Computer Science, Fall 2007 CS242 “Computer Networks” Working Together adapted from Clare Congdon, Colby College

The general rule is that work that has your name on it must be done by you. You may not copy work from other people and may not allow others to copy your work.

When I assign a project that you are to do individually you are to do the work yourself. I encourage you to discuss ideas with other members of the class (or people not in the class), but the final work is to be your own.

When I assign a project that you are allowed to do in groups, this means that the final work should be that of the people in the group. All people in the group are expected to contribute equally to the work, and all people in the group will receive the same grade. Again, groups may discuss ideas with members of other groups, but please do not share written or electronic work with other groups.

Giving Credit where Credit Is Due

Putting your name on someone else's work is plagiarism -- please do not do that. I will figure it out. If you are not clear on the rules as they pertain to a specific project, just ask.

• Author: The person who wrote the project should be clearly identified as the author; the two partners on a partner project should be clearly identified as the authors.
  
• Borrowed/Shared Ideas: In general, I want to encourage you to talk with each other about your assignments, and to get help from one another in the lab, but please do not copy.
  
• Outside Sources: When doing written assignments, materials used as sources should be referenced.

How to Credit Contributors

Anyone who contributed to the completion of your assignment should be credited. State with what they helped you and who they are. Please be as specific as possible with your credits. For example, your credits might say something like: "Credits: I talked with X when working on question 3, and used Y's idea for question 4." There will be no grade penalty for getting occasional help that is credited.  However if you have to have help for every assignment and every step, please come see me so we can discuss matters.

If you discuss ideas with others in the class, and the discussion has an impact on the work you submit, you should credit the folks you talked with. This might be either that you talked it out together with everyone contributing ideas, or that someone had a great idea that you incorporatedYou can include the credits at the beginning of the assignment (near the authors names), at the end (sort of as a footnote), or with a specific part of the assignment, if that seems more appropriate. The important thing is to not forget to include the credits.

Note that by implication, you should learn the names of the people you work with. Not knowing someone's name is not an excuse for not giving them credit.