Common Curriculum in English at Loyola
Statement on Academic Honesty
The Loyola University Undergraduate Bulletin forbids plagiarism along with cheating and misrepresentation, stating that the penalty for such actions may be a failing grade in the course--and possible suspension or dismissal from the university upon a second offense. Students who help others cheat are subject to the same penalties. Plagiarism can include copying sentences, phrases, or key terms without using quotation marks or mentioning the source; paraphrasing someone else's argument without acknowledging that person; and borrowing a thesis or idea without crediting the source.
While the Bulletin states that students should complete assignments "without unauthorized data or help of any kind," it does not forbid their consulting with peers to understand their own ideas more fully and express them more effectively. Such authorized help may come from tutors in the Writing Across the Curriculum labs as well as from others who wish their peers to become more mature thinkers and writers. Acceptable help typically includes discussing with writers the organization, development, and logic of their arguments as well as working with them to identify errors in grammar, mechanics, and spelling. Unacceptable help, another form of plagiarism, occurs when the tutor or friend writes any part of the paper or supplies its ideas.
Faculty members are to report to the dean of the student's college any instance of plagiarism and the manner in which it was resolved. The Department of English follows these guidelines in its courses and supports the right of faculty to fail students who plagiarize, cheat, or misrepresent work as their own. The appropriate grade for such students in English courses is F.