Academic honesty question

[Telly33]

I'm taking two classes this summer, a Cultural Anthro class and Comp II. They both require a research paper at the end of the semester. Is there anything unethical about using the same paper for both classes?


Thanks.

[sklineho]

As long as you wrote it I wouldn't think so. I've never heard of any rule forbidding this.

[mrs.b]

What school? Carefully peruse their policies if you're determined to do this. Personally, I would find it cheating. Don't ask me why, I can't always define my arguments with logic. But I would find it dishonest. I've written papers on the same topics before to save myself some time, but only used research resources I found the first time around and always wrote original work for each assignement. How long does it honestly take you to write a paper, so long as the research is done? While it is highly unlikely, on the freak chance I got caught and lowscored (or worse, if it does violate a policy I had not yet found) was worth the extra hour or two spent writing the new paper. Research was always the time-consuming part, at least in my experience.

[armyb77]

I concur with mrs.b. Most schools have academic policies that outline what is considered cheating at their institution. If nothing is mentioned in the policy, I would ask your academic advisor. I would say though; if you are asking the question, then you know the right answer. You have already determined that it goes against your personal morals and values, you are just looking for justification to adjust your ethical standards. Don't compromise, put in the work and it will pay off in the end with a great sense of accomplishment!

Good luck on your studies!

[UptonSinclair]

I would ask the writing instructor. I have read some class descriptions that encourage the practice and others that discourage the practice. Better safe than sorry.

[clep3705]

Many schools forbid reusing a paper. I'm not aware of anything in the Bible/Quran/Torah/Tipitaka/Thirteen Classics/Vedas/U.S. Constitution or any laws passed in the United States forbidding a student from reusing his or her own work. I find absolutely nothing whatsoever dishonest about this practice. If anything, it is praiseworthy for being efficient. Some academicians disagree. If it was two different schools, I would without hesitation say reuse your own work, particularly if at least one submission was paper only, no electronic copy.

If you have to submit a paper electronically, some schools submit them to a site to see if they have been previously submitted. That would be a problem if similarities were detected by a computer system.

Reusing one's own work isn't something reasonable people are going to reach a unanimous consensus on.

Another ethical issue that comes up with colleges is when you take courses at school A, then take courses at school B, and later return to school A. School A technically requires that you not only divulge your attendance at school B, but provide an official transcript from school B. Whether you made a 0.0 or 4.0 at school B, I don't think it is any of school A's business unless you choose to tell them. The academic world sees certain things differently, partly from a in loco parentis perspective.

Hey, I have an idea! Can we devote more pages to a discussion of ethics than the Duggars?

[Lindagerr]

I think Mrs.b has it right. I would have no problem submitting two papers using the same sources just write them on a different slant.

I also agree with clep3705 I perused the Dugger topic once when it was 1 or 2 pages long I have watched it grow and can't believe there is that much to talk about concerning that family.:confused: I have not bothered to go back and read it. I do think Ethics is something we have to keep in mind on this forum. I know we have had some heated discussions on this in the past. I just want to be sure that people know we are not sharing answers to test or ways to get a degree without doing the work. We need to keep our forum ethical and give helpful guidance to others using alternate college credits.

[cookderosa]

I'm sure if you ASK they'll say no. You should scour the academic policy. I'd simply add a twist, and change it as I went. Write it for the more demanding class, and then re-write it (paraphrase what you already wrote) for the second class. In the same way you'd paraphrase something you found in an encyclopedia.
A long time ago, when I was a TESC student, I used a free online plagiarism checker similar to Turn It In. I'd never used one before, so when I did my draft, I ran it through just to be sure nothing was flagged. Later, when I did the final copy and ran it through, it flagged a lot of my content!!!! My only theory, and I've never been able to say for sure, is that it logged my draft in some way. I remember asking many people about it and no one could tell me for sure- but I've stopped using them. Anyway, my whole point, is that you might have 2 teachers running your paper through such a program, so you want to keep the wording original both times. (same sources, same content are fine in my view)

[ldp103]

I used a paper for two different classes before. If both your classes is using turn it in then your paper might show a high score of being plagiarized for the second class, because it is picking up your first essay. I had to reword the second one to get the score lower

[marianne202]

Jennifer is correct. Most schools use some sort of plagiarism program to check written papers. If you submit as a draft or final version and re-run it, it will flag is even if the author is the same. As a college instructor we tell students it is ok to re-use their work, but they must get the permission of the second instructor they indent to submit it to. Most of the time depending on the type of class they will be ok with it, say one is a Comp class focusing on the mechanics and flow while maybe the other class is an ethics class focusing on the content and ethical foundation for the argument presented. Each would be focusing on different aspects and thus grading different aspects. This means that you wouldn't submit to the first instructor, fix their grammar issues then resubmit it with their notes and changes for a better grade in another class. I would recommend you ask the instructor, chances are the advisor won't know or care. Also that way the instructor won't fail you for pliagarism if it comes back ranked high for such content, she will know it is because your paper was already submitted. I have done this in the past and my instructors have been happy to let me resubmit it, as long as it meets their criteria, it was my work and research. Good luck!