# Plagiarism - rat out fellow student or keep quiet **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2015, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444 "2015-10-22T10:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/81 "2015-10-23T23:41:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Snitches aren’t cool. > > There are a few exceptions involving criminal behavior where its necessary. > > Not for Plagiarism. the teachers will figure it out on their own. This won’t be the only time that kid cheats in school. Would one of those exceptions be working in a forensics lab? Where, you know, an analyst might be fabricating data? How about a quality control lab? For drugs or food? How about in a brokerage firm? Or an investment bank? Plenty of fraud there that really hurts people. What about just your everyday co-worker, whose refusal to complete tasks keeps everyone from getting the job done? Going to the boss, and if that doesn’t work to her boss, and if that does work whistleblowing is not easy, seldom successful, and often disastrous the w-ber, but sometimes it has to be done, and we have to learn how to wo/man up somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/82 "2015-10-23T23:51:09Z")
Yes, because the integrity and reputation of the school is also at stake. In 2002 at Piper high school in Piper Ks, a teacher flunked a group of kids because of cheating. The teacher was put under pressure to change it but stood her ground. In the end she was forced to resign. Well the [National news](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/14/us/school-cheating-scandal-tests-a-town-s-values.html?pagewanted=all) caught the story and it went out everywhere so then the whole country knew about their school. Also ( **please read - this is interesting** ) at Kansas State University the head of the University called a meeting of all the students there from Piper High School and warned them that they will be under careful observation and to not try cheating there. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/83 "2015-10-24T02:05:48Z")
Unless someone is going to die or it actually my job to catch and bust cheaters I wouldn’t say anything. The honor code can’t prove your son wasn’t too lazy to prove someone was cheating so there is no chance of him getting rolled up when the other person goes down. I own a distillery. I know that we uphold the highest standards in cleanliness and we go above and beyond in our monitoring. That being said when I tour other people’s places I see things being “cleaned” with a garden hose and no chemicals just waiting until the water runs out clear. I know people who aren’t sure how much they produce and are eyeballing it. But there are several federal agencies regulating my industry and it not my job to police people so I don’t do anything, plus these distilleries have been open for way longer then I have. The closest I’ve come to ratting was I wanted to copy what another company was doing so I called the feds to ask how they got their approval, it turns out that they hadn’t been approved for that activity and are now under investigation. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/84 "2015-10-24T02:22:25Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I own a distillery. I know that we uphold the highest standards in cleanliness and we go above and beyond in our monitoring. Do you, personally? Or do you trust your well qualified and trained micro technicians to do so? If one of them routinely failed to change PPE, or skimped on the filtering time, or took samples only from the valve that was easier to reach instead of rotating through all of them, would you expect your other technicians to promptly rat them out to you? > [@Oredigger77](#): > > … it turns out that they hadn’t been approved for that activity and are now under investigation. Slow smug smile Ain’t karma a bitch ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/85 "2015-10-24T02:41:02Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Do you, personally? Or do you trust your well qualified and trained micro technicians to do so? If one of them routinely failed to change PPE, or skimped on the filtering time, or took samples only from the valve that was easier to reach instead of rotating through all of them, would you expect your other technicians to promptly rat them out to you? We’re a small distillery that’s only been selling product for 5 months there are only two of us that work the equipment and my partner is way more anal then I am. That being said once we have employees my job is to build the systems to ensure they are doing their jobs. Of course I’d appreciate a heads up that someone wasn’t doing their job but first off its my fault they were able to not do their job and secondly I would probably also fire the rat. Have people sneaking around behind other people , watching what they are doing and ratting on them is bad for morale. We’ve got a couple of people who love to report when they think so and so isn’t doing their job as soon as they are replaceable they’ll be the first people let go. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/86 "2015-10-24T02:58:24Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Reply to the post in question, but cite it correctly. > > IME plagiarizing from Wiki is not the mark of the expert. Thus it tends to be self-limiting. > > Regards, > Shodan This is what I would do. Teacher will probably catch it anyway. Let’s hope. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/87 "2015-10-24T12:49:42Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Of course I’d appreciate a heads up that someone wasn’t doing their job but first off its my fault they were able to not do their job and secondly I would probably also fire the rat. Have people sneaking around behind other people , watching what they are doing and ratting on them is bad for morale. This is even worse for morale IMHO. I would never feel comfortable in an environment that would fire me for doing the right thing. That’s no way to build aa positive work culture. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/88 "2015-10-24T13:04:58Z")
Well, I learn something every time I visit this board. Today I learned that there are a lot of dopers who are a lot more casual about honesty than I would have imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/89 "2015-10-24T13:10:05Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Well, I learn something every time I visit this board. Today I learned that there are a lot of dopers who are a lot more casual about honesty than I would have imagined. I know what you mean. It turns out that there are Dopers who I did not previously recognize as quite so sanctimonious. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/90 "2015-10-24T14:41:39Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > This is even worse for morale IMHO. I would never feel comfortable in an environment that would fire me for doing the right thing. That’s no way to build aa positive work culture. I have to agree. At my job, if someone else doesn’t do their job properly, it almost inevitably becomes a task for my level of employee to fix. So, when I see something not being done up to standard, I say something to the person. If they don’t respond to that, then it’s straight to their boss. If they can’t be bothered to do the job right, they need to be gone. Now, I usually only worry about it when the problem is going to affect me. But I feel no obligation to assist you in crimes I didn’t plan out. If you’re a shitty offender who can’t cover your tracks, don’t expect me to shelter you or take a fall for you. And if you think you’re gonna give me stitches because you suck at getting away with stuff, you’ll probably find that more than one of us will need a doctor before it’s said and done. So, yeah, I vote to turn her in. It sounds like she’s making life a pain in the ass for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/91 "2015-10-24T16:17:30Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > You live in a very paranoid world, don’t you? Well…you tell me. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/92 "2015-10-24T16:22:21Z")
I’m just realizing something…is the post onto a message board, as in a group discussion? If so, I’d just blow it off totally, and tell my son to start to chill. A group discussion in re class doesn’t warrant any citation. That kind of stuff is what law v. spirit of the law is all about. If it is in an academic paper or published, of course give a cite. If one of the abysmal “here is the question; every student needs to make x posts, and respond to X of them”, no way. Unless, of course, the poster is saying “It just came to me…”; even then, he should be ignored or ridiculed, not reported. A discussion board is a fucking discussion board, not, NOT, an academic paper. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/93 "2015-10-24T16:28:23Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Unless someone is going to die or it actually my job to catch and bust cheaters I wouldn’t say anything. The honor code can’t prove your son wasn’t too lazy to prove someone was cheating so there is no chance of him getting rolled up when the other person goes down. i think you’re missing the point if an honor code. If someone agree to abide but such a code, which you do by enrolling in an instiution that has one, then you have an ethical obligation to live up to it. The question of “getting away with it” doesn’t enter into the equation. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/94 "2015-10-24T16:56:57Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I would think that it is your dilemma. He’s your son. Did he raise himself? What would you do? No, not my dilemma, he is 20 and grown. I can tell him what I think, I can listen to him, we can discuss all the points made here, but ultimately it is his decision. He doesn’t even need to tell me - although I know he will. My opinion is he should say something but it isn’t an easy decision. My reason for it is because I think it better she get caught while it’s small and the consequences aren’t so bad. I know way too many people who think small things don’t matter, not realizing that the cumulative effect is damaging, or that small things lead to progressively bigger things. Nip it in the bud. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/95 "2015-10-24T17:18:08Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I’m just realizing something…is the post onto a message board, as in a group discussion? If so, I’d just blow it off totally, and tell my son to start to chill. A group discussion in re class doesn’t warrant any citation. That kind of stuff is what law v. spirit of the law is all about. If it is in an academic paper or published, of course give a cite. If one of the abysmal “here is the question; every student needs to make x posts, and respond to X of them”, no way. Unless, of course, the poster is saying “It just came to me…”; even then, he should be ignored or ridiculed, not reported. A discussion board is a fucking discussion board, not, NOT, an academic paper. It is stated quite clearly in the syllabus that the discussion board is to be treated the same as any other assignment. If it is not in the textbook (it isn’t), not common knowledge (probably not for most people), and not your own idea (obviously not if it is almost word for word off two different web sites) then it is plagiarism. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/96 "2015-10-24T17:21:24Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Well, I learn something every time I visit this board. Today I learned that there are a lot of dopers who are a lot more casual about honesty than I would have imagined. I know, I was expecting it to be closer to 90 - 10 in favor of turning her in. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/97 "2015-10-24T17:59:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > This is even worse for morale IMHO. I would never feel comfortable in an environment that would fire me for doing the right thing. That’s no way to build aa positive work culture. This^^^^. A “keep your head down and your mouth shut” culture is not going to attract and retain the best and brightest, nor is it going to encourage employees to take an active role in the success of your business. Moreover, it can prove very expensive to you, particularly in regulated businesses such as distilleries. If employees don’t feel comfortable telling YOU about potential problems, one of their possible options is to submit an anonymous complaint to the regulators. Would you rather find out about a problem from a “rat” employee or from the fed coming to open an investigation, with its attendant publicity, time-eating, possible fines or business shutdowns, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/98 "2015-10-24T18:20:44Z")
Part of the point of the discussion board is to get your son used to reading, critiquing and analysing others work, and he’ll be getting graded for this (as part of his two responses). If this 40yr old’s plagiarism is so blatant, it doesn’t look good for his critical skills if he appears to have not recognised it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/99 "2015-10-24T18:47:06Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > If this 40yr old’s plagiarism is so blatant, it doesn’t look good for his critical skills if he appears to have not recognised it. Bullshit. If he didn’t recognise the plagiarism, do you know what that means? It means he doesn’t have the Wikipedia page memorised, word for word. That is not a failure of a critical skill unless you’re studying to become an HDD. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444/100 "2015-10-24T18:51:02Z")
Swear at me all you want, the fact remains he DID recognise it as being “off”, which is evidence of his academic skills. Should he turn down extra marks to protect some complete stranger’s cheating? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-rat-out-fellow-student-or-keep-quiet/735444.md?page=6)