Zero Tolerance for plagiarism

Here at FIT, we have a Zero Tolerance Policy. This means that any form of plagiarism will be treated seriously and can result in expulsion. Academic honesty is serious, especially in the computer science department.

What is plagiarism? It is the act of taking another’s work and representing it as your own. Whether it is copying someone else’s essay or even copying sentences from passages without proper citing and quotation marks.

Examples:

• Copying code off the internet and passing it as your own.
• Presenting other people’s code in yours without any references.
• Having a teacher or any other students write code for you that you submit as your own.

In the computer science field, the matter of plagiarism comes up countless times. Facebook, Google – any of the big corporations; all have at one time or another been accused, or have accused another firm. I’m sure most of you saw the movie The Social Network. In it, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was sued for stealing ideas from HarvardConnect.com.  However, the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, denied all accusations. Since then, Facebook has encountered many more accusations.  For example, there has been talk that Facebook stole the idea for their latest addition, Facebook Timeline.

Apple has filed cases against Samsung for stealing intellectual properties used in their tablets and smart phones. In addition, Apple also had a case with Google about them “stealing” from Apple’s iOS. These cases are fun for us to read and learn about. However, they can be costly to each of the companies involved.

No matter what reason you may encounter, I suggest that you don’t plagiarize as the consequences leads to severe punishment. It is better if you consult with your professors and write your own work. Even if it is late, it is still better than cheating.