communicated to the student. The instructor will give a reconsidered decision as soon as possible, and normally will do so within two weeks of receiving the additional information the student has presented.
b  If the student is not satisfied with the decision, an appeal may be made to the Associate Dean. This appeal must be made in writing not later than two weeks after the communication to the student of the instructor's reconsidered decision. The student should attach to the appeal copies of all relevant documents in order to provide complete information. The Associate Dean will inform the student in writing of the decision, normally within two weeks of receipt of the written appeal.
c  If the student is not satisfied with the decision reached by the Associate Dean, the next stage of review lies with the Professional Studies Committee. The student must send an appeal in writing to the Professional Studies Committee within two weeks of receiving the Associate Dean's decision. The Committee will consider the appeal and its decision will be final, except in cases which involve a recommendation to withdraw on grounds of academic dishonesty. In such cases the Faculty Board will make a recommendation to Senate. After all internal avenues of appeal have been exhausted, an appeal may be made to the Grievance Board on grounds of procedure, as noted in the Senate Statement on Grievance, Discipline and Related Matters.

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Education Regulations & Policies Academic Dishonesty
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