Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

Overview of Plagiarism at Udacity

Defining Plagiarism

Any act claiming or implying another person’s work as your own.

Examples:

• Submitting a project you didn’t create to copying code into a program without citation.
• Any action in which you misleadingly claim an idea or piece of work as your own, when it is not.

Copying and Combining Code

**Using another person’s work in your own work **

Examples:

• Following a guide that someone may have created for completing a Udacity project, whether from a video or website.
• Taking a part of someone else's project and changing some variable and function names, - regardless of whether you give the source credit or not.
• If you have not done the work yourself and attempt to mask it.

Using Someone Else’s Code to Inform your Solution

You should never knowingly view someone else’s work until you have completed the project yourself - nor should you share your project with someone who has not yet completed theirs. However, once you have completed your project, you are encouraged to see how other people have approached the same challenge in a different way. This allows you to compare your different strategies and ways of thinking.

Submitting Identical Works Post Collaboration

If you decide to work together with another student on a project, you are then expected to write your code separately. Submitting identical projects or submissions with identical portions is considered plagiarism as described in the Udacity Honor Code.

Seeking Help without violating the Honor Code

To be clear, you are encouraged to seek help by talking to Mentors on Knowledge, other students, and alumni. You’re also welcome to use frameworks and libraries to assist you, as long as they aren't removing important goals from the project that you should know how to do yourself.

If you are struggling and need help, we encourage you to ask technical questions on Knowledge to explore why your approach is not the correct approach. Mentors typically provide answers within an hour of questions being posted, so you can expect quick guidance on your question.

If you’re ever in doubt as to whether or not something would be considered plagiarism, ask a Mentor on Knowledge. Our goal is for every student to graduate armed with a toolbox of skills that they can apply across a variety of concepts and problems,. The best way to achieve this is to ensure every student does their own work and is able to demonstrate their skills in each project submission.