Sanctions vary from the relatively light (an “informal reprimand”) to severe (dismissal from the university) and typically involve both a grade sanction (a grade of 0 on the assignment, for example-regardless of the overall weight of the assignment or the extent of the compromised work within the assignment-or a failing grade in the course) and a disciplinary sanction (disciplinary probation until graduation, for example). Though it strives to ensure that sanctions are proportional under comparable circumstances, the panel also recognizes that no two cases are exactly the same. Sanctions will depend on the circumstances and severity of the offense. To get real value from your courses, do your own work and focus on learning rather than merely completing the assignment to collect points. Grades on assignments and in courses for which you have not completed your own work cheats students in the class who did the work themselves and will cheat a future employer, who will assume you have earned the degree you were awarded, that you have learned the knowledge and skills to which a degree should attest. Less intentional behavior may involve inadequate acknowledgement of the sources you used in writing a paper or take-home exam. Obvious cases of misconduct include submitting a paper you have not written, copying someone else’s homework, using someone else to complete work for you in an online course, collaborating on an assignment when individual effort is expected, fabricating data, altering a grade, or lifting passages from articles or websites without identifying the source. The acquisition and development of knowledge and skills are fundamental to a university education-part of what an Ohio State diploma certifies-and those goals are undermined by academic misconduct.

Course assignments aim to develop, extend, and measure your knowledge of the subject matter, along with your ability to think, analyze, solve problems, and communicate.

Hold your own cheats