Academic misconduct can have severe consequences for those found guilty of it. It can lead to academic suspension or dismissal and can ruin the student’s career prospects. If you are a student, you can be charged with academic misconduct if your action or behavior undermines the school’s integrity or misrepresent facts. Depending on how serious the offense is and how frequently you committed it, academic misconduct can include a failing grade on examinations or assignments to dismissal from school. Additionally, academic misconduct can make it hard to get accepted into another university or a graduate school. In fact, securing a job following graduation can also be challenging because of your records. Because such much is at stake in disciplinary proceedings that involve academic misconduct, the student defendant should consider hiring an education lawyer for misconduct who can give them legal advice and guidance. Below are examples of academic misconduct that can lead to harsh sanctions:
Cheating on Examinations
This form of academic misconduct can take place when you break the school’s ethical rules to get an unreasonable advantage over other students. Examples of cheating include copying the exam answers of another student, bringing unauthorized notes, using electronic devices while taking an examination, fabricating data for paper or projects, and getting help from others while taking an exam. Such activities are both illegal and unethical. Cheating on examinations can lead to serious consequences like disciplinary warnings, suspension, or dismissal from school. Also, those who are found guilty of cheating can be sued for damages in court.
Plagiarizing Assignments
Plagiarism occurs when somebody presents another person’s work as their own without giving credit to them. It includes the use of another person’s ideas without giving proper attribution, copying portions from a book and not giving citations, as well as submitting a paper that another student has written. Punishments for plagiarism can range from getting a zero grade or being dismissed from the school. Even if you aren’t formally accused of this misconduct your reputation may suffer when your professors suspect you of dishonesty.
Changing Course Materials
Changing course materials is usually done to get higher grades than others. It includes changing, taking away, or adding information from academic sources like lecture notes, textbooks, and essays. It includes the work of another student without providing them with credit or stealing the identity of another person by utilizing their name on assignments they didn’t complete.
