Academic misconduct violates University of California Regulation 51.10a.
The university labels each of the following activities as academic misconduct:
- Cheating. Whether on exams or homework assignments, this includes copying the work of other students, and asking or allowing another
student to do your work.
- Plagiarism. Also known as "academic theft," it refers to the use of another's ideas or words (or source code) without proper attribution or credit.
- Collusion. "Any student who knowingly or intentionally helps another student to perform any of the above acts of cheating
or plagiarism is subject to discipline for academic dishonesty. There is no distinction between those who cheat and plagiarize and those who willingly
allow it to occur."
Examples and quotations on this page are from a University of California pamphlet entitled The Academic Dishonesty Question: A Guide to
an Answer through Education, Prevention, Adjudication, and Obligation, a document that also details the penalties associated with these offenses.
This pamphlet is distributed by the Dean of Students office in the Student Administration Building.
If you wonder how this policy relates to computer programs, read a UCSB Computer Science Lecturer's view of
academic misconduct in programming projects.