How Harvard Applies Their Plagiarism Policy
Harvard University staff is sure that open exchange of ideas between all students plays an important role in the academic life being its essence: often only open discussion with others can help to fully process the information and create a concept.
That is why Harvard students are encouraged to keep such conversations with their professors and group mates on different topics: assignments or courses. At the same time, it is necessary to understand the borderline between discussions and relying on someone`s work.
The difference of Plagiarism and Collaboration
To ensure the proper use of other scholars` works, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences has come up with the following rules:
- Students need to distinguish their own ideas from information received from different sources (not only published ones but also received opinions from other people). To get academic credit, all papers, labs, coursework, etc. should belong to a student;
- All sources should be cited (even if you paraphrased the information). Quotations should be provided in a full form and cited within quotation marks;
- Students need to pay attention and comply with the policy on the collaboration of each field/discipline/course/assignment as they may differ;
- Collaboration is allowed (unless otherwise is stated) but needs to be indicated (general discussions and proofreading may not be acknowledged). Collaboration for examinations is strictly forbidden;
- College expects all students to read Harvard Guide to Using Sources. All responsibility for correctly cited information lies with the individual student. If you doubt in preparing your academic work, you should consult your instructor before submitting;
- Students, who submit their work not on their own or not clearly citing the sources, will undergo disciplinary actions and may be withdrawn from Harvard;
- Providing false or misleading information by students, signing official forms or petitions may lead to the requirement for college withdrawal.
Same Work Submission
Harvard expects that the work you submit for a course was done exclusively for this course with no other academic purpose. If the same (or similar) paper is submitted within the College for other disciplines or assignments, you should priory get the permission of your instructor. If no permission received, your actions will be considered plagiarism which may lead to disciplinary actions or the requirement to withdraw from the College. To avoid this, make sure that all permissions are written if the work needs to be submitted to more than one course within a semester. In case any questions appear, students have to consult their instructor or Resident Dean concerning this topic.
Tutoring Schools and Paper Writing Services Use
College understands and accepts the existence of hundreds of services on the web providing custom writing to all students. However, all materials submitted to a course should belong to a student only. Any undergraduate who makes use of such services buys papers from other students will undergo disciplinary actions. Any student who sells their notes, lectures, labs or papers or who is employed by such service or company will be undergone disciplinary actions as well. If a student wants to get financial compensation for private tutoring within Harvard University, priory-written permission of the Dean should be received.
Plagiarism Statistics
In spring, 2012 over 125 Harvard students were involved in a scandal being caught in cheating on the take-home examination. In 2010 and 2011, students should write just an essay, but in 2012 it was changed to a short answer format. Students stated that it facilitated their collaboration. The Dean called this case unprecedented and more than half of 279 students were withdrawn from College. Another case happened later in 2017 when more than 60 students from a computer class faced academic dishonesty charges. Thus, Harvard University highly recommends going through its Plagiarism Policy and being responsible for your actions concerning information usage.
