Academic Honesty

MIT expects all students and faculty to uphold high standards of academic honesty and personal conduct. True learning occurs only with honest effort

You may feel intense pressure to get high grades—to get into med school or law school, to land that New York internship, to please your parents. You may be on Academic Warning, needing to improve your grades. Under such pressure, using someone else's work may feel like the easier choice when you're facing mountains of work or don't understand the material.

If you find yourself tempted to cheat, stop; take a deep breath, and think of the big picture. Cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and other forms of academic dishonesty are considered serious offenses for which disciplinary penalties can be imposed.

MIT offers many sources to help you understand and practice academic honesty:

• Each subject syllabus should include information on what the instructor considers appropriate collaboration.
  
  
• Check the Learning to Learn site for a full discussion of academic integrity, including definitions, consequences, and advice on maintaining honesty.
  
  
• See the Institute's official policy statement in section 10.2 of MIT Policies and Procedures.
  
  
• The Academic Integrity Handbook prepared by the Dean for Undergraduate Education offers clear definitions, especially for plagiarism in coding.
  
  
• The Academic Guide for Undergraduates and Their Advisors includes a brief outline of possible consequences of academic dishonesty.