Academic offences are unacceptable.
They harm everyone, and their perpetrators display disregard or ignorance of the importance of honesty in the pursuit of learning. When allowed to go unchecked, they lower the morale of honest students and make a mockery of the hard work of grading. Here are suggestions to help reduce their incidence, or to improve the probability of successful prosecution when they do occur. Surprisingly few students seem to understand what constitutes plagiarism, or where discussion and co-operation in tackling an assignment turns into cheating. Tell your students at the beginning of the year how to avoid the offences most likely to occur in your class, and give them a handout sheet on the subject.