Case studies
Case 1
Chi Wai did some research on the Internet and found some useful sources for his assignment. He used the ideas from these sources but forgot to cite the sources in the text of his assignment and provide a reference list.
Did Chi Wai demonstrate academic honesty?No. Failing to acknowledge the source of ideas, either intentionally or unintentionally, is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism).
Case 2
Mia searched the Internet and found a useful diagram. She modified the diagram and included it in her assignment, but did not cite and reference the source.
Did Mia demonstrate academic honesty?No. Failing to acknowledge sources is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism). Even with her modification of the diagram, Mia should have noted that it is adapted from an Internet source that she identified. ‘Sources’ include all kinds of sources: text, images, video and so on.
Case 3
Nick handed in the same assignment for more than one subject/course for credit.
Did Nick demonstrate academic honesty?No. Handing in the same work (even just a portion) for more than one subject/course for credit is a form of academic dishonesty. Even if it is your own work, you still need to acknowledge the source. Otherwise, it is considered self-plagiarism.
Case 4
Tom handed in the same assignment which was submitted during his first attempt of a course when he retook the same course. The assignment in his first attempt was, however, not marked and did not contribute to the final course grade of his first attempt of the course.
Did Tom demonstrate academic honesty?Yes. Tom’s submission in the first attempt did not contribute to his final course grade, and it will not be considered as the same material submitted for credit in more than one assessment task without proper acknowledgement. Yet, we strongly recommend that students in a similar situation should consult the course leader well in advance to avoid any misunderstanding and always acknowledge the source.
Case 5
Xiaobo copied his assignment from a classmate’s work, put his own name on it and submitted it to his teacher.
Did Xiaobo demonstrate academic honesty?No. Presenting someone else’s academic work as your own is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism).
Case 6
Kit gave Suki his assignment and Suki copied it, put her own name on it, and submitted it to her teacher.
Did Kit and Suki demonstrate academic honesty?No. Allowing another person to copy your work, as Kit did here, is a form of academic dishonesty. In addition, presenting someone else’s academic work as your own, as Suki did, is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism).
Case 7
Chloe and Eason worked on an individual assignment together. They each did a different part of the assignment. Then, they shared their work, put their own name on the assignment and individually submitted the work to their teacher.
Did Chloe and Eason demonstrate academic honesty?No. Presenting someone else’s academic work as exclusively your own, as Chloe and Eason both did in this case, is a form of academic dishonesty. In addition, allowing another person to copy your work, as both Chloe and Eason did, is a form of academic dishonesty. It involves both plagiarism and collusion.
Case 8
Ming and Doris discussed some ideas about how to do an individual assignment. Then, they completed the assignment on their own, without looking at each other’s work. They put only their own name on their assignment and individually submitted their work to their teacher.
Did Ming and Doris demonstrate academic honesty?Yes. Ming and Doris completed the assignment on their own, without looking at each other’s notes or each other’s assignment. The work that they submitted was their own, so this case does not involve a form of academic dishonesty.
Case 9
Peng reported that he was contacted by Sasha via a mobile app to ask for advice on examination questions during an online examination.
Did Sasha demonstrate academic honesty?No. Communication in any form without authorization during an examination, as Sasha did, is a form of academic dishonesty.
Case 10
Douglas felt that he did not get along with his groupmates and decided to only put his name in a group project for submission.
Did Douglas demonstrate academic honesty?No. Students should honestly present the work of a group project with names of the concerned group members. The misrepresentation of a piece of group work as one’s own individual work, as Douglas did, is a form of academic dishonesty.
Case 11
Daniel encountered a problem converting his answers into a PDF file for submission to Canvas and contacted his friend for help during an online examination. The chat history showed that Daniel only asked his friend to convert the files.
Did Daniel demonstrate academic honesty?No. Communication in any form without authorization during an examination, as Daniel did, is a form of academic dishonesty.
Case 12
Sam posted a message on the Internet seeking for “ghost writer” for his assignment. He then submitted the essay he received from the “ghost writer” as his own work.
Did Sam demonstrate academic honesty?No. Using services provided by a third party in graded coursework or at a test or an examination, as Sam did, is a form of academic dishonesty (contract cheating).
Case 13
Jingyi and Tiffany were assigned to the same group for a group assignment. Each person worked on specific portions of the assignment and then a combined version was submitted. The Turnitin similarity index for the submitted group assignment reflected that 40% of copied materials were submitted by a paper previously. Upon investigation, the copied materials were from the portions written by Tiffany.
Did Jingyi and Tiffany demonstrate academic honesty?No. Failing to acknowledge the source of ideas, either intentionally or unintentionally, as Tiffany did, is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism).
In addition, other students in the same group would also be responsible for the content of the submission as their names were printed on the submitted work. Hence, Jingyi is also considered to have committed academic dishonesty in this case.
Case 14
Peter formed a chat group to discuss with his fellow coursemates the answers during an online examination.
Did Peter demonstrate academic honesty?No. Communication in any form without authorization during an examination as well as working with other students during an individual assessment, as Peter did, are forms of academic dishonesty (unauthorized communication during assessment, collusion). Depending on the case, it may even involve the use of unauthorized material in assessment.
Case 15
Mary was found to have put on her Bluetooth headsets during the quiz. She was asked to pass the headsets to the invigilator but she refused to do so.
Did Mary demonstrate academic honesty?No. What Mary did is considered as the possession/use of unauthorized material in assessment, and even unauthorized communication during assessment. Moreover, refusal to comply with assessment instructions may also lead to disciplinary actions.
Case 16
Susan prepared well for the final examination and brought her notebook as sketch paper for a closed-book examination.
Did Susan demonstrate academic honesty?No. Use of unauthorized material for an assessment, as Susan did, is a form of academic dishonesty. Students who need sketch paper in an examination may seek assistance from invigilators.
Case 17
June was found to have placed her mobile phone on the desk during an examination. She explained to the invigilator that she only used the phone to read the time.
Did June demonstrate academic honesty?No. Use of unauthorized material for an assessment, as June did, is a form of academic dishonesty. Students may seek assistance from invigilators.
Case 18
Heather left the examination venue before the end of an in-hall online examination. She realized that she could still update the answers and submitted the revised answers.
Did Heather demonstrate academic honesty?No. Students are not allowed to continue the examination after leaving the examination venue. What Heather did is a form of academic dishonesty (unauthorized access to an examination/test paper).
Case 19
Ray prepared 10 sets of materials for his experiment for his final year project. After the experiment, he found out he had obtained insufficient data. He made up a few sets of data for the report as he ran out of time.
Did Ray demonstrate academic honesty?No. Use of fabricated data claimed to be obtained by experimental work, or data copied or obtained by unfair means, as Ray did, is unethical and a form of academic dishonesty.
Case 20
Andrew had a stomach ache and did not attend the examination. He did not visit the medical doctor and submitted a fraudulent medical certificate for a mitigation arrangement. Andrew was questioned by the course leader about the suspected fraudulent medical certificate and the course leader decided not to arrange a make-up examination for Andrew.
Did Andrew demonstrate academic honesty?No. Use of fraudulent documents and/or information to gain an advantage for any academic work, including but not limited to the submission of a fraudulent medical certificate for a request of make-up examination or test, is a form of academic dishonesty. Moreover, Andrew may be liable to prosecution for forging the medical certificate.
Case 21
Rana used ChatGPT for ideas to write an essay but the course leader explicitly banned the use of Generative AI (GenAI) tools for this essay. The course leader found the depth of content in Rana’s essay was not comparable with other students and met Rana to re-examine her submission. Rana was unable to explain the steps how she came up with the content for her essay.
Did Rana demonstrate academic honesty?No. If the use of GenAI is not allowed in an assessment task, using it in the assessment task, even if it is cited, is a form of academic dishonesty (the use of unauthorized material for assessment).
Case 22
William turned to ChatGPT for ideas to write an essay as his course leader had mandated using Generative AI (GenAI) tools. William was unsure about the way to cite the use of GenAI and thought he could leave the content unreferenced, assuming that it was a mandate to use GenAI for the essay. William did not verify the content generated by ChatGPT either.
Did William demonstrate academic honesty?No. Although the use of GenAI is allowed in an assessment task, failing to properly acknowledge the ChatGPT’s work, as William did, is a form of academic dishonesty (plagiarism).
While GenAI may be an effective tool to complement students’ studies, students must verify the information provided by the tool, or they may risk using 'fabricated' data.