Middlebury Handbook

Plagiarism 

All writing submitted for formal and informal assessment must be the student’s own work.  Plagiarism is passing off work that is not one’s own as if it were one's own. It is taking and presenting as one's own the ideas, research, writings, creations, or inventions of another. It makes no difference whether the source is a student or a professional in some field. For example, in written work, whenever as much as a sentence or key phrase is taken from the work of another without specific citation of the source, the issue of plagiarism arises. Plagiarism is a violation of intellectual honesty. 

Paraphrasing is the close restatement of another's idea using approximately the language of the original. Paraphrasing without acknowledgment of authorship is also plagiarism and is as serious a violation as an unacknowledged quotation. 

Intentional or unintentional failure to attribute facts that are not common knowledge (whether represented in textual, graphic, statistical, or visual form) also constitutes plagiarism.  

Cheating 

The term “cheating” includes providing, soliciting, or receiving assistance before or during an examination or quiz that is not explicitly authorized by the instructor of record. Sharing answers with another student, or receiving answers, possessing or using unauthorized material during an examination or quiz (e.g., notes, books, electronic devices) constitutes cheating. Similarly egregious violations of these standards include, but are not limited to: falsely claiming a technical error interfered with quiz taking; fraudulent possession of an examination or quiz prior to administration; obtaining a copy of an examination, quiz, or solution key prior to administration; taking an examination or quiz for another student; and persuading another person to take an examination or quiz for oneself. 

Duplicate Use of Written Work 

A paper submitted to meet the requirements of a particular course is assumed to be work completed for that course; the same paper, or substantially similar papers, may not be used to meet the requirements of two different courses, in the same or different terms, without the prior consent of each faculty member involved. Students incorporating similar material in more than one paper are required to confirm each professor's expectations in advance.