Students are most likely to copy when they feel academic pressure or time stress. There are a lot of situations where the ethical cost of copying or sharing your work illicitly seems a lot less important than the intense pressures of life on you or your friends. Perhaps something unfortunate has happened this semester, and you feel as though you are drowning under a mountain of work that you can’t focus on. Maybe you want to help a friend who has just been through a rough time.

Believe it or not, your instructors understand that these sorts of things happen. They went through 20-25 years of schooling to get where they are—they know how this all works. And our experience has been that instructors are more likely to show leniency if you contact them before you submit the work than after they have identified an academic integrity violation.

No matter which campus you attend, there are lots of resources to help students. You can find links to these resources online, but here are some to get you started. You can also discuss any issues with your academic adviser.

Penn State Student Affairs

• Community and Belonging
• Involvement and Student Life
• Health and Wellness
• Leadership and Career Success
• Support, Safety, and Conduct
• Facilities and Spaces
• Get Urgent Help

Resources for World Campus Students  

• Care and Concern
• Career Resources
• Conduct
• LGBTQA Information for students
• Mental Health Services
• Services for Military and Veteran
• Student Involvement Resources

If you are really stuck, remember that a 0% or a late penalty might be better than the consequences of an academic integrity violation.

When you take a test, unless otherwise stated, the point of the exercise is to see how much you know about the material, without help from another person, sources, resources, tutors, or aids.

Historically, cheating on a test included:

• Using prohibited materials that include the answers
• Copying another’s answers
• Getting a copy of the test questions when that is prohibited 

Today, the most common examples of cheating on a test include:

• Having someone else answer questions for you
• Using artificial intelligence to answer questions
• Using technology to share questions or answers

You've probably known since elementary school that you should not do these things. Still, new technology can introduce new testing environments and new opportunities to cheat, so here is a list of things to do and not to do:

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, DO:

• Follow course and assessment instructions (remember to check the course syllabus before every assessment)
• Complete all coursework entirely on your own
• Use only the tools, sources, and resources that have been permitted by your instructor
• Take the test yourself, without help from anyone else or artificial intelligence
• Identify the source if your instructor allows you to use  ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person or by technology.
• Follow appropriate proctoring directions. If you take an exam online and you need to sit at a certain location (such as a desk), do a complete room scan, take the exam in completely silent conditions without talking, etc., then do it!
• Follow your instructor's directions when it comes to take-home exams. If you are told you can work together on the answers, then do so, but only if you are given permission
• Ask questions about academic integrity before submitting work.

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, DON’T:

• Use artificial intelligence tools or other browser extensions during the test
• Assist another with any coursework or assessment
• Submit false or fabricated information
• Lie or give your instructor fake documentation when asking for an opportunity to make up course assessments
• Capture, post, or share any exam content
• Use someone else's answers to complete the test
• "Study" with someone who has already taken the test.
• Pretend to be someone else or help someone else complete coursework