1. Teamwork on an assignment or test
Unless specifically allowed by your prof, working together on an assignment or test is an academic offence! This includes collaborating with a classmate, a friend in another class, or someone outside of Dalhousie. If you’re not sure if working together is allowed, make sure to check your syllabus or ask your prof. Better safe than sorry!
2. Sharing your old work
So, you have a friend or sibling taking a course that you took last year? It may seem like you’re just helping them out, but sharing an old assignment or paper is an academic offence. Regardless of whether they copy your paper, simply sending it to them could create integrity problems for both of you.
3. Resubmitting an old paper
Have you been assigned a similar project twice? You’ll have to submit original work for each class if you want to avoid this academic offence! It’s hard to understand how using your own work can count as plagiarism, but Dalhousie considers it unfair for you to receive credit for the same work twice.
4. Uploading an assignment question online
This one could technically fall under unauthorized collaboration because accepting help from an anonymous Internet genius does count as collaboration. It’s worth mentioning separately because sometimes these forums advertise themselves as tutoring services—don’t fall for it! If you need a tutor, Dalhousie can match you up with another student.
You should also know that if a professor finds one of their questions online, websites like Chegg will hand over all the poster’s information including username, timestamps of the upload, and even IP address. It’s not worth the risk!
You can find more info on the Dalhousie website about plagiarism and other forms of cheating. And remember, if you ever need assistance with an academic integrity allegation, reach out to the Dalhousie Student Advocacy Service at dsas@dal.ca. We’re here to help you!