Centennial College Journalism Program Plagiarism, Fabrication and other acts of Academic Dishonesty POLICY The Journalism program at Centennial College was founded on the principles of honesty and truth in all forms of storytelling be they print, online, imaging, broadcast or magazine. Why? First, because our readers and audience demand accuracy and honesty about where the information they are consuming comes from; and second, because the industry – where journalism students are now or soon will be working -- insists on rigorous standards of truth and honesty in the news information that they convey to the public. It’s a matter of public trust, one that we believe deeply in. You need to be on board, as well. Centennial College’s Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy (AC101-07) can be found on the Intranet (http://intranet.centennialcollege.ca/policies/APPC-AcademicHonestyandPlagiarismPolicy.pdf). The Journalism program’s specific penalties are as follows: PLAGIARISM Plagiarizing is presenting someone else’s words, images or other work as your own without credit or attribution. Plagiarism includes: 1. the verbatim presentation of someone else’s work without proper credit or attribution; 2. a paraphrased version of someone else’s work without proper credit or attribution; 3. a combination of (1) and (2) without proper credit or attribution. Plagiarism is easy to do – even accidentally. Here are some examples: • Lifting material off the website of a scholarly magazine and pasting it into your own essay without proper attribution. • Using a news story from the Toronto Star as the basis for a radio newscast article you have to write, without completely rewriting it all in your own words, and using proper attribution. • “Borrowing” a copyrighted digital photo or image from the Internet for a Beat Reporting story illustration, without attribution. Clip Art and other royalty-free images and sound are permitted, however. • Adding copyrighted music or sound to a television project that you “borrowed” from an external source, without proper attribution or courtesy, etc. • Using a well-crafted turn of phrase from another source, in your own Observer story, without proper attribution. • In a page design course, it means copying another student's design, either by hand or electronically, in whole or in part, with or without the knowledge and/or consent of the other student. (If done with the consent or co-operation of another student, both students involved are subject to penalty.) And what is meant by proper attribution? It can be as simple as using quotation marks, if appropriate, and crediting the source in the same sentence as the attributed work. Even if the plagiarism was done “accidentally,” it is still theft, and unacceptable in the school and in the profession. Why do we take this so seriously? Because you won’t have learned what you need to learn to be a successful journalist, because it erodes the trust the public has for its sources of information and also because doing it will not only probably kill your career here, but it will make you unemployable in the “real” journalism industry in the outside world. Those who are found to have plagiarized in Journalism courses are subject to discipline as outlined below (see Penalties). FABRICATION Fabricating is deliberately falsifying any part of an assigned project using bogus information, and presenting the material as if totally genuine. That might mean everything from inventing a source and making up quotes, to pretending that someone you interview on camera is really an expert, when in fact they are your family members or a friend. It also applies to the image manipulation; i.e.Photoshop of an image, adding audio sound effects to a radio news report (without express permission from the editor), and other forms of altering reality, in print, broadcast or online. It is an act of dishonesty and is never justified. Those who are found to have fabricated in Journalism courses are subject to discipline as outlined below (see Penalties). IMPERSONATION Impersonation is deliberately pretending to be someone else when you are doing a story or trying to get an interview or conduct research. One example can be misrepresenting yourself when contacting a potential news source (for example, telling your source that you are representing the Toronto Star when you are doing a course assignment). A second example involves hiding the fact you are a journalist. Journalists should always identify themselves as journalists up front, particularly when online researching sources such as on Facebook or other forums or social media sites. It is a serious offence to pretend to be someone else or something else because it strikes at the heart of the foundation of honesty and truth that is at the core of our profession. The only exception to this policy might be for an undercover investigative story, when a journalist hides his or her identity, but this is only permitted in rare cases and under the direct permission of an editor or teacher VERIFICATION OF SOURCES Any or all students may be required to provide the name, full address, telephone number and/or e-mail address of any person said to have been used as a resource for an assignment. Any or all students may, on similar request, be required to provide documentary proof of printed or electronic (Internet) sources said to have been used for an assignment. The teacher may, at any time, consult one or more sources to verify information in a student’s assignment. The teacher may carry out spot checks of student assignments as part of the evaluation process. OTHER ACTS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Penalties for other acts of academic dishonesty will be governed by this policy. Such acts include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Cheating on an examination. 2. Submitting the same assignment to instructors in different courses without prior approval. 3. Stealing files from a college computer. 4. “Group work“ -- that is, using material gathered by another student or students and including it in your assignment as though it had been gathered by you. (For example, using material from a taped interview conducted by someone else without giving credit to the person who conducted the interview.) Similarly, a student who supplies such material to another student is also subject to penalty. Students who wish to work “in a pool” must have prior permission of the instructor. PROCEDURE Please see the Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy. It can be found at http://intranet.centennialcollege.ca/policies/APPC-AcademicHonestyandPlagiarismProcedures.pdf PENALTIES Any student found to have submitted an assignment containing plagiarism or fabrication in a course, with the exceptions noted in Point 5 below, shall be subject to the following penalties. First Offense: 1. The student will receive a grade of zero (no credit) on the assignment. 2. The student will not be permitted to complete another assignment to make up or the assignment found to contain plagiarism or fabrication. 3. The student will be asked to sign a Breach of Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy form. A copy of this form will be placed in the student’s file in the co-ordinator’s office and will remain in the file until the student ceases to be enrolled in the program. 4. A copy of the form will be placed in the Dean’s office, and remain on file. 5. Exceptions: If plagiarism or fabrication is found to have been committed in an assignment for one of the following courses — - JO-200 Reporting 3
- JO-210 Newspaper Laboratory 1 (Observer)
- JO-317 News for the Electronic Media 2 (TV News)
- JO-316 Newspaper Laboratory 2 (Observer)
- JO-313 Beat Reporting
— the student will be awarded a failing (F) grade in the course . If plagiarism, fabrication or other Academic Honesty violations are found to have been committed in JO-350 (Field Placement), the student will be awarded a failing (F) grade in the course and be suspended indefinitely from the program.
Second offence while in the Journalism program: A second offence in any course (not including those mentioned in bold above) will result in failure in the course and indefinite suspension from the Journalism program. Appeals: All decisions can be appealed. |
