One of the most common forms of cheating is plagiarism, using another’s words or ideas without proper citation. When students plagiarize, they usually do so in one of the following ways:


  1.  Using another writer’s words without proper citation. If you use another writer’s words, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation.
  2. Using another writer’s ideas without proper citation. When you use another author’s ideas, you must indicate with footnotes or other means where this information can be found. Your instructors want to know which ideas and judgments are yours and which you arrived at by consulting other sources. Even if you arrived at the same judgment on your own, you need to acknowledge that the writer you consulted also came up with the idea.
  3. Citing your source, but reproducing the exact words of a printed source without quotation marks. This makes it appear that you have paraphrased rather than borrowed the author’s exact words.
  4. Borrowing the structure of another author’s phrases or sentences without crediting the author from whom it came. This kind of plagiarism usually occurs out of laziness: it is easier to replicate another writer’s style than to think about what you have read and then put it in your own words.
  5. Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper or using someone else’s outline to write your own paper.
  6. Using a paper writing ‘service’ or having a friend write the paper for you. Regardless of whether you pay a stranger or have a friend do it, it is a breach of academic honesty to hand in work that is not your own or use parts of another student’s paper.
  7. In computer programming classes, borrowing computer code from another student and presenting it as your own. When original computer code is a requirement for a class, it is a violation of the school’s policy if students submit work they did not create themselves

Note: The guidelines that define plagiarism also apply to information secured on internet websites. Proper citation of Internet and artificial intelligence (AI) sources is required, specifying exactly where and how the referenced information can be accessed.


Exams


Another common form of cheating involves test-taking. Copying from the answer key, using notes (unless expressly allowed by the teacher), altering an exam for regrading, obtaining an advance copy of the examination, or hiring a surrogate test-taker are all violations of Bridgeway Academy Policy. 


What happens in a case of suspected academic misconduct?

  • Disciplinary Warning: verbal or written notification that the student has not met the Academy’s standards of conduct, and that a repeated offense will result in more serious disciplinary action. In some extenuating circumstances, the warning stage may be skipped and the student will be put on disciplinary probation. However, in most cases the warning stage is an opportunity for the student to understand their mistake, learn from it, and grow. The academic advisor will help support the family and student through this stage. 
  • Disciplinary Probation: an action that places conditions on the student’s continued enrollment in the Academy, including the statement that further violation of Bridgeway Academy policies will likely result in Academic Withdrawal.
  • Academic Withdrawal: a written statement notifying a student that their enrollment at Bridgeway Academy has been terminated for violating Academy policy.