Academic dishonesty is a form of cheating that occurs within an educational setting. It includes plagiarism, data falsification and contract cheating. Plagiarism is claiming another's work as one's own. Data falsification includes making false claims about research performed, including selective reporting of results to exclude inconvenient data to generating bogus data. It occurs in kindergarten and college; all too often graduate students and professors commit academic dishonesty. Contract cheating involves students putting assessments out to tender and having original work produced for them in return.

Punishments for academic dishonesty vary according to the age of the party involved and the nature of the infraction. In high school, a standard penalty for cheating is a failing grade, in college it can result in expulsion. In rare instances, college professors have been fired when it was discovered that they plagiarized during college or graduate school.

All parties involved in the dishonesty—not just the individual whose grade is increased by it—can be punished. In a 2002 plagiarism scandal at the University of Virginia, 45 students were expelled and three graduates' degrees were revoked.

The scientific peer review process places considerable reliance on the moral integrity of the participants, and therefore academic dishonesty often goes unnoticed. If found out, however, the penalties can be severe -- it can be the end of the perpetrator's career.

See also

• Intellectual dishonesty
• XF
• Honor code

External links

• U.Va. plagiarism scandal ends with 45 dismissals
• Free Plagiarism Checker - Teachers can find out whether students have copied their work from the Web; authors can search for plagiarism of their work
• Plagium: Online Plagiarism Tracker Free online plagiarism checker.