Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in any way will not be tolerated in my courses. So, don’t even think about it. If you get caught, your future plans to attend any professional or graduate school are history before you even applied since most of the professional school do not admit students who have a history of cheating. Review the official UCLA policies on Academic Dishonesty if you are not clear about them.

Generally, every form of use of forbidden materials and tools will be regarded as act of academic dishonesty relating to homework, exams, quizzes or other written materials e.g. research papers. The instructor will forward the evidence to the Dean of Students, who determines after a brief hearing what the penalty will be. If convicted of academic dishonesty, you are usually forced to withdraw from the quarter and will be denied registration privileges for the following quarter as minimum penalty. As a result, you will lose at least six months of your life and ruined your future for being stupid enough to cheat. Be advised that both sides, the student trying to get an advantage over his/her peers this way, as well as the person aiding the cheating attempt will be treated the same way.

How can I avoid this? Follow the exam rules in terms of organization and tools permitted. Normally, you are asked to bring a pen, a ruler and a non-graphing calculator to the exam. You are not allowed to use a pager, personal CD player, cell phones, or other electronic devices during the exam. Other forms of academic dishonesty are the impersonation of someone in an examination or test, copying from another student, or making information available to another student.

If writing a research paper, many students are committing acts of academic dishonesty, knowingly or unknowingly by e.g.

copying a laboratory 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 for you without the knowledge and approval of the instructor.
using direct quotations or large sections of paraphrased material in a laboratory, research report, thesis, publication without appropriate acknowledgement.
fabricating or falsifying laboratory or research data.
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 purpose 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 of work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor(s).
unauthorized removal from the library, or deliberate concealment of, library material