writing assignment about honesty

30 Writing Prompts About Honesty

We’re living in a world where everyone seems to be spinning facts to fit their story. It’s like, honesty is this crazy, rebellious thing these days.

But forget just not lying , true honesty is about getting real with yourself , digging deep and pulling out your most authentic self.

And guess what’s the perfect tool for this wild adventure ?

Yep, it’s like a magic door straight to your deepest thoughts and feelings.

These prompts are here to be your guide on this journey of self-discovery .

Whether you’re a writing whiz or just someone who wants to get to know themself a little better, these honesty-themed writing prompts will help you unearth the real you, the one hiding under all those layers.

So, let’s do this!

Writing Prompts about Honesty

• Imagine you’re walking in a park and find an envelope full of money . You notice a recent receipt from a nearby store with a name but no contact number. Now, you’re torn between keeping the money, handing it over to the police, or trying to find the owner based on the scant details from the receipt. Write a story that follows your journey and the moral dilemmas you face.
• A child , Sam, discovers the truth about a family secret , something everyone has been hiding from the youngest member of the family. Sam confronts varying advice from friends : some say spill the beans, while others advocate for protecting the secret. Write a narrative exploring Sam’s internal conflict and the value of honesty in family dynamics.
• You’re in a high-stakes job interview, and you realize they have mistaken some of your qualifications. The position pays well and is a dream opportunity. However, claiming these qualifications could mean taking on tasks you’re ill-prepared for. Pen down the events of the interview and the choice you make about coming clean.
• In a relationship, Lucy finds out a secret about her partner, which if revealed, could either strengthen their bond or break them apart. As Lucy grapples with this knowledge, she begins to understand the nuances of honesty in intimate relationships . Construct a story that encapsulates Lucy’s emotional journey and her decision on truth-telling.
• A journalist goes undercover to expose corruption within a corporation. However, they end up befriending some of the employees and witnesses their struggles, dreams, and motivations. The story takes a turn as the journalist has to choose between exposing the truth and protecting newfound friends. Narrate the intricate balance between personal bonds and professional integrity.
• In a world where politicians are often stereotyped as deceptive, one politician prides himself on his honesty. However, revealing a certain truth might mean his entire party will lose the upcoming elections , even though the revelation is for the greater good. Craft a tale that dives into the politician’s moral struggle and the repercussions of his choices.
• A teacher witnesses a top-performing student cheat in an examination. While she believes in the importance of honesty, she also recognizes the pressures and challenges her students face. Confronting the student could result in severe academic penalties, potentially changing the course of the student’s life . Weave a narrative that explores the teacher’s dilemma and the ultimate decision she makes.
• In an age of social media , where everyone showcases their best moments, Emma decides to run a 30-day challenge showing the raw and unfiltered side of her life, including her struggles and failures. As she embarks on this digital journey, she encounters both admiration and backlash. Detail Emma’s experiences and reflections on authenticity in a curated world.
• James is a well- respected therapist known for his confidentiality. But when he overhears a conversation that insinuates a crime will happen, he’s torn between his professional obligation and the potential harm that might occur due to his silence . Craft a narrative that follows James’ internal conflict and the boundaries of professional ethics.
• Growing up, Lila was always taught that honesty is the best policy. But as she enters her teenage years, she realizes that the real world might not always appreciate her candidness. From innocent childhood confessions to navigating adolescent friendships, chronicle Lila’s journey of understanding when to speak and when to hold her tongue.
• David launches a startup in a fiercely competitive market. As his business grows, he faces a dilemma: cut corners and make a significant profit or maintain his integrity and potentially lose to competitors. Follow David’s entrepreneurial journey as he grapples with the price of honesty in business.
• Being part of a special military operation, Captain Mia is privy to classified information. When she realizes that the truth has been hidden from the public and that revealing it might save innocent lives, she’s faced with an enormous decision. Narrate Mia’s struggle between her duty to her country and her commitment to the truth.
• Ella is a renowned art historian. When she stumbles upon a painting that’s celebrated worldwide but suspects it’s a forgery, she finds herself in a whirlwind of art politics, personal threats, and her commitment to authenticity. Write about Ella’s risky journey to unveil the truth behind a masterpiece.
• Dr. Ray is known for his impeccable medical record. However, when he makes a mistake during a surgery that could potentially harm a patient’s life in the long run, he’s torn between admitting his error, which could end his career, or hoping the mistake goes unnoticed. Explore Dr. Ray’s moral and ethical battle in the face of professional adversity .
• Sophia works for a prominent tech company, but she discovers a breach that compromises millions of users’ data. Knowing the risks whistleblowers face, she begins living a double life: one as the loyal employee and the other as an anonymous informant. Detail Sophia’s life on the edge, balancing between honesty and self-preservation.
• Aiden, a renowned theater critic, attends a play directed by a close friend. To his dismay, he finds the production lacking in many aspects. Now, he must decide whether to write an honest review that could potentially harm his friend’s career or sugarcoat his words. Narrate Aiden’s internal debate and the repercussions of his ultimate choice.
• Nathan, a farmer, stumbles upon a method that drastically improves his crop yield. When other farmers inquire about his sudden success, he must decide whether to share the secret, potentially saturating the market, or keep it hidden for personal gain. Unravel Nathan’s journey as he grapples with community benefit versus individual prosperity.
• Maria, a budding athlete, is given a choice by her coach: use performance-enhancing drugs and guarantee a win, or continue her natural regimen and risk falling behind. Amidst external pressures and her dreams at stake, write about Maria’s tumultuous decision-making process and its repercussions.
• While cleaning an old attic, Erin finds her grandmother ’s diary, revealing a family secret that alters her understanding of her lineage. Armed with this newfound knowledge, she must decide whether to confront her family or bury the truth once again. Capture Erin’s emotional rollercoaster as she navigates the complexities of family ties and honesty.
• Attorney Liam discovers evidence that could exonerate a client he believes is guilty. Simultaneously, withholding it could ensure a seemingly just outcome but at the cost of his integrity. Delve into the intricacies of legal ethics and personal morals as Liam makes his choice.
• Chef Isabelle, after years of toil, perfects a signature dish that skyrockets her restaurant’s fame. When an eager culinary student begs to learn under her, she faces the dilemma of guarding her secret or mentoring with complete transparency. Follow Isabelle’s culinary journey as she weighs her passion for teaching against her hard-earned secret.
• Digital influencer Jordan, tired of the superficiality of social media, decides to document a month without filters, sponsorships, or curated content. As followers witness this raw and unfiltered version, Jordan faces both appreciation and harsh criticism. Chart Jordan’s journey through the maze of online authenticity and its implications.
• Rising celebrity Elara feels trapped between her public image and her true self. When a journalist offers her an opportunity for an unscripted, no-holds-barred interview, she sees a chance to break free. Narrate Elara’s internal struggles and the world’s reaction to her candid revelations.
• In a vintage bookstore, Alex discovers an unsent love letter tucked inside a second-hand book . The emotional depth and raw honesty of the letter inspire Alex to find its intended recipient. Join Alex on a heartfelt quest to deliver a message of truth, facing unexpected challenges and revelations along the way.
• Morgan, a young engineer at a tech giant, realizes that one of the company’s most successful products is eerily similar to a design her late father had created years ago. Armed with only sketches and old emails as evidence, she must decide whether to confront the corporate behemoth or let her father’s unrecognized legacy fade. Dive into Morgan’s journey as she battles for recognition and truth against overwhelming odds.
• In a world where virtual reality has become the norm, Jay discovers a glitch that reveals the real emotions and thoughts of players, rather than their VR personas. This discovery has profound implications for human interaction in the virtual world. Explore the moral implications Jay faces: to release this discovery to the public or keep the virtual sanctity intact.
• Olivia, a passionate eco-blogger, is offered a lucrative sponsorship deal from a company that doesn’t quite align with her sustainable values . The money could fund her other green initiatives, but at the cost of her authenticity. Follow Olivia’s internal debate as she juggles between her ideals and practical temptations.
• Historian Neil stumbles upon documents that challenge the widely accepted narrative about a national hero . Publishing his findings could change public perception, but it could also ignite controversy and backlash. Chronicle Neil’s quest as he decides whether to reshape history with truth or let legends lie.
• As a librarian in a small town, Emma discovers a manuscript by an unknown author that details the town’s secrets and scandals. The book is a masterpiece of storytelling, but its release could disrupt the harmony of her community. Join Emma as she grapples with the balance between preserving art and safeguarding her community’s peace.
• Radio host Dean receives an anonymous tip about a scandal involving a beloved local figure. Breaking the story could skyrocket his ratings, but it would also lead to a potential character assassination if the information is not 100 % accurate. Tune into Dean’s internal frequencies as he oscillates between journalistic integrity and the allure of fame.

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Sample Essay- "The Real Meaning of Honesty"

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(Sample Definition Essay)

I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.

“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”

“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.

I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had incorporated me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.

So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, I think she grounded me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.

Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest- and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term.

• What is the term that the speaker is trying to define?
• Did someone teach her the meaning of the term, or did she really learn from her own experience?
• Is the term defined here presented with more complex reasoning than a dictionary definition

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Essay on Honesty for Students and Children

 500+ words essay on honesty.

Honesty implies being truthful. Honesty means to develop a practice of speaking truth throughout life. A person who practices Honesty in his/her life, possess strong moral character. An Honest person shows good behavior, always follows rules and regulations, maintain discipline, speak the truth, and is punctual. An honest person is trustworthy as he always tends to speak the truth.

Honesty is the Best Policy

A major component for developing moral character is Honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, steal, greed and other immoral attributes have no part in Honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable and it is the habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one’s life.

Benefits of Honesty

Honesty is always admirable in the family, civil society, friends and across the globe. A person with honesty is respected by all. For one to build the character of Honesty entirely depends on his/her family values and ethics and his/her surrounding environment. Parents showing honest behavior and character in front of their children create an impact on the children and we say “Honesty lies in their genes”. Honesty can also be developed practically which requires proper guidance, encouragement, patience, and dedication.

An honest person is always known for his/her honesty just like a sun is known for its eternal light and unlimited energy. It is a quality which helps a person to succeed in life and get much respect. It gives identification to the moral character of a person. Dishonest people may easily get trust and respect from other people. However, they lose that forever whenever they get caught.

Being dishonest is a sin in all the religions, however, people practice it for their short time benefits and selfishness. They never become morally strong and their life becomes miserable. An honest person moves freely in society and spread his/her fragrance in all directions. Being honest is never mean to bear the bad habits of others or bear ill-treated activities. Everyone has rights to reveal and take action against what is going wrong with him.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Honesty in Life

Honesty plays an important role in everyone’s life and it is a character which is visible with open eyes like an open book. Having considered as an Honest person, by society is one of the best compliment one can dream of in his/her entire life. It is the real character a person earns in life by being sincere and dedicated towards it. Lack of honesty in society is doom. It is due to the lack of proper interpersonal relationship between parents-children and students-teachers. Honesty is a practice which is built slowly and patiently, firstly at home and then school. Hence home and school are the best places for a child to develop Honesty since his/her growing times.

Home and school are the places where a child learns moral ethics. Thus, the education system should ensure to include some essential habits and practices to keep a child close to morality. Children must be instructed right from the beginning and their childhood to practice honesty. Youths of any country are the future of that country so they should give better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead their country in a better way.

For all human problems, Honesty is the ultimate solution. Corruption and various problems are everywhere in society. It is because of the decreasing number of honest people. In today’s fast and competitive world, we have forgotten about moral and integral ethics. It is very important and necessary for us to rethink and remodel, that we bring the honesty back in society so that everything goes in a natural manner.

Moral ethics of a person is known through Honesty. In a society, if all the people seriously practice getting honest, then society will become an ideal society and free of all the corruptions and evils. There will be huge changes in the day-to-day life of everyone. It can happen very easily if all the parents and teachers understand their responsibilities towards the nation and teach their children and students about moral ethics.

People should realize the value of honesty in order to manage social and economic balance. Honesty is an essential requirement in modern time. It is one of the best habits which encourages an individual and make capable enough to solve and handle any difficult situation in his/her life. Honesty acts as a catalyst in strengthening our will power to face and fight any odds in life.

FAQs on  Essay on Honesty

Q.1. What are the basic principles that were followed by Gandhiji?

Ans: The six principles followed by Gandhiji were Truth, Non-Violence, Simplicity, Faith, Selflessness, and Respect for an Individual.

Q.2. Who gave the proverb, “Honesty is the Best Policy”? Ans: Benjamin Franklin one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, gave the proverb, “Honesty is the Best Policy”.

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Honesty is defined as fairness and straightforwardness of conduct. Synonyms include sincerity, integrity and trustworthiness. They're all good qualities to find in a person and certainly worthwhile to learn. After all, honesty is the best policy, right? It's true. However, teaching that concept to youngsters can be a challenge. There's a fine balance between preaching and teaching when it comes to basic morals and behaviors. That's where useful and creative classroom resources can come in handy.

Classroom Resources to Teach Honesty

Regardless of whether you're teaching elementary school aged children or middle school children, honesty lessons and units are an important part of a child's education. Use fun clipart, activities and worksheets to help you get the message across to your young students.

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33 Writing Prompts about Lying

People, even school aged children, can tell when they’re being lied to.

So, when it’s something small, like a student telling another that they aren’t having a birthday party, even though they are and that student isn’t invited, feelings are still going to be hurt.

That impact, however, most students don’t notice until years down the road. So, they need to be opened up to understanding how lying impacts other people and themselves. 

How to Use These Prompts

These prompts on lying are a great way to teach a class about a moral issue, and open up your student’s thoughts on honesty. Because of this, there are a few different approaches that you may want to take with these prompts.

The first is as part of a one-day unit. This would take up a portion of a day to focus on these prompts and honesty as a whole.

They could also be done, using less class time in a given day, but for a longer stretch of time on the calendar. For instance, using one prompt a week would help to keep students thinking about lying over the course of the entire school year. 

There are two basic ways to approach the prompts.

They can either be done as a writing prompt that students keep to themselves, and use to self-reflect.

The other is as a group, where students come together to discuss their answers, which opens them up to new ideas on the topic. Either way, the goal is to make them think deeper about lying. 

The Prompts on Lying:

Here are the 33 prompts:

• What is a lie?
• What is a white lie? Is it different from a lie?
• Do you want to be called a liar? Why or why not?
• Is it easier to lie or tell the truth? Why?
• Why is it so difficult to remember lies?
• Is it a lie if you said you would do something, tried to do it, but failed? Why or why not?
• What does it mean to be misleading? Is this different from lying?
• Can a statistic be misleading? If so, how?
• What is the worst lie you ever told? What happened?
• How do you feel when you tell a lie?
• How does it feel to be lied to?
• How often do you lie? Why?
• Is it ever ok to lie? Why or why not?
• Think about characters from books, TV, and movies who have lied. Did it work out for them? Why or why not?
• Are lying and cheating similar in any way? How so?
• What makes it difficult to be honest?
• Do you feel better after telling the truth or getting away with a lie? Why?
• Is keeping a secret the same as a lie? Why or why not?
• Would it be better to lie to someone, or tell them the truth that might upset them? Why?
• Is leaving out extra information the same as lying? Why or why not?
• There is a crime called perjury, which makes it illegal to lie in court. Why is this law important?
• One of the rights granted by the fifth amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the right against self-incrimination. In other words, you don’t have to admit to committing a crime. Is this the same as lying? Why is this right important?
• What does it mean to be honest?
• How can the reputation of being a liar hurt you?
• What does it mean to be a person of your word? Why does that matter?
• Why does telling the truth seem more difficult than telling a lie? What is more difficult in the long-term?
• Why might honesty be the best policy?
• Are there people in your life that you don’t trust? Why?
• How does someone lying to you change your opinion of them? 
• Do companies and people lie in their advertisements? Why would they do that?
• James Altucher said, “Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.” What did he mean by this? 
• What would the world be like if everyone always told the truth?
• What would the world be like if no one ever told the truth?

Looking for More Information?

If you’re looking for more writing prompts and resources available for teachers online, our website has plenty.

This makes it great for sharing with any friends and colleagues who might be interested. 😉 Hint hint, nudge nudge! (It helps more than you can imagine, so thank you so much for sharing!)

Before you go, make you take a look around – maybe try your hand at writing about Veterans Day , or the moon , or perhaps a write a short story about aliens for that matter! We cover thousands of different topics, all original, all unique.

If there are any resources which you’d love to see us add to our site, please reach out to us so that we can make that happen!

Thanks, and see you again soon! 

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Honesty In Writing

Nat Russo August 14, 2014 How-To , Voice , Writing 40 Comments

There are many bits of common writerly wisdom that I tweet on a regular basis using the #writetip hashtag. Some of these nuggets are mine and others are parroting the masters. Most are widely held to be axiomatic, but some are confusing or enigmatic. Such is the limitation of 140 characters.

One of the more confusing writetips deals with honesty in writing .

Above all else, be honest in your writing. Readers sense fakes a mile away. #writetip

Whenever this one comes up in the rotation, I get a flood of questions. I get some heated, sarcastic answers as well, but that’s to be expected from time to time. In general, there’s an overwhelming confusion among aspiring authors about just what it means to “be honest” in one’s writing. I understand this confusion. I once shared it.

It is at once the most simple and most elusive quality to attain. But attaining it is a must! For once you have it, you’ll write with a confidence you’ve never known before. Take this quote from Mark Twain:

About Nat Russo

Nat Russo is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Fantasy author of Necromancer Awakening and Necromancer Falling. Nat was born in New York, raised in Arizona, and has lived just about everywhere in-between. He’s gone from pizza maker, to radio DJ, to Catholic seminarian (in a Benedictine monastery, of all places), to police officer, to software engineer. His career has taken him from central Texas to central Germany, where he worked as a defense contractor for Northrop Grumman. He's spent most of his adult life developing software, playing video games, running a Cub Scout den, gaining/losing weight, and listening to every kind of music under the sun. Along the way he managed to earn a degree in Philosophy and a black belt in Tang Soo Do. He currently makes his home in central Texas with his wife, teenager, mischievous beagle, and goofy boxador.

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Comments 40

Thank you for that insight. I’ve just finished my first novel (it’s with my beta readers now) and I’ve been agonising over what I wrote, ever since I sent it away. My agony has been more extremes, than just about honesty. It has been one question – is this crap or not?

What your article reassured me was that whatever the reaction to my efforts, it is ok…because I wrote it honestly, from inside of me.

My first novel has been like an affirmation of what I always wanted to do but were too scared to actually try, and many of your tips have helped me along the way.

Where do you find the time do so much, on top of writing?

Congratulations on your enormous success. I’ll be honest and admit that initially you used to piss me off with all your news about how well your novel was doing, and then it hit me…I would be absolutely the same if mine took off…WELL DONE THAT MAN!

Cheers Nat.

Thank you so much, Grant! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. And sorry I pissed you off before. 🙂 Haha!

It’s absolutely true that if you’ve written your work honestly, your story will eventually find its audience. It may take time, but it will. People are attracted to brutally honest writers like moths to flame.

Loved the blog Nat, especially the point about self reflection, that really spoke to me as I had a similar revelation not too long ago. It’s something I do more and more the older I get and helps you get to the heart of any matter. And if you can get to the heart of your story (and this is where the honesty comes in as well), you’re well on your way to cracking it! Great stuff.

Thanks, Lee! The more time I spend writing, the more I’m convinced that reflection is one of the ingredients of the “secret sauce”.

I agree in particular about you have to reflected on yourself to be a good writer. I struggle with that sometimes but the truth is you have to be vulnerable if you want to write stories that have an impact on people.

Exactly, Heather. You have to open yourself up and be vulnerable, or else you’ll always pull back right at the point where going forward would have created magic.

This is an amazing post, and probably cuts to the heart of what distinguishes mediocre writing from the good.

I’m really struggling with aspects of several of these right now. I’m writing historical fantasy based on a particularly awful conflict and find myself shying away from violence- not even anything very graphic.

I’m also finding it difficult to put my favorite characters through any significant pain , or have them behave in any way that’s unsavory. It seems I’m trying to avoid going to any and all dark places.

I know it’s because I’m afraid of what I’ll find, but there is no point in trying to tell this story if I insist on leaving out any ugliness.

So true, Christina! You have to dig down and find the strength to explore that darkness.

I have a particularly gruesome scene in Necromancer Awakening, where I put my main character through…well…Hell, really. By the end of it, he’s literally asking for death. That was a difficult one to write. I found that the emotional darkness of my past allowed me to imbue the physical reality of the scene with all the pain I was feeling.

The past can be a treasure trove of emotional expression, if we’re brave enough to go digging in the dirt and explore its depths.

I agree wholeheartedly – but a curious thing happened to me. I decided to re-publish my first two (linked) historical novels from c1990, and began to reflect on that time. So many odd coincidences had occurred in connection with research, writing and publication of same, I thought it would make an interesting memoir. Oh boy! What a revelation to yours truly – that was when I was able to see where those novels had really come from. Yes – from me. As much from my experience of life as my research. They became bestsellers back in the day – and I guess its the emotional honesty as much as the story-line that appealed to people. It was scary though – so much so, I didn’t publish the memoir for fear I’d never write another novel! But like you, I’ve been saying the similar things to aspiring writers. That honesty in the writing is what lifts a story above the mundane.

Ann, thank you so much for sharing that!

When I read over old stories I’ve written, the content I find never ceases to amaze me. Even though we research topics that are story related, we tend to do so with a focus that comes from our life experiences. And when we later inject that research into our story, it’s done so in a way that channels whatever we’ve got going on at the time. 🙂

I’ve noticed even in works-in-progress that my subconscious mind is alive and well. As much of a craft as writing is (and I’m a firm believer we can learn and improve), there is still so much mystery. But I suppose that’s part of what keeps us coming back to the keyboard.

At least I can say it sure isn’t the money… 🙂 Haha!

A wonderful post, managing the impossible: breaking down what honesty means to professional liars! 😀

As you say, it all starts with us being true to ourselves. Whenever we start censoring ourselves, we weaken our voice and betray our readers and our story.

Thank you for another great post!

Haha! We are definitely professional liars! 🙂

I struggled with this one for a while, because “honesty in writing” is one of those ephemeral things that we just sort of know when we see it. I worried over trying to define it, but so many aspiring authors were asking about it, that I had to give it a shot!

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Great, great, post. I hear you.

I’ve been yanked to the woodshed and had my ass set straight. Not much else I can say except thanks for taking time to put your thoughts and experience on the page here.

Spot-on, my man.

Thanks, Terry! I’ve been to that woodshed a few times myself. I always came out better for it. 🙂

NAILED IT! This is the single best blog post on writing I’ve ever read. I’ve felt so often that a lot of published books fell shy of the mark because the author was holding back. Thank you for writing this, Nat! Definitely sharing.

Thank you so much for those kind words, Danielle. And thank you for sharing the article!

Absolutely brilliant post! Great tips here, some I definitely need to remember when it comes to writing my next project! 🙂

Thank you, Mishka!

There are doors I don’t feel comfortable (yet) in opening with my writing. My journal even scares me off occasionally. I’m working on it. Good to know I’m not alone. Kat

You’re definitely not alone, Kat! Keep at it!

Hi Nat, we met on twitter. I’m a fellow writer, and I found this article to be very helpful. I agree a reader can tell if the author is not being honest with their writing. It’s something that I will make sure to keep in mind as I am writing my first novel. I’ve also linked this article to my facebook author page, and given you credit for it 🙂 hope it helps other writers out there!

My Twitter is @qamrosh_khan By the way 🙂

Thanks so much, Qamrosh! I’m glad you found the article helpful!

I completely agree with you here. I’ve only recently tried my hand at the ‘writing for money’ thing, but even I like those stories less than my true stories. I have always written just for me, after I was inspired by a performance or just stories that came from within me. Over the last year I’ve read a lot about how other people make money writing and selling erotica. So I tried it as well. To me, these stories just don’t work. They’re not true, the characters are too flat and they don’t make me any money. The only stories that I do sell are those that were true from within, even though they’re not about billionaires or bikers or fairy tales. It is funny to read stories that I have written a long time ago. It makes me wonder what I was writing or doing at the time, because my language is so different. And even though I am aware of it, even I need to remember to make life harder for my characters. They do not need to be in bed by midnight. Instead of something happening the next day around lunch time, it can happen at 3 am in the morning, no matter how inconvenient and tiresome that would be. It is something I need to be aware of and I need to take distance from now and then. Thank you for your article.

Thanks for stopping by, Liz!

You hit the nail on the head. If you’re writing something you’re not passionate about, the readers will know. Everything you write will feel lifeless because there’s no part of you in it.

Just to add a note to Jumping on the Bandwagon… I think it’s important to respect the genre you’re writing in. If you don’t read and enjoy YA/SF/romance/etc. then DON’T try to write it. You will be wasting your time.

Good point, Nicole. I think a writer has a responsibility to do some due diligence when it comes to research. Without at least some knowledge of the genre, you’ll never know which tropes work, which are overused, etc.

Thank you for this post! It was right on point. Honesty in writing is something I strive to accomplish in my own stories! 🙂

It can be a difficult thing to achieve for many, but I think it’s because the subject can be so hard to nail down. I’m glad you enjoyed the article!

It was great advice. Thanks for posting 🙂

Hey Nat…I came upon this post while researching how to be more honest in my songwriting. I’ve attempted to write longer and do very well with short stories, anything more than that though I just loose steam. I’ve been writing songs for about 20 years or so. I write a lot so can put together a pretty good story when I’ve finished one. People like the story aspect to it, the narrative, but I find that most of my songs have a hint of cheese to them. A guy like Tom Waits for instance, his writing rings true. It sounds like it comes from a place full of broken glass and lopped off fingers, real pain. He does it though without leaving you feel like you want to actually kill yourself, there is a certain optimism to it. Its like even though there’s all this crap out there, he’s going to machine right through because he doesn’t give a shit and thats whats cool about it. HST wrote like that too. Dylan writes like that. I’d like to write like that but when I make that attempt to speak that kind of truth it comes out as bad cheese. Like you said its about finding your truth and not trying to emulate some else’s. I journal just about every day and thats where its all truth, but you can’t put that down into a song… isn’t it too personal and really does anyone give a shit about my issues? Isn’t that what FB is for? Tripe indeed. Anyway i’m sure i’ll find my truth and get down to the depths of my being and bring something up that doesn’t stink, but I haven’t gotten there yet. Thanks for the thoughts though, they all apply to writing lyrics as well. Cheers.

Thanks, Joe!

The way I look at is that I represent a statistically significant portion of the population. So, *I* am my target audience. Turning this around on your songwriting, *you* are your target audience. The best advice I ever received was “be vulnerable”. I imagine that’s even more true for songwriters, because music touches the soul in a way that few other art forms do.

Thank you for an important piece in this big puzzle I’m trying to solve! 😉

While I was reading your post, I was clinging for that last point about emotions! I totally get why you saved it for the end. A couple of weeks ago I had an insight that gave me the creeps. I realized that the process of feeling (actively! consciously!), and to explore one’s own world of feelings might belong to the most underestimated aspects in the lives of so many human beings. I also spent years in my head trying to figure out so many things – and yes, it can be a blessing today, and a curse tomorrow. But there’s a lot more to it. Many people spend way too much time thinking, pondering, instead of trying to establish a stronger connection between their perception/actions/behavior and their feelings! It’s as if the mind is trapped in between, always trying to make sense of the world as an intermediary, with us being trapped in it! Besides, feelings are never constant, there’s always ups and downs, but compared with thoughts, which can be thought and communicated, feelings can be felt and expressed!

Greetings from Germany, keep up the good work!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Stevie! I lived in Germany (Viernheim) from 2003 – 2006 working as a contractor for the US Army in Heidelberg. I miss it so much! I’d move back in a heartbeat. Such a beautiful country!

It is so true about the power of reflection being underestimated. I was fortunate to pick up the regular practice while in the seminary. The Benedictine monks were definitely a reflective group of individuals!

I’m glad you enjoyed the article!

Nat, I attended the first session of a memoir writing workshop the other day and when I read a short piece I wrote about an incident in my childhood where I got caught making mischief. It was not particularly traumatic, just a memory of one of the first times I recall feeling guilty. The workshop leader said “Your writing is brilliant. It’s the kind of writing that sells. But it’s not honest. You have to make yourself vulnerable.” A few others in the group nodded, so I asked, “What do you mean by ‘not honest’?” Nobody spoke up except the leader, who said, “You need to put yourself in a dark room and light candles. Meditate.” Which was insulting since I’ve done that for years, and I keep a journal, and I blog. I’m not a dunce when it comes to self-reflection and I felt belittled. Now I’m not sure if I belong in the workshop. Your article is great but I don’t see myself in it, so now what? And how can my writing be “brilliant” or “the kind…that sells” if it’s “not honest”? Help!

The truth is only you can be the final arbiter of whether or not you’re being honest in your work. Workshops can be tricky to navigate sometimes, because you’ll often find the leader feels obligated to find something…anything…critically wrong with the work they’re presented with. The inherent power differential between “leader” and “attendee” often further compounds the issue. I would share your work with other objective third parties and get their take on it. But, I probably wouldn’t do that with other people at the same workshop. The well may have already been poisoned, so to speak.

It sounds to me like you’re a person given to reflection. That’s 90% of the battle right there. It could be that the leader read something that in her subjective estimation came across as if you were holding something back. But, truly, only you can know if that’s the case. So, my advice would be to take all advice with a grain of salt. 😀

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Hi Nat. I had read somewhere that to be a writer you must be honest about yourself to an extent that is excruciating for you to see on the page. I have just sent my first novel off to my editor. The substance abuse was easy to describe. The aspects of myself that were really hard were; I lived with a fear of being overwhelmed and believed if anyone found out, I would become a committed patient in the hospital where I worked; my moral cowardice when I was bullied at school for being a minister’s son; my constant attempts to wind Mum up about things she felt strongly about; my teenage belief that I had a genius philosopher within me ready to spring forth and surprise the world. I don’t know if the novel is good enough to be published. I may simply print a few copies and give them to friends who will be kind about it. Right now I feel drained and can’t imagine putting myself through such an ordeal again. But then again, I suspect I will not be able to stop myself if another idea surfaces. Your blog about honesty certainly resonates with me. Very inspiring. I will be reading other blogs you put out. David Shapcott

I’m so glad this article spoke to you, David. As far as your novel being good enough, barring any technical editing that needs to take place, you can rest assured that someone out there needs to read that story!

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11+ Honesty Worksheets & Tests for Adults (+ PDF)

“Honesty is the best policy.”

– Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin seems to think so, but he also said this:

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

Benjamin Franklin

Now, the “wrong thing” referred to in this quote may sometimes be a lie, but the wise Franklin also knew that telling the truth with no filter is a practice that is sure to end in pain—for you, for another, or for all those involved!

So, is honesty always the best policy? When would it not be the best policy? These are questions many people have asked over countless years.

As such, there are a lot of different ideas about what honesty is, the morality of honesty vs. lying, and how honest one should really be in practice. Some people endorse little white lies, while others condemn them. Some say that lying is fine if it protects an innocent person, while others believe there is never a good reason to lie. It can be tough to navigate between all of these contrasting ideas about honesty.

For this piece, we delved into the theories and philosophies behind honesty and gathered some of the best resources for teaching and encouraging this character trait. Hopefully, this information will help you figure out where you stand on this interesting subject, and what kind of honesty you would like to strive for!

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Strengths Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients realize your unique potential and create a life that feels energized and authentic.

This Article Contains:

Definition & meaning of honesty, theory: radical honesty and more, assessing honesty: test and scale, teaching honesty & integrity: examples, stories, quotes & songs, 3 honesty worksheets (pdf) for adults, 5 honesty activities for children & teens, 3 honesty worksheets (pdf) for children & teens, a take-home message.

Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.

James E. Faust

What is honesty?

The answer you get to this question will depend on who you ask.

There is a general understanding of what honesty is in society, but there’s plenty of room to dive into what really constitutes honesty.

To some, honesty may be defined by its synonyms, such as fairness, straightforwardness, sincerity, integrity, or trustworthiness (“Honesty”, 2016).

To others, honesty may be “ speaking the truth and abiding by the rules ” (Borghini, 207).

To others still, the definition of honesty may be “ never faking reality in order to gain a value ” (Biddle, 2013).

Honesty can be understood as an act (e.g., speaking the truth, refusing to lie), a trait (e.g., authenticity), and a disposition (e.g., tendency or habit to be forthcoming with relevant truths), among other things.

However you conceptualize honesty, you likely agree that at least some level of honesty is an important trait to cultivate. Being honest with others is essential for creating and maintaining healthy relationships, and being honest with yourself is vital for personal development and growth, as well as self-acceptance and self-esteem (Durham, 2017).

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Honest is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.

James Altucher

Since it’s difficult to reach unanimous agreement on the very definition of honesty, it should come as no surprise that there are many theories and philosophies on honesty. These theories pose and answer questions like:

• What does it mean to be honest?
• How important is honesty?
• Is it immoral to be dishonest?
• Is dishonesty every acceptable?

As with any other complex and significant topic, people have come up with a wide variety of responses to these questions, some of which are diametrically opposed to others.

To give you an idea of the spectrum across which these theories fall, three will be presented: one at or near each end of the spectrum, and one that lies somewhere in the middle. Think of the spectrum as “absolute honesty” at the left end and “absolute dishonesty” at the right end, something like this:

Absolute Honesty <———————————- Mixed ———————————-> Absolute Dishonesty

Radical Honesty

Although most people agree that honesty is at least somewhat important, there is a group that places a great deal of importance on being honest—not just mostly honest, but completely honest at all times and in all interactions—with one important exception (Jacobs, 2007). These people would be placed near the extreme “always tell the truth” end of the spectrum.

This total honesty is the referred to as “radical honesty.” Those who dedicate themselves to radical honesty commit to removing all lies, both big and small, from their interactions with others. This total honesty is adopted with the hopes of improving their relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners, as well as an overall boost to quality of life .

As mentioned earlier, practitioners of radical honesty make only one exception to their commitment to total honesty—when telling the truth would result in terrible consequences for someone who does not deserve it (think lying to the Nazis to protect Anne Frank and her family).

With this exception, those who subscribe to radical honesty avoid the absolute extreme “truth” end of the spectrum; the only people to the left of the radical honesty folks are those who are known as “deontologists.”

Deontologists subscribe to the idea that every act is either right or wrong, regardless of its consequences (“Lying”, 2014). Lying is always wrong, therefore even lying with the best of intentions is still wrong. Radical honesty might not seem quite as radical in comparison to these rigid truth-tellers!

To learn more about radical honesty, visit the website at http://radicalhonesty.com/ . You can also hear about the life-enhancing potential of practicing radical honesty straight from Dr. Blanton, the founder of the radical honesty approach, in this TEDx Talk.

Utilitarian View on Honesty

Utilitarians, also known as consequentialists, generally see lying and dishonesty as immoral and unacceptable; however, they see honesty and dishonesty as a problem with shades of gray rather than a thick line differentiating black from white (“Lying”, 2014).

Those who subscribe to utilitarianism assess the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an action by considering the consequences of the action; if something good comes out of an action, it is probably right, while an action that produces bad or harmful results is likely wrong.

Some utilitarians judge each potential lie separately, evaluating the expected consequences of the act and determining its rightness or wrongness independently of any other lies. Others might follow a set of rules to help them determine when a lie is right and when it is wrong, rather than considering each case separately.

The main thing that separates utilitarians from each end of the spectrum is the belief that sometimes it is right to tell the truth, and sometimes it is right to lie.

Ethical Egoism

Now that we’ve explored the left end of the spectrum and the middle point of the spectrum, let’s turn our focus to the right end.

Those towards the “dishonest” end of the spectrum have a different view on honesty altogether—namely, they don’t believe honesty has any inherent morality. Utilitarians may justify lying in some cases, but justification requires expectations that the good that comes out of lying will outweigh the inherent “wrongness” of lying.

Ethical egoists have no such qualms with determining the rightness or wrongness of dishonesty; in their view, honesty is not automatically good and dishonesty is not automatically bad (Moseley, n.d.).

The only measure of whether something is “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong,” is whether it contributes to one’s own self-interest. Therefore, if telling a lie gets you ahead, it is the right thing to do. If telling the truth hinders you, it is the wrong thing to do.

Unsurprisingly, not many people openly adhere to this philosophy of honesty, although it’s worth noting how often we see examples of this philosophy in action.

Although there are clearly many ways to approach honesty, it’s necessary to settle on a general idea of meaning. For the purposes of this article, we’ll go with a fairly generic, but unobjectionable, idea of honesty to mean being:

• True (Durham, 2017)

Now that we’ve decided what honesty is, we come to another important question: How do we measure or assess honesty?

What criteria should we use to determine whether someone is honest or not? How do we know if someone is committed to or complacent about honesty?

There are a few ways to assess honesty and/or beliefs about honesty. We’ll cover the most widely used ones below.

General Trust Scale

The General Trust Scale was developed by researchers Yamagashi and Yamagashi in 1994. This scale will not provide an answer about how honest or trustworthy the respondent is, but it will provide other valuable information—how trustworthy they find others, which is an important insight into their own relationship with honesty.

This scale includes only six items, scored on a scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The six items are as follows:

• Most people are basically honest.
• Most people are trustworthy.
• Most people are basically good and kind.
• Most people are trustful of others.
• I am trustful.
• Most people will respond in kind when they are trusted by others.

A person’s responses to these items are averaged to produce a general score (between 1 and 5) of his or her belief in the honesty and trustworthiness of others.

Trust in People Scale

Similar to the General Trust Scale, the Trust in People Scale provides a measure of the respondent’s general level of trust towards other people (1964 Election Study). It was first established in a 1964 post-election study, and it has been used in national surveys ever since.

There are only three items, and each presents only two options: a high trust option and a low trust option. The items and their response options are as follows:

• Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people? a. Most people can be trusted b. Can’t be too careful
• Would you say that most of the time, people try to be helpful, or that they are mostly just looking out for themselves? a. Try to be helpful b. Look out for themselves
• Do you think that most people would try to be fair or take advantage of you if they got the chance? a. Try to be fair b. Take advantage

For each question, option a is the high-trust option and option b is the low-trust option. The high-trust option is worth one point, while the low-trust option is worth zero points. To produce a score of trust in people, sum the points for each question. The score will be between 0 and 3, with 3 representing the highest level of trust in others and 0 representing the lowest level of trust in others.

HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised

Unlike the previous two scales, this scale will provide an assessment of the respondent’s own honesty rather than their sense of the honesty of others.

The HEXACO model is quite similar to the Big Five model of personality , although it adds one factor and differs slightly on the other factors.

The Big Five factors are:

• Openness to Experience
• Conscientiousness
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

The HEXACO factors include:

• Honesty-Humility
• Emotionality (analogous to Big Five’s Neuroticism)
• Agreeableness (vs. Anger)
• Openness to Experience (Lee & Ashton, 2009)

In case you’re not familiar with the Big Five factors, we’ll go over them briefly before covering the added factor in the HEXACO model.

Openness to experience can be understood as the personality factor that determines how open and accepting a person is of new experiences, bold thinking, and being vulnerable with others.

Conscientiousness refers to a person’s tendency towards controlling their impulses and acting in socially acceptable ways.

Extroversion is a widely known factor that has an equally well-known flipside: introversion. Extroversion (vs. introversion) concerns a person’s source of energy; extroverts derive energy from interacting with others, while introverts recharge when they are alone.

Agreeableness is generally understood as to how well a person gets along with others, or how easily they interact successfully with others.

Neuroticism (or Emotionality) refers to a person’s general sense of self-esteem, self-confidence, and emotional stability.

Finally, the factor that you are probably not so familiar with is the Honesty-Humility factor. This factor covers the respondent’s willingness to manipulate others for personal gain, a tendency towards breaking the rules, or a sense of entitlement. Those who score high in this factor are more inclined to be honest and humble, while those low in this factor are likely to show less concern for truth and modesty.

The HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised, or HEXACO PI-R, includes 100 items and produces a score for each of the six personality factors. Items are rated by respondents on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Respondents are instructed to provide an answer for each item, even if they are not entirely sure of their answer.

Each item corresponds to one of the factors. We’d rather not inundate you with items, so we’ll simply provide a sample item from each factor for you to look over:

Honesty-Humility Factor

“If I want something from a person I dislike, I will act very nicely toward that person in order to get it.”

Emotionality Factor

“When I suffer from a painful experience, I need someone to make me feel comfortable.”

Extroversion Factor

“In social situations, I’m usually the one who makes the first move.”

Agreeableness Factor

“I am usually quite flexible in my opinions when people disagree with me.”

Conscientiousness Factor

“I make decisions based on the feeling of the moment rather than on careful thought.”

Openness to Experience Factor

“I’m interested in learning about the history and politics of other countries.”

As you may have noticed when considering the sample conscientiousness item, some items are reverse-scored. Once the proper items have been reverse-scored, take the average of all items per factor to produce an overall score for each factor. Higher scores indicate a greater tendency towards each personality trait, while lower scores indicate greater levels of each trait’s opposite.

To learn more about the HEXACO PI-R, visit the website .

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

William Shakespeare

Now that we have a good understanding of what honesty is and how we can measure it as a personality trait , we can move on to the next important question: How do we teach it?

Ask any teacher and he or she will tell you that teaching character traits is difficult! It’s not as easy as teaching grammar, arithmetic, or history, but it is certainly not impossible. There are many strategies, tips, and suggestions for teaching a character trait like honesty.

Parenting expert Joanne Stern provides three good guidelines to follow when teaching your children honesty (2011):

• Talk with your children, early and often, about the value of honesty.
• Model honesty for your children, through your words and your actions.
• Focus more on encouraging and appreciating honesty than on punishing dishonesty.

Once your kids reach an age at which they can tell the difference between telling the truth and telling a lie, you can begin instilling the value of honesty. They may not completely understand the value of honesty yet, but they can learn that they are expected to tell the truth and that they must face the consequences if they do not.

Follow these tips to help your child learn to be honest:

• Avoid labels. Don’t call your child a liar.
• Don’t ask questions when you already know the answer; this will only set them up to lie.
• Work with your child to reduce any unnecessary stress that may be weighing them down and encouraging them to lie.
• Avoid emphasizing bad behavior; try to bring up your child’s good behavior rather than their bad behavior.
• Find out why your child is fibbing; there may be important reasons that you don’t know about.
• Praise truth-telling instead of just punishing dishonesty.
• Don’t forget “little white lies.” Encourage your child to be honest, but not brutally and unnecessarily honest.
• Teach your child that lying doesn’t work; it’s never a good way to get what you want.
• Keep your cool—don’t overreact or yell if your child lies.
• Set a good example. The best way to teach honesty is to be honest (VanClay, 2017).

While these tips and suggestions are meant for parents, many of them can also be practiced by teachers and other caretakers as well. In addition, there are many other strategies for teaching honesty.

Stories are an excellent way to teach children honesty. There are some classic stories that can be used to encourage truth-telling, such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf .

In this short story, a boy comes up with a story about a wolf trying to eat his sheep. He receives a lot of attention from others but is ultimately found out. Later, a wolf actually shows up to take his sheep, but nobody believes him because he lied about it before. This story not only encourages children to tell the truth but shows them why lying may backfire!

The Honest Woodcutter is another good story for teaching that honesty can come with its own rewards. It describes a poor woodcutter who loses his axe in the river. He’s very upset because he has no money to buy a new one. Suddenly, a fairy appears in the river and presents a golden axe, saying “ I found this axe in the river; is it yours? ”

The woodcutter answers honestly, saying the axe is not his. The fairy then presents him with a silver axe, but the woodcutter again tells the fairy that this was not his axe. When the fairy presents him with his own wood axe, he replies that it is his, and thanks the fairy for giving him his axe. The fairy, seeing that the man is so honest, gives him all three axes as a reward.

For more ideas on stories, you can use to teach honesty and other character traits, follow this link .

Along with these stories, you can come up with your own, personalized stories for encouraging honesty in children you teach or take care of.

In addition to stories, there are many books that can be used to teach honesty. Some books you will need to read with your child, and others your child may be able to read on his or her own.

A few good examples are:

• Sam Tells Stories by Thierry Robberecht
• The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia McKissack
• Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire by Diane deGroat
• The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot by Scott Magoon
• Little Croc’s Purse by Lizzie Findlay

For more suggestions on books that encourage honesty in children, click here .

For older children in particular, sometimes a good quote can help them understand the importance of honesty in a way that they hadn’t understood before.

Try sharing these quotes with the children you teach or care for, and discuss what they mean.

If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.

This quote shows that it may actually be easier to tell the truth than to lie.

Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world.

Thomas Carlyle

Use this quote to emphasize that being honest is not only important on an individual level but contributes to a better and more honest society.

A half truth is a whole lie.

Yiddish Proverb

This quote serves to underscore that leaving out important details can be considered a lie, even if you offer parts of the truth.

When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback.

Bill Copeland

This quote can be used to let children know that, in addition to being wrong, lying can also have some very negative unintended consequences.

If your child is more of an auditory learner, try one of these fun songs about the importance of honesty.

Truth Song (Honesty Song)

All About Honesty

Honesty (for Kindergarteners)

Spotting Good Traits

This worksheet is intended to help the user identify specific traits, but you could also begin with a specific trait (i.e., honesty) and work your way from there.

The worksheet lists 7 questions for you to answer:

• Name a favorite person or leader who demonstrates great character.
• What character traits does this person have?
• How does this person show these character traits?
• What character traits are most important for good leaders to have? Why?
• What character trait do you need to work on most? How will you develop it?
• List a trait, then how the trait is demonstrated.
• Make a poem, song, poster, or story about the importance of good character.

Instead of answering the first question then moving on to the second, identify honesty as the answer to the second question and then identify a leader that displays honesty.

The worksheet was designed for children and adolescents, but adults will certainly find valuable insight through completing this worksheet as well.

Download the Spotting Good Traits worksheet.

Using “I” Statements

Honest communication can often go out the window when we’re feeling blamed, guilty, or defensive. It’s easy to say things we regret and don’t truly mean when emotions are high, but “I” statements can be an alternative, healthier, and more positive way to express ourselves.

This sheet provides a simple formula for “I” statements, as well as examples of how they are used.

These assertive, honest sentence stems can be used to express how you feel while highlighting the specifics of a challenge that you’d like to address.

For example, “ You upset me when… ” might become “ I feel upset when…”

Using “I” Statements includes example situations that you can use to practice creating your own “I” sentences.

Try out the I-Statements exercise.

Valued Living Questionnaire

As a VIA character strength, honesty falls within the Courage virtue category. Alongside speaking and the truth and acting with integrity, it’s described as:

“ Present[ing] yourself in a genuine and sincere way, without pretense, and taking responsibility for your feelings and actions.”

The Valued Living Questionnaire, available as a tool in the Positive Psychology Toolkit© , is designed for any character strength (or strengths) that you consider important, but it can easily be applied to honesty alone.

This Toolkit assessment can be used to gauge the extent to which you live in line with honesty as a value.

It can provide some useful insights into how you might increase your commitment to living honestly and is a great way to set some objectives within this larger goal and measure your progress over time

The questionnaire considers different life domains in which you can live with honesty, such as in your marriage or intimate relationship, at work, and with friends.

Below, several effective activities are listed that can be successfully applied in classrooms, small groups, and even at home. If you’re interested in seeing more honesty activities, quotes, and questions scroll to the second page of this honesty worksheet .

In a group of children, select two people to play a part in a role-play.

The first person will role-play a pie salesperson who is dishonest. They will try to make a big impression on the listeners, with exaggerated claims about the pie they are selling.

The second person will also role-play a pie salesperson, but one who is honest instead. They will tell the truth about their pie without exaggerating or sidestepping inconvenient facts.

The group should watch and listen carefully, and prepare to discuss after the role-plays are finished.

Finally, an adult will guide the group through a discussion of the differences between the two salespeople, and what it was like listening to each. The group will likely agree that the second salesperson seemed more trustworthy and that they would like to buy a pie from this person rather than the first salesperson.

Virtues Sharing Circle

This is a great activity for children that may be shy speaking in groups. It’s also a good way to connect personal experience with the practice of being honest.

Break the group into pairs, and have each pair sit together, apart from the other children.

One partner should begin by sharing a time when he did not practice honesty, and how it felt. Next, he should share a time he did practice honesty, and how that felt.

The second partner should listen attentively and acknowledge the virtue displayed by the other person in their honesty story.

When the first partner has shared both stories, the partners should switch roles and repeat the exercise.

Drawing Honesty

This is the simplest of activities—all you need to do is direct the children to draw an example of someone practicing honesty!

Engaging in an artistic and creative exercise such as this is a good way to get children actively engaged in thinking about honesty. The drawings will be as unique as the child, and no two will look exactly the same.

Have each child share their drawing and explain the situation it depicts to the group.

Is This Honesty?

This activity is customizable for different kindergarten- or school-age kids. For the first, you will need large cards that say  “Truth” and “Lie,” or  posted on opposite sides of the classroom, as well as a line that divides the room in half.

From here, it’s as simple as reading out or thinking up some statements that are either honest or dishonest. Ask your young students to decide which statement is true or a lie, then step over to the side of the room with the correct sign.

The second part of this game, Is This Honesty? uses two cards that read “ Strongly Agree ” and “ Strongly Disagree ” – this time, the room isn’t divided so clearly!

Begin the activity by delivering the following instructions:

“ Today, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on three different scenarios. Your team will head to the wall somewhere between these two cards depending on how much agree or disagree with the character’s behavior in each situation. If you’re undecided, stay in the center of the room or halfway between the two cards. ”

Next, split the class into three teams of roughly equal size and follow these directions for each story:

• Read the scenario.
• Pose the three questions and have the students in the group walk to the sign that corresponds with their agreement or disagreement with the characters’ actions. Then ask a couple of the students why they chose to stand where they did. Have the group return to their seats.
• Ask the class any further questions you feel are appropriate, and write the responses on the board, if you’d like.

You’ll find the stories and instructions in Is This Honesty worksheet.

Cake Demonstration

For this activity, first, make sure the children all have permission to eat plain cake and ensure that no one is allergic! In addition to the cake, you will need chocolate frosting and salt.

Give everyone a small bowl of plain cake and have them taste it. Ask them how it tastes.

Next, explain that lying has the potential to ruin good things. Have each child dump some salt on their cake, and taste it again. It will probably not taste good!

Finally, have them cover the salt with chocolate syrup and taste it once again. Explain that the salt is like telling a lie—even if you do something good after you lie, you can never undo the damage you caused. Dishonesty cannot be covered up and forgotten about (Simple at Home, 2017).

It might be a good idea to have some backup cake for the children to enjoy after tasting the salted cake!

If you like the idea of the activities above, but need something a little more structured, these worksheets and handouts may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Three great resources for teaching children and teens about honesty are described below.

Honesty: Why, How, and What?

This basic worksheet can be used to introduce children to the concept of honesty as a character trait.

It provides an explanation of honesty – which is more than “not lying” and engages them in the why, how, and what of integrity.

Some questions include:

• What are three ways you can show honesty?
• Why do you think it matters, to be honest? and
• How do you think other people feel when you are not honest?

On the back of this sheet, students are invited to create their own poster or classroom rules about this important character trait.

Click to download Honesty – Why, How, and What .

Are You Honest?

This set of worksheets presents several honesty-related scenarios for your child or adolescent to consider and respond to.

First, the child is presented with this scenario: his or her classmate is copying their homework and asks the child to tell their teacher that he didn’t get any help.

The child’s task is to consider their options and come up with possible negative consequences if the teacher finds out they lied, and the possible positive consequences of telling the teacher the truth.

Next, the child is asked to imagine that they have done something awful and are suffering from a guilty conscience. Their choices are to keep quiet or talk to a parent or responsible adult and consider the consequences of each choice.

Third, they’re asked to imagine that they’ve seen a friend put a candy bar into their pocket without paying for it. Their options are to tell the shopkeeper or protect their friend.

Finally, the last worksheet puts the ball in the child’s court. She is instructed to come up with her own scenario where she might be tempted to be dishonest, write down two possible actions, and consider the consequences of each action.

Completing these worksheets will help the child learn about the consequences of dishonesty, and consider both the personal and relational repercussions of his choice.

You can see the Are You Honest worksheet here.

Doing The Right Thing

Another simple exercise, Doing The Right Thing is perfect for younger kids. It asks them to reflect on the things they say and do to show honesty, then invites them to consider some integrity goals they’d like to achieve.

One question, for example, asks: “ I act honestly when I’m with my parents. ”

The child can choose between Sometimes, Never, and Always, then use the space below to brainstorm a positive honesty goal for doing the right thing, or being more accountable.

17 Exercises To Discover & Unlock Strengths

Use these 17 Strength-Finding Exercises [PDF] to help others discover and leverage their unique strengths in life, promoting enhanced performance and flourishing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

I hope you have found this exploration of honesty as interesting as I did. It’s fascinating how many different ways there are to think about honesty and the myriad answers to some of the most significant questions about honesty, such as

• What does it mean to be truly honest?
• Is it always wrong to be dishonest?
• Is it always right to be honest?

If you haven’t given these questions much thought before now, I encourage you to dive into the theories and philosophies on telling the truth. It makes for some great reading and some even better self-reflection !

What are your answers to these questions? Which philosophy do you think gets it right on honesty? How do you encourage honesty in your children? Let us know in the comments section!

Thanks for reading!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Strengths Exercises for free .

• 1964 Election Study. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Inter-University Consortium for Political Research, University of Michigan.
• Durham, J. (2017). Integrity and honesty: Important attributes. Life Coach Expert. Retrieved from http://www.lifecoachexpert.co.uk/integrityhonestyimportantattributes.html
• Jacobs, A. J. (2007). I think you’re fat. Esquire. Retrieved from http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26792/honesty0707/
• “Lying.” (2014). BBC Ethics Guide. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/lying/lying_1.shtml
• Moseley, A. (n.d.). Egoism. International Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/egoism/
• www.randomactsofkindness.org
• Simple at Home. (2017). Teaching children about honesty w/ free printable worksheets. Simple at Home. Retrieved from http://simpleathome.com/teaching-children-about-honesty
• Stern, J. S. (2011). Teaching your kids to be honest. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/parenting-is-contact-sport/201103/teaching-your-kids-be-honest
• www.therapistaid.com
• VanClay, M. (2017). The honest child: How to teach honesty (ages 6 to 8). Baby Center. Retrieved from https://www.babycenter.com/0_the-honest-child-how-to-teach-honesty-ages-6-to-8_67924.bc
• VIA Institute on Character. (2020). Character Strengths – Honesty. Retrieved from https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths/honesty

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What our readers think.

I greatly enjoyed the article on 11+ Honesty Worksheets. This is a wonderful resource! I’d like to use the Spotting Good Traits as a handout for business workers that I will be presenting on Integrity and Professional Self Care (as part of my job). I am unsure if I need permission by the Author to copy and also hand out this worksheet exercise, as it was not posted easily to find. I appreciate your assistance with this question, so I can document this as well.

Thank you for your question. The ‘Spotting Good Traits’ worksheet is free for you to download and use and no further permission is needed!

Best of luck with your presentation.

Kind regards, – Caroline | Community Manager

Thank you so much for these resources just downloaded them now and i hope they will change the way i encourage my students.

A very interesting article, I also recently published a book on this topic, by the way, here is a link to my blog – https://aliciaortego.com/honesty-is-my-superpower/ . If you are interested, I can give you my book to read.

Thank you very much for these materials. These would be of great help for my future discussion. God bless and keep safe Rechie

Hi there, So glad you found these resources helpful. All the best! – Nicole | Community Manager

Great reads.

Thank you very much it help me a lot with my teaching. God Bless you Courtney Ackerman

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Writing Essays About Honesty

Academic writing

Essay paper writing

The objectives of any educational system are not only to provide young people with knowledge and skills in a specific field but also shape the moral image of new generations. Writing academic papers on socially important topics is often included in the school or college curriculum as it helps to attract students’ attention to important issues and form a positive worldview. For example, essays about honesty is a quite popular assignment nowadays. If you received such a task, this article would help you to cope with it perfectly.

Basic definitions for an “importance of honesty” essay

One may explain in a “what is honesty?” essay that this concept is connected with truthfulness and sincerity. It means some exemplary order of being and human relations, which must be strictly followed to create harmony between people. From this perspective, the notion of the word ‘honesty’ coincides with the concept of ‘justice.’

You can also tell in your honesty definition essay that honesty means the openness between people: they are sincere with each other, do not lie, betray, or resort to hypocrisy. In interpersonal communication and relations between groups, it is manifested in trust, attention, and responsiveness and involves mutual assistance, support, as well as the desire and ability to understand the other person. Honesty and integrity exclude any exploitation or selfish and prudent use of the other person as a tool for achieving individual goals.

It is believed that honesty is the basis of every virtue. Indeed, only an honest and truthful attitude towards other people is moral because it involves the recognition of their dignity. No one wants to be deceived and should not act in this way with others.

However, there is another aspect of the notion of honesty, which may be considered in an essay about honesty and lying. Do we always have to tell the truth? This is a moral issue that can be formulated as follows: in what cases should we tell the truth and when it is better to remain silent or tell a white lie?

For example, philosophers of the East believed that the unpleasant facts always should be told in a polite form. Emphasize in a “should we always tell the truth?” essay that otherwise the honesty turns into a dangerous tool.

Of course, honesty is quite a broad concept, so you may find various examples for your essay. For instance, it’s also worth mentioning about the consistent and persistent fulfillment of promises in an honesty and integrity essay. Growing children should honor their elderly parents. Parents should always keep the promises they made. The person who runs a business should be honest with his or her partners. In this sense, honesty may be understood as conscientiousness or reliability.

Finally, it is not difficult to find an example of a definition essay on honesty where this word is used as a synonym for ‘justice.’ The phrase ‘They honestly shared what they earned together’ means ‘shared fairly.’ In the framework of honest behavior, everyone who participates in a joint undertaking will get the reward or punishment that they deserve.

Material for “what prevents honesty?” essay: examples of stumbling blocks

All the above definitions of honesty show that a person of honor has dignity and self-respect. Such people will never resort to immoral, vile, or treacherous behavior. At the same time, people often lie to themselves and others, concealing the truth and distorting real facts. You can consider this situation as a central problem of an essay about the meaning of honesty and explain it by several factors.

In many respects, internal qualities (such as arrogance, self-conceit, and easily vulnerable ambition) are the first and most crucial stumbling blocks that prevent a person from looking at themselves honestly. The problem is that these traits do not allow people to admit their own incompetence, ignorance, and imperfection. Therefore, they do not have an opportunity to improve their lives.

Secondary benefits

It’s also worth including in an outline for an essay on honesty and integrity so-called secondary benefits and obstacles that impede them. The term “secondary benefits” has been introduced by psychiatrist Sigmund Freud and is widely used in psychology. It means the existence and manifestation of deliberately suppressed interests and significant needs that are achieved in the process of satisfying other intentions. For example, when buying a car, the person’s positive benefits are the speed of movement, convenience, and reliability. At the same time, the need to emphasize one’s social status can be a secondary benefit.

When the secondary benefit contradicts positive intentions consistent with the values and moral norms of a person, it may be forced out of one’s consciousness. Owing to unconscious secondary benefits, a person may misunderstand the essence of events and the motives of his or her behavior. Stress in a persuasive essay on why lying is bad that this is a severe stumbling block for change. 

For example, the secondary benefits of illness (long absence of recovery) often include care and attention of relatives or material rewards (insurance). Unwillingness to give up secondary benefits can significantly hamper and slow down the recovery process.

Denial of responsibility

Self-deception can also occur due to the unwillingness of a person to take responsibility for their actions and decisions (or their absence). The author of the book Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life Marshall Rosenberg considered the rejection of responsibility as one of the types of life-alienating communication.

The author described a Nurnberg trial with war criminals. The subordinates of Nazi Germany leadership denied responsibility for their actions using a specific official language (bureaucratic speech). For example, when officers were asked why they committed certain crimes, they answered: ‘I had to do it.’ If the question ‘Why?’ followed, the answer sounded like ‘order from the authorities,’ ‘such is the policy of the organization’ or ‘such is the law.’

Advantages of honesty

There are many reasons to choose the path of honesty. List the most important of them in a “why is it important to be honest?” essay:

• There is always a necessity to speak out. It’s great to share feelings and emotions with someone else. Moreover, it is quite harmful to hold your emotions and feelings back. In the end, it turns out that you remain alone, no matter how many people are around. In such a case, it’s hard to be really happy.
• Many people are familiar with the consequences of isolation: negativity, alienation, and affliction. We all need someone to rely on to avoid those feelings. But how could your friend know what’s happening in your heart if you do not answer his or her questions honestly?
• Also, it’s worth emphasizing in an honesty research paper that you can restore order in your own soul and mind. Owing to honesty, you will find out what you really think about other individuals, the world around, and life as a whole. Being honest would help you to eliminate many useless contacts and allow you to get closer to like-minded people. Be honest with yourself, and it will be easier to find them. Mention this argument in your “honesty is the best policy” essay.
• Honesty allows us to conquer fear, to recognize our weaknesses, limitations, and constraints precisely as they are. Moreover, by speaking out, it’s possible to go through them and free yourself.

What else to talk about in a being honest essay? Let’s consider some more interesting ideas:

• It is also important to stress in an essay about truthfulness that being an honest person is a choice. Sometimes it takes a long time to get used to a new model of behavior. Of course, some people eventually prefer completely another life path.
• It may be quite problematic to reveal something that was hidden for a long time. However, emphasize in a “the value of honesty” essay that honesty is a path to freedom from shyness, and fear. The faster you pass it, the quicker you can enjoy all the colors of life.

Information for a “why is honesty important in a friendship?” essay

Sometimes we have to tell the truth to our friends and relatives. Of course, this information sometimes may be unpleasant to hear. In your paper, you can describe how to present the truth in the mildest form because honesty is anyway better than lies.

“People should not be afraid of telling the truth” is the perfect example of a thesis statement for an essay on honesty. Explain to the readers that, on the contrary, such behavior can improve relationships with loved ones. After all, not everyone likes to be deceived. However, a bitter truth can also hurt. That is why sometimes people begin to lie in order not to offend each other, and such an attitude to distortion of reality becomes a habit.

The tips for people who want to build sincere relationships with the environment are listed below. You can use them as a call to action in an “honesty in friendship” essay.

If you cannot keep a lie inside, it's better to tell the truth

No matter how bitter the truth is, telling it is still better than carrying a burden of lies in own soul throughout life. Tell your friends what you wanted to say for a long time. Do not be afraid of the truth. Speak sincerely. People who love you will be able to forgive.

It’s reasonable to advise your readers in an essay about honesty not to be afraid that all friends will leave them. If a person really figures out and corrects his or her mistakes, new friends will come to their life.

If you deceive people, they will deceive you too

This is an important lesson that may be described in essays on honesty. Remember, there is nothing accidental, and nothing is done without the reason. If you have lied to someone, then in the future, you will be deceived too, since you give what you want to receive. If you mislead, insult, and humiliate people, be ready that in the future, you will be accountable for your actions because what goes around always comes back around. These patterns need to be understood to live more consciously and not to make mistakes hoping that everything will turn out fine.

Arguments for an academic honesty essay

It’s not difficult to find a good sample essay on honesty because this topic is quite popular. You may even download one from some websites, but in this case, you won’t have an opportunity for your own independent and conscientious study. You may wonder why it is so important to do all the assignments on your own. Let’s consider some arguments.

First of all, each of us can have our own understanding and perception of success. Whether it is money, fame, power, or universal recognition, each person has one general goal – to be successful in life. Only on our road to success, we can understand why good and diligent education, strong background, broad outlook, and comprehensive knowledge are so important. Mention this argument in your essay on academic honesty.

Secondly, our life is a journey with a huge number of options for movement, as well as a great variety of obstacles, problems, and disappointments that a person can encounter. And at the same time, it grants great joy and happiness. None of us knows what waits around the corner and how quickly our way will lead to the finish. In order to be confident in what direction you are moving, you need to have specific skills and knowledge. One more fact for your honesty essay for students: everything you learn will come in handy in time.

Finally, each time you feel down and sick of all the assignments and essays, ask yourself why should you deprive yourself of a flashlight, map, and compass on your way to success? So you may state in “my academic honesty in college” essay that knowledge will always illuminate your life path.

Useful tips for essay writing about honesty

Having collected enough information on the chosen topic, you also need to figure out how to process it as well as how to format the text correctly. The essay genre has some standard rules that should be followed.

First of all, essay structure always remains unchanged, whether you’re going to write a short essay on honesty or long research consisting of several pages:

• In the introduction, you should make a thesis statement, ask a question, or describe the problem. The first sentences should attract the attention of the reader, so pay enough attention to this section.
• The main part is based on theses that support the main idea and arguments. You can use any number of theses, but experts recommend stopping at three statements.
• In the conclusion of an honesty essay, you must summarize your thoughts, once again mention the problem described in the introduction, and provide its solution in a short and clear form.

It is also important to remember that the most crucial feature of any essay is the author’s unique style. Even if your academic paper has many quotes from literary sources or statistics, it does not mean that you can leave the reader alone with this data. Tell them what you think about the issue under consideration.

Moreover, it is not enough to provide definitions from dictionaries in a “what does integrity mean to you?” essay. Write about your own understanding of this concept and how you implement it every day. Believe us, the paper with life examples will be much more fascinating and even useful to read.

Do not lose heart if you can’t write a masterpiece at once. It is a good idea to work on drafts to develop your writing skills. First, formulate the main thesis, then compile the structure of the body (which include writing theses and arguments), write a conclusion, and then an introduction. This sequence may seem unusual to you, but it is better to write the introduction at the end when you have a clear vision of the issue. According to the same principle, you can select a good title for an essay about honesty.

Having done all this work, do not forget to check the text carefully. Eliminate grammar, lexical, punctuation, and other errors. Even though the essay is a free genre, illiteracy, poorly-constructed sentences, and negligence are unacceptable.

As you can see, this kind of work is not that complicated. Moreover, it’s a great opportunity to be creative.

Besides, writing various essays is a perfect way to become a more confident person because you will learn to substantiate your point of view using convincing arguments. So, perceive essay writing as an instrument for developing a personality.

We hope that this information was useful, and now you will write a really high-quality essay on honesty. Good luck

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How to write with honesty in the plain style

It’s a middle ground between an ornate high style and a low style that gravitates toward slang. write in it when you want your audience to comprehend..

I know how to tell you the truth in a sentence so dense and complicated and filled with jargon that you will not be able to comprehend. I also know — using my clearest and most engaging prose — how to tell you a vicious lie.

This dual reality — that seemingly virtuous plainness can be used for ill intent — lies at the heart of the ethics and practice of public writing.

The author who revealed this problem most persuasively was a scholar named Hugh Kenner, and he introduced it most cogently in an essay entitled “The Politics of the Plain Style.” Originally published in The New York Times Book Review in 1985, Kenner included it with 63 other essays in a book called “Mazes.”

When I began reading the essay, I thought it would confirm my longstanding bias that in a democracy, the plain style is most worthy, especially when used by public writers in the public interest.

A good case can be made for the civic virtues of the plain style, but Kenner, in a sophisticated argument, has persuaded me that some fleas, big fleas, come with the dog.

A disappointing truth is that an undecorated, straightforward writing style is a favorite of liars, including liars in high places. Make that liars, propagandists and conspiracy theorists. We have had enough of those in the 21st century to make citing examples unnecessary. And the last thing I would want to do is to republish pernicious texts, even for the purpose of condemning them.

When rank and file citizens receive messages written in the high style — full of abstractions, fancy effects, and abstractions — their BS detector tends to kick in. That nice term, often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, describes a form of skepticism that many of us need to sense when we are being fooled or lied to. So alerted, you can then dismiss me as a blowhard or a pointy-headed intellectual who works at the Poynter Institute!

If I tell it to you straight, you will look me in the eye and pat me on the back, a person of the people, one of you.

Literary styles and standards shift with the centuries, including the lines between fiction and nonfiction. Among the so-called liars cited by Kenner are famous authors such as Daniel Defoe and George Orwell. Both, he argues, wrote fiction that posed as nonfiction. The way they persuaded us that Robinson Crusoe actually lived or that Orwell actually shot an elephant or witnessed a hanging was to write it straight. That is, to make it sound truthful.

If public writers are to embrace a plain style in an honest way, they must understand what makes it work. Kenner argues:

• That the plain style is a style, even though it reads as plain, undecorated.
• That it is rarely mastered and expressed as literature, except by the likes of Jonathan Swift, H.L. Mencken and Orwell.
• That it is a contrivance, an artifice, something made up to create a particular effect.
• That it exists in ambiguity, being the perfect form of transmission for democratic practices, but also for fictions, fabrications and hoaxes.
• That it makes the writer sound truthful, even when he or she is not.

If you aspire to write in an honest plain style, what are its central components? Let’s give Kenner the floor:

Plain style is a populist style. … Homely diction (common language) is its hallmark, also one-two-three syntax (subject, verb, object), the show of candor and the artifice of seeming to be grounded outside language in what is called fact — the domain where a condemned man can be observed as he silently avoids a puddle and your prose will report the observation and no one will doubt it.

Kenner alludes here to Orwell’s essay in which he observes a hanging and watched the oddity of the condemned man not wanting to get his feet wet as he prepares to climb the steps to the gallows. “Such prose simulates the words anyone who was there and awake might later have spoken spontaneously. On a written page, as we’ve seen, the spontaneous can only be a contrivance.”

The plain style feigns a candid observer. Such is its great advantage for persuading. From behind its mask of calm candor, the writer with political intentions can appeal, in seeming disinterest, to people whose pride is their no-nonsense connoisseurship of fact. And such is the trickiness of language that he may find he must deceive them to enlighten them. Whether Orwell ever witnessed a hanging or not, we’re in no doubt what he means us to think of the custom.

Orwell has been a literary hero of mine from the time I read “Animal Farm” as a child. I jumped from his overt fiction, such as “1984,” to his essays on politics and language, paying only occasional attention to his nonfiction books and narrative essays. I always assumed that Orwell shot an elephant and that he witnessed a hanging, because, well, I wanted to believe it, and assumed a social contract between writer and reader, that if a writer of nonfiction writes a scene where two brothers are arguing in a restaurant, then it was not two sisters laughing in a discotheque.

As to whether Orwell wrote from experience in these cases, I can’t be sure, but he always admitted that he wrote from a political motive, through which he might justify what is sometimes called poetic license.

Writing to reach a “higher truth,” of course, is part of a literary and religious tradition that goes back centuries. When Christian authors of an earlier age wrote the life and death stories of the saints — hagiography — they cared less about the literal truth of the story than a kind of allegorical truth: That the martyrdom of St. Agnes of Rome was an echo of the suffering of Jesus on the cross, and, therefore, a pathway to eternal life.

I write this as a lifelong Catholic without disrespect or irony. Such writing was a form of propaganda and is where we get the word: a propagation of the faith.

Orwell’s faith was in democratic institutions, threatened in the 20th century by tyrannies of the right and the left — fascism and communism. Seeing British imperialism as a corruption, he felt a moral obligation to tell stories in which that system looked bad, including one where, as a member of the imperial police in Burma, he found himself having to kill an elephant, an act he came to regret. Using the plain style, Orwell makes his essay so real that I believe it. In my professional life, I have argued against this idea of the “higher truth,” which does not respect fact, knowing how slippery that fact can be. But Orwell knew whether he shot that elephant or not, so there is no equivocating.

By the onset of the digital age, a writer’s fabrications — even those made with good intent — are often easily exposed, leading to a loss of authority and credibility that can injure a worthy cause. With Holocaust deniers abounding, why would you fabricate a story about the Holocaust when there are still so many factual stories to tell?

There is a powerful lesson here for all public writers: That if I can imagine a powerful plot and compelling characters, I do not have to fabricate a story and sell it as nonfiction. I can write it as a novel and sell it as a screenplay! I have yet to hear an argument that “Sophie’s Choice” is unworthy because it was imagined rather than reported.

I am saying that all forms of writing and communication fall potentially under the rubric of public writing. That includes, fiction, poetry, film, even the music lyrics, labeled as such: “Tell it like it is,” says the song, “Don’t be afraid. Let your conscience be your guide.”

In the end, we need reports we can trust, and even in the age of disinformation and fake news, those are best delivered in the plain style — with honesty as its backbone. Writing in the plain style is a strategy; civic clarity and credibility are the effects.

Here are the lessons:

• When you are writing reports, when you want your audience to comprehend, write in the plain style — a kind of middle ground between an ornate high style and a low style that gravitates toward slang
• The plain style requires exacting work. Plain does not mean simple. Prefer the straightforward over the technical: shorter words, sentences, paragraphs at the points of greatest complexity.
• Keep subjects and verbs in the main clause together. Put the main clause first.
• More common words work better.
• Easy on the literary effects; use only the most transparent metaphors, nothing that stops the reader and calls attention to itself.
• Remember 1-2-3 syntax, subject/verb/object: “Public writers prefer the plain style.”

Want to read more about public writing? Check out Roy Peter Clark’s latest book, “ Tell It Like It Is: A Guide to Clear and Honest Writing ,” available April 11 from Little, Brown.

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Academic Honesty

As members of an academic community, we all have a responsibility to act with integrity, which means, for example, behaving ethically and honestly inside and outside the classroom, during exams, and when we prepare homework and writing assignments. The rules of academic honesty, and what constitutes cheating and plagiarism, may be different in different countries. In the U.S., when your name is at the top of an class assignment, it means that you – and you alone – have created the work. Many instructors encourage collaboration and research on some assignments, so in this section, we will discuss how to acknowledge other people’s contributions to your work.

Before you begin this section, read HCC’s Academic Honesty Procedure 10.02.01 from the college website. Can you summarize the main points of the college’s position on academic honesty?

ENGLISH 087: Academic Advanced Writing Copyright © 2020 by Nancy Hutchison is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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9.7: Academic Honesty

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define academic honesty and common forms of academic dishonesty
• Identify common scenarios that can lead to academic dishonesty, and possible consequences
• Identify strategies for avoiding plagiarism

Academic Honesty and Dishonesty

At most educational institutions, “academic honesty” means demonstrating and upholding the highest integrity and honesty in all the academic work that you do. In short, it means doing your own work and not cheating, and not presenting the work of others as your own.

The following are some common forms of academic dishonesty prohibited by most academic institutions:

Cheating can take the form of crib notes, looking over someone’s shoulder during an exam, or any forbidden sharing of information between students regarding an exam or exercise. Many elaborate methods of cheating have been developed over the years—from hiding notes in the bathroom toilet tank to storing information in graphing calculators, pagers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Cheating differs from most other forms of academic dishonesty, in that people can engage in it without benefiting themselves academically at all. For example, a student who illicitly telegraphed answers to a friend during a test would be cheating, even though the student’s own work is in no way affected.

Deception is providing false information to an instructor concerning an academic assignment. Examples of this include taking more time on a take-home test than is allowed, giving a dishonest excuse when asking for a deadline extension, or falsely claiming to have submitted work.

Fabrication

Fabrication is the falsification of data, information, or citations in an academic assignment. This includes making up citations to back up arguments or inventing quotations. Fabrication is most common in the natural sciences, where students sometimes falsify data to make experiments “work” or false claims are made about the research performed.

Plagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary , is the “use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.” [1]  In an academic setting, it is seen as the adoption or reproduction of original intellectual creations (such as concepts, ideas, methods, pieces of information or expressions, etc.) of another author (whether an individual, group, or organization) without proper acknowledgment. This can range from borrowing a particular phrase or sentence to paraphrasing someone else’s original idea without citing it. Today, in our networked digital world, the most common form of plagiarism is copying and pasting online material without crediting the source.

Common Forms of Plagiarism

According to “The Reality and Solution of College Plagiarism” created by the Health Informatics department of the University of Illinois at Chicago, there are ten main forms of plagiarism that students commit:

• Submitting someone else’s work as their own.
• Taking passages from their own previous work without adding citations.
• Rewriting someone’s work without properly citing sources.
• Using quotations, but not citing the source.
• Interweaving various sources together in the work without citing.
• Citing some, but not all passages that should be cited.
• Melding together cited and uncited sections of the piece.
• Providing proper citations, but failing to change the structure and wording of the borrowed ideas enough.
• Inaccurately citing the source.
• Relying too heavily on other people’s work. Failing to bring original thought into the text.

As a college student, you are now a member of a scholarly community that values other people’s ideas. In fact, you will routinely be asked to reference and discuss other people’s thoughts and writing in the course of producing your own work. That’s why it’s so important to understand what plagiarism is and steps you can take to avoid it.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Below are some useful guidelines to help you avoid plagiarism and show academic honesty in your work:

• Quotes: If you quote another work directly in your work, cite your source.
• Paraphrase:  If put someone else’s idea into your own words, you still need to cite the author.
• Visual Materials: If you cite statistics, graphs, or charts from a study, cite the source. Keep in mind that if you didn’t do the original research, then you need to credit the person(s) or institution, etc. that did.

The easiest way to make sure you don’t accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work is by taking careful notes as you research. If you are doing research on the Web, be sure to copy and paste the links into your notes so can keep track of the sites you’re visiting. Be sure to list all the sources you consult.

There are many handy online tools to help you create and track references as you go. For example, you can try using  Son of Citation Machine . Keeping careful notes will not only help you avoid inadvertent plagiarism; it will also help you if you need to return to a source later (to check or get more information). If you use citation tools like Son of Citation, be sure to check the accuracy of the citations before you submit your assignment.

Lastly, if you’re in doubt about whether something constitutes plagiarism, cite the source or leave the material out. Better still, ask for help. Most colleges have a writing center, a tutoring center, and a library where students can get help with their writing. Taking the time to seek advice is better than getting in trouble for not attributing your sources. Be honest about your ideas, and give credit where it’s due.

Consequences of Plagiarism

In the academic world, plagiarism by students is usually considered a very serious offense that can result in punishments such as a failing grade on the particular assignment, the entire course, or even being expelled from the institution. Individual instructors and courses may have their own policies regarding academic honesty and plagiarism; statements of these can usually be found in the course syllabus or online course description.

Activity: Gather Campus Resources

• Indiana University has a clever list of different types of plagiarism. Their names for different types of plagiarism can help you learn how to avoid situations of academic dishonesty. Go to this link and read through the various examples.  Jot down a few notes on examples that are new to you.
• Start by finding information about plagiarism in one of your courses. You may find information on the course syllabus and/or the course Web site. You may want to bookmark this information or make a note to yourself. Knowing your rights as a student may help if there is a misunderstanding.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.com/assessments/904

• Stepchyshyn, Vera, and Robert S. Nelson. Library Plagiarism Policies . Chicago: College Library Information Packet Committee, College Libraries Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007. Print. P. 65. ↵

Contributors and Attributions

• Academic Honesty. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of shortcutting sign. Authored by : Stephen Coles. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/pnpwKy . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Academic Dishonesty. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dishonesty#cite_note-22 . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Plagiarism. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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2 Exhibiting Academic Integrity and Intellectual Honesty

One of the skills you must develop in your academic writing is to balance your own voice with the voices of others in the field. Intellectual honesty essentially means giving credit where credit is due for the ideas you present in your writing. I am addressing this near the beginning of this resource, because it is such an important concept, and the consequences for not attending to the principles of academic integrity can be serious.

2.1 Embracing Intellectual Honesty

At its core, intellectual honesty requires students, academics, and researchers to be transparent about the sources of their ideas and to acknowledge the contributions of others in their writing. This basic principle forms a foundation for acquiring and developing knowledge. Because knowledge is typically cumulative, further advances are predicated on the contributions of others. Within systems of scholarship, such contributions are critically evaluated before being used as a foundation for further inquiry. Intellectual honesty is essential to ensure that intellectual contributions are transparent and open to critique. Throughout your coursework you will be expected always to cite your sources and to describe clearly the means by which you obtained the information you share, so that others can follow your research practices and thought processes.

There is a large body of knowledge in the health disciplines that continues to evolve as writers integrate, debate, and build upon the ideas, models, theories, and research outcomes generated by others. However, that foundational knowledge becomes unstable and unreliable if there is no way to trace the origins and evolution of these conceptual threads, because the ideas have not been accurately and consistently attributed to their sources. To claim the contributions and ideas of another author as your own is plagiarism. As a writer, you not only compromise your own academic integrity by failing to attribute accurately ideas to their sources, but also you break the threads that allow those who read your work to critique and evaluate it, and to build a solid foundation of knowledge in the health disciplines.

Intellectual honesty is one of the core values of the professional education, and it is a concept we expect each of you to understand fully as you enter into graduate studies. Students enrolled in programs and courses within the health disciplines are considered to be responsible scholars; they are, therefore, expected to adhere rigorously to the principles of intellectual integrity. These expectations are reflected in the following Faculty of Health Disciplines [FHD] program outcome:

Intellectual honesty & scholarly integrity . Demonstrate intellectual honesty and scholarly integrity; in particular, attribute ideas to their information sources accurately.

Acting with intellectual integrity begins with recognizing the expected standards of honesty. The remaining subsections describe policies and practices related to intellectual indebtedness and plagiarism. Most universities and colleagues have intellectual honesty policies. You may find it useful to read the Athabasca University [AU] Student Academic Misconduct Policy for a better understanding of the kinds of activities that constitute breaches of academic honesty.

2.2 Plagiarizing the Work of Others

Plagiarism is a form of intellectual dishonesty in which another person’s work (e.g., ideas, wording, arguments) is wrongfully presented as one’s own. All direct quotations from the original source (i.e., an exact copy of three or more words) and indirect quotations (i.e., paraphrased ideas) must be acknowledged and attributed to the correct source. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism, and as with any form of academic misconduct, you may be penalized for your lack of intellectual honesty (see the AU policy ).

Exercise 2.2.1

The brief Adventures of Ruby video (below), created by the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at AU, explains the basics of plagiarism and its relationship to APA formatting in an entertaining way. This video was created based on an earlier version of APA. As you watch the video, make note of what you would do to help Ruby bring her paper in line with current APA format. For those who prefer to read this content, please review the MS Word transcript .

© Centre for Nursing and Health Studies at Athabasca University, CC BY-SA 3.0

Did you identify everything Ruby needs to complete the final edit of her paper? Click here to check your list.

To create a strong paper that evidences scholarly integrity, you will synthesize the work of a number of individuals, express their ideas in your own words, and credit them accurately. When you present your own ideas or opinions, you will provide evidence to substantiate your position by drawing on the professional literature. Graduate students are considered to be responsible scholars and are, therefore, expected to adhere rigorously to the principles of intellectual integrity. Deliberate deceit in reporting information, ideas, and research is clearly unacceptable; however, there can be other, less obvious, forms of intellectual dishonesty for which you can be held accountable. Each of the common pitfalls (below) are considered forms of plagiarism, even if you engage in them unintentionally.

Failure to Cite the Sources of Ideas

One of the most common pitfalls into which students fall, in terms of scholarly integrity, is not providing citations for the sources of their ideas. The bottom line is transparency. You must make it crystal clear to the reader whose idea you are presenting. For each of the key points and subpoints in your paper, you must provide the proper citation for the sources of your information. When you draw information from someone else, please be very careful to (a) present the ideas in your own words, and (b) cite the source accurately. If you make a statement that most people would consider common knowledge, you do not need a citation (e.g., “Canada and the United States share a common border”). However, other types of substantive statements in your paper must be supported with sources taken from the professional literature.

The following examples demonstrate writing using insufficient citations, which is a form of plagiarism.

• You make the following statements and provide no citation for them: “The therapeutic relationship has emerged as one of the most important factors in effective counselling,” or “There is little evidence that vaccination alone can account for all of the variance in health outcomes.” This information is not something that you would know without drawing on the work of others, so you must provide an appropriate citation.
• You copy a phrase, sentence, or larger portion from a source, and you fail to include both quotation marks and the proper citation. For example, you might write, “Nurse practitioners should attend to the principles of assessment and triage for specific presenting concerns.” The portion underlined is word-for-word from one of your sources. Including that phrase without using quotation marks and citing the source is considered plagiarism even though you did not copy the whole sentence.
• You draw an idea from someone and fail to cite the source of that idea, even if you have carefully paraphrased the idea (i.e., you have used your own words, but not your own idea). For example, you summarize the work of Jerry (2019), or you write down in your own words what you learned from both Jerry (2019) and Nuttgens (2018), but you do not cite them. Even though you have used your own words, these are not your ideas; therefore, not citing them constitutes plagiarism.
• You provide an incorrect source for a direct quotation (i.e., word-for-word excerpt) or a paraphrase. You make the following statement, and you cite Jerry (2019), when it was actually Nuttgens (2018) who made the statement: “There is little evidence that counselling theory alone can account for all of the variance in success rates” (Jerry, 2019). This may happen, because of the use of secondary sources, or because you have not kept careful track of the sources of your information. Regardless of the cause, this too is considered plagiarism.

If you are providing your own opinion or pulling out the themes from various sources you have already described, then be sure to indicate clearly that this is what you are doing: “Based on the analysis provided above, I have identified three themes that reflect current trends in the literature.” In this case, you don’t need to include all of your sources again, but you must ensure that this is your own synthesis and that the sources are documented in the section you are summarizing.

In the audio file below, I position plagiarism in the context of professional ethics, in terms of development of your own voice and respect for the voices of others.

Failure to Properly Paraphrase Information

Unless there is something unique or particularly powerful about the wording used by another writer, you should use your own words in your paper, citing the source of the idea. Using your own words means building your arguments within each paragraph by drawing on ideas, concepts, and themes from the work of others, rather than stringing together statements they have made.

The following examples would be considered plagiarism:

• You repeat a simple statement, such as “The crux of education is collaborative learning,” without putting it in quotation marks or substantially rewording it. Simply restating it as “Learning collaboratively is the crux of graduate education” is not a paraphrase and would be considered plagiarism. A proper paraphrase might be “What is really important is that the learning experience is bi-directional.”
• You create a list in your paper that pulls key points from a source without putting each point in your own words. For example, you state: “Collins (2020) identifies three potential pitfalls that evidence plagiarism: failure to cite sources of ideas, failure to properly paraphrase information, and copying an entire paper.” Even though this statement is not one continuous quotation from Collins (i.e., it has been drawn from the headings on this page), it is not a paraphrase. You would need to say something like “Collins (2020) warns graduate students to pay careful attention to the need to appropriately credit all sources, the importance of using one’s own words, as well as to the more blatant dishonesty of submitting a paper they did not write.”

To ensure you understand these principles, please listen to the audio file on proper paraphrasing.

Copying an Entire Paper (or Portions Thereof)

You are always expected to complete your own work, unless assignments have been set up specifically for group work. This does not mean that you cannot solicit feedback from an instructor to incorporate into your assignment, have a colleague proofread your work before you submit it, or consult with peers on ideas and expectations. It simply means that your work is your work. Consider the following examples of plagiarism:

• You copy someone else’s paper for your entire assignment.
• You copy sections of another student’s paper or a journal article.
• You submit a document (or a portion of a document) when other people have contributed to the creation of that work.

Instructors have many tools available to them to detect this type of intellectual dishonesty, including plagiarism detection software.

Exercise 2.2.2

To assess your understanding of the principles of intellectual integrity related to accurate crediting of sources of information, complete Exercise 2.2.2 . Then check your responses against the Exercise 2.2.2 Feedback .

2.3 Plagiarizing Your Own Work

In addition to diligently tracking and making transparent the information you draw on from other people, you must be careful to avoid self-plagiarism in your professional writing. Typically self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits a previous assignment, in whole or in part, in lieu of creating a new piece of writing.

However, there is considerable benefit to building upon your learning across courses. So, I have provided some guidelines in this section for ethically integrating previous research and writing, particularly into the culminating experiences of your graduate program (thesis, project, final paper).

Resubmitting Previous Coursework

Submitting previous course work in another course or in another assignment may seem like an obvious “Don’t do it!” from an intellectual honesty perspective, but it can be a bit more complicated to discern what this means in practical terms.

You might not want to reinvent the wheel completely every time you write a paper, particularly if you have an emergent area of professional interest. For example, if you are curious about the social determinants of health, or more specifically, you want to specialize in the area of domestic violence, you would be wise to start gathering information on this topic from the very beginning of your program. I suggest you resist focusing every single assignment on the same topic, because it will limit your learning. However, you may pick certain assignments throughout the program to use as a way of building your knowledge and expertise in the area. If you do this in a strategic way, you will have a foundation to build upon for writing your thesis, project, or final paper at the end of your program.

The problem is that you cannot take the same paragraphs and simply plug them into different assignments, or tweak them only slightly for different courses. Submitting work that you completed in one course, in whole or in part, for another course assignment is considered cheating, even if you credit yourself to avoid charges of plagiarism. This includes

• taking an assignment from another course (even if that course was taken in another program) and editing it to resubmit for your current course;
• lifting sections from one assignment and including them in another assignment; and
• resubmitting a previously graded assignment from the same course, if you repeat that course for some reason.

Each assignment is designed to build specific competencies, and you are expected to submit a new piece of academic work for each one. It is your responsibility to ensure that the content was created specifically for the particular assignment, and in the course you are taking currently. You can certainly draw on the same sources and ideas, but you must create a new and original document. To avoid self-plagiarism and maintain the academic integrity of your work, you can use one or more of the following strategies:

• Ensure that you create an original thesis statement and supporting arguments for each assignment (see Chapter 5 ).
• Use previous course papers as a source of ideas and concepts that support arguments that you want to build into your current writing.
• Reuse the references that you drew on to create the original documents.
• Identify individual sections that you want to reuse, and rewrite and tailor them to the purposes of the current paper
• Modify substantively any sections you draw on by adding new references, changing the wording, and re-organizing the ideas to support the thesis of your current paper.
• Add in current content from your own critical reflection on the topic or from your recent review of the literature.
• If you presented a substantive original idea, model, or conclusion in another paper, reference that paper when you present this idea in your new work.
• Quote and reference your earlier writing if you simply cannot say it as well again!

The last two suggestions should be approached with considerable caution. In most cases, there will not be content in your course assignments that cannot be reworked substantively and built upon as you move through your program.

A couple of exceptions to this self-plagiarism regulation follow:

• The guidelines for a particular assignment may expressly indicate that you are allowed to integrate previous coursework. In this case, you must carefully follow the guidelines above to accurately cite the content you draw from your previous paper.
• The research proposal that you create in the Thesis I course is intended to form a foundation for certain portions of your final thesis. You are expected to build directly on this document in your final thesis.

Building Toward Culminating Experiences

Most graduate programs culminate in a final project, thesis, or other course-based exit process in which students are expected to demonstrate what they have learned about the theories and practices within the field of health disciplines as well as their competencies in professional writing and ethical scholarship.

Although you are expected to avoid self-plagiarism in course assignments, it is efficient and strategic to build toward your culminating experience throughout your program. Certain course assignments are tailored to build your knowledge and critique of the current literature in areas that you might want to write about as part of your thesis, project, or final paper. So how do you put these two things together? On the one hand, you cannot copy from previous assignments, and on the other hand, you have been working on a particular topic area across a number of courses with a view to integrating your developing knowledge into your exit document.

Faculty who do research and writing as part of their ongoing professional work face a similar dilemma. Many choose a particular area of research and theoretical interest and continue to develop their thinking and writing in that area for many years. However, they are bound by these same ethical principles. They cannot simply rearrange one journal article to create another. The guidelines for almost all journals explicitly require submission of an original piece of work. This does not mean that the topic must be new to the author; it means that they have not made the same argument or presented the same data in another publication. Instead they have presented new ideas and, if applicable, have substantively rewritten or explicitly cited content drawn from previous work to support their thesis in the new article.

The art of not plagiarizing yourself is an essential skill for you to develop as part of your professional development. What this means in practical terms is that you cannot take one of your previous course assignments and submit it as a culminating experience; nor can you simply merge sections from various assignments. In Section 4.4 Generating and Organizing Your Ideas , I provide a process to help you keep track of the original sources from which you have drawn your ideas. This process also provides a means for you to create “rough notes” documents on particular topics that you build upon across various courses. You can draw from these documents in your culminating work without citing yourself as long as you have not copied sections of these documents directly into other course assignments.

Because you are encouraged to build toward your exit process throughout your program, you may be permitted to repurpose a percentage of the content of your within-program writing in your thesis, project, or final paper. In the Master of Counselling at AU, for example, we permit you to repurpose 50% of the content of earlier assignments for the course-based exit paper and to integrate your thesis proposal, including the literature review, into your final thesis. However, if you do not have rough notes of your research, then you will need to incorporate some of the principles in the section above (Resubmitting Course Assignments) to ensure you maintain standards of scholarly integrity as you draw on your previous work.

The bottom line is that the culminating activity in your graduate program must represent a new and original piece of work. You are being assessed on your ability to integrate your learning and to demonstrate your ability to create a professional product that meets standards for scholarly integrity and professional writing within the health disciplines.

2.4 Misusing Secondary Sources

An original source is the author(s) who first makes a statement, introduces a concept, reports on research, or presents a new idea. Sometimes this original source is cited within the text of an article or book you read. This makes that article or book you read a secondary source for the statement, concept, research, or idea. A secondary source provides a second-hand account of information from the primary source. So, for example, Mules (2020) described a study conducted by Nuttgens (2017). Mules is a secondary source of information; Nuttgens is the original source. Using Mules as your source, rather than reading and citing Nuttgens, is like relying on hearsay in court, and it is a breach of academic integrity. You cannot state for sure what Nuttgens said unless you actually read their work. Otherwise, you are taking Mules’ word for what Nuttgens had to say. You may later discover that Mules did not correctly represent Nuttgens’ views. You have then become responsible for passing on that misrepresentation. In addition, you put yourself at risk of plagiarism and other breaches of scholarly integrity that may have occurred in the secondary source you read.

Consider, for example, the following statements by Mules (2020): “There is growing support for taking a more metalevel approach to the teaching of counselling theories (Nuttgens, 2017). However, some graduate courses maintain a traditional approach to teaching theories.” The following examples demonstrate intellectual dishonesty, because you are failing to give proper respect and credit to the information sources you are using in your paper:

• You cite Mules (2020) for ideas he presents, when Mules was actually citing Nuttgens (2017); this gives Mules credit for the work of Nuttgens. For example, it is inappropriate to write in your paper: “The current trend in counselling theories courses is to organize the course according to broader philosophical principles (Mules, 2009).” You must actually read the work of Nuttgens (2017) and credit Nuttgens, not Mules, for this idea.
• You cite Mules as a secondary source when the article by Nuttgens is in the university library; this is inappropriate, because you chose not to access the readily available primary source of the information. For example, you write in your paper “According to Nuttgens, the current trend in counselling theories courses is to organize the course according to broader philosophical principles (as cited in Mules, 2020).” In this case, you are giving Nuttgens credit (in APA style), but you are still taking Mules’ word for what Nuttgens had to say even though you could have accessed Nuttgens directly. You must actually read the work of Nuttgens and credit them, not Mules, for this idea.

Unless the article by Nuttgens (2017) is difficult to access (i.e., not available through the library or an Internet search), you are expected to read the original source before you make reference to it in your paper. If it is difficult to access, then your first course of action is to find an alternative source for this information. Only in rare instances, where the material is a classic piece of writing that is no longer accessible, may you draw on the secondary source.

Many textbooks are primarily secondary sources. For example, the person(s) who wrote your text on nursing or counselling theory may not have developed the theories themselves; instead, they drew on other sources to pull together a succinct overview of each model. Much of the content of the text is, therefore, a secondary source, and you must find works by the original theorist, wherever possible, if you want to reference key aspects of a particular theory. Exceptions exist, of course, such as textbooks wherein the author of the text presents their own research, conceptual, or theoretical work. It is also important to watch out for edited books, in which individual chapters are written by different authors. In this case, you must attribute the ideas to the chapter author, not the book editor.

Please watch this short animated video on secondary sources for more details.

If you prefer to read this content, here is the video transcript .

2.5 Discerning When and How to Cite Others

The key to avoiding plagiarism is being very clear about which content requires a citation and understanding how to properly paraphrase information. In the following subsections, I will provide some helpful principles and practices.

Discerning When to Cite Others

It is often a challenge for students to figure out how much citing of other works to do in a paper. Here are some general guidelines:

• Give information that you are sure is either common knowledge in the public domain (e.g., dates of historical events) or common knowledge in your field (e.g., the Likert scale format), without a specific reference for that point. Be careful not to assume that common knowledge in one context applies to all other situations. The key question to ask yourself is: “Will my readers also possess this information?” When in doubt, locate and cite a source for the information.
• Provide a citation to at least one or two sources from the professional literature for each main point you make. In some cases, you can then reflect on that point without citations. However, you must be certain that the reader understands that the sources cited with the first point are also the sources for subsequent sentences. If this is not clear, repeat the citations. As soon as you make another main point, or talk about anything that is not your original idea, you must again draw on the literature to support that point.
• Translate others’ ideas into your own words, and then cite your sources, unless a direct quotation expresses something in a way that is unique or particularly eloquent. In that case, it is appropriate to use it. However, if you string together too many quotations, you risk losing your voice and your ability to demonstrate that you have thought critically about the material. In many cases, it also becomes difficult to follow your train of thought. As a general rule, if you do a word count and your quotations are edging up to 20% of your total words, you are in trouble!
• Avoid relying heavily on one source for large chunks of your paper. In a section of 200 to 400 words, you should draw on at least two or three sources.
• Take ownership of your argument even if you find a great article in which the author made a number of points that you want to incorporate into your paper. Do not simply paraphrase what that person has said and conclude you have written a paper. You may incorporate the author’s points, but you must also integrate other materials, demonstrate that you have thought critically about those points, and organize the paper according to your conceptual framework, not that of the article’s author.
• Discern when to cite others for all forms of professional writing. Although the focus of this resource is on writing graduate papers, it is important to remember that citing your sources may be required for other professional materials you create, such as presentations for conferences or workshops (even PowerPoint slides), worksheets or handouts for clients, or articles for newsletters.

Exercise 2.5.1

To enhance your understanding of what constitutes common knowledge and when other sources are necessary, check out the following resources.

• APA Style Blog. (2013, November 27). The first thanksgiving: A tale of common knowledge . http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/the-first-thanksgiving-a-tale-of-common-knowledge.html
• Purdue University. (2019. Avoiding plagiarism https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/

Paraphrasing Effectively

The main way to avoid plagiarizing the work of others is to learn to paraphrase effectively. Be sure that you use this skill from the moment you begin to take notes about what others have written. Consider the following suggestions to support writing in your own words.

• Stop periodically, as you read an article, to write short summaries of the key points that seem most important or relevant without looking back at the words used by the author.
• Use voice dictation software to record your ideas, speaking out loud as if you are explaining the key points to another person.
• Practice reading for meaning rather than reading for vocabulary. Reduce a sentence or paragraph to 3–4 key words. Then put those 3–4 words into a sentence of your own.
• Take a short break after you finish reading an article or a section of an article. Then write out the points or arguments that you would like to make in your paper, before going back to the article to ensure that these ideas are supported directly by that source.
• If you decide that a particular point is really important, but you are struggling to put it in your own words, write down a counter-argument to the point being made. Then respond to that counter-argument using your own words.
• If there is no way to capture the meaning in your own words, use a short quotation from the source, and cite it appropriately.

Unless there is something unique or particularly powerful about the wording used by a source, you should use your own words in your paper, and cite the source of the idea. You are expected to build your own argument in your own words, drawing on ideas, concepts, and themes from the work of others. I provide more details and suggestions about how to synthesize and integrate the literature in Section 5.6 .

Recalling the discussion of developing your own voice ( Section 1.3 ), if you are providing your own opinion or pulling out the themes from various sources you have already described, be sure to indicate clearly that this is what you are doing: “Based on the analysis provided above, I have identified three themes that reflect current trends in the literature.” In this case, you do not need to include all of your sources again, but you must be sure that this is your own synthesis and that the sources are documented in the section you are summarizing. The bottom line is transparency: Ask yourself “Will the reader be able, easily, to identify the source of the ideas?”

Exercise 2.5.2

To assess your understanding of the principles of intellectual integrity related to accurate crediting of sources of information, complete Exercise 2.5.2 . Then check your responses against the Exercise 2.5.2 Feedback .

2.6 Facing the Consequences of Intellectual Dishonesty

Few learners deliberately attempt to present the work of another as their own or purposefully engage in other forms of intellectual dishonesty. Most of the time, learners new to academic writing expectations make honest mistakes, and hopefully will receive the coaching and support they need to succeed. Those who do choose to engage in intellectual dishonesty will likely tell you that it is not worth the embarrassment or the academic consequences. There is a zero tolerance policy in most universities for plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct, and the academic consequences, and potential career implications, are very serious. The AU Student Academic Misconduct Policy provides an example of the potential consequences of plagiarism and other academic offences. As a learner your will be held accountable to the principles outlined in your university policies, as well as other guidelines provided specifically by your department or program. Please raise any questions you have with a course instructor or your faculty mentor.

Professional Writing in the Health Disciplines Copyright © 2020 by Sandra Collins is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Designing Assignments to Promote Academic Honesty

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Jo Ann Vogt

Assignment design can be a powerful tool in your efforts to engage your students with your subject matter and encourage them to do their own work. To make assignments more interesting and less vulnerable to cheating, consider some of these suggestions:

• Ground assignments in real-world events or in controversies in your field.
• Ask students to answer a specific question that creates cognitive dissonance. In a human development course, you might ask something like this: Given the clear evidence linking cigarette smoking to cancer and heart disease, why do so many adolescents start smoking?

• Require students to incorporate a specific source/quotation/set of statistics/table, etc.
• Limit acceptable sources to a specific time period.
• Structure assignments in stages with multiple due dates so that you can see students’ ideas/arguments develop.
• Require drafts of longer assignments, and ask students to submit copies of all sources.
• Consider having students write some components of their papers in class.
• Assign genres other than essays and reports. Proposals, letters to the editor, and recommendation memos require independent thinking and analysis.
• Teach students to paraphrase and show them examples of proper paraphrasing and citation.

If you would like feedback on your assignments or guidance with responding to or grading student writing, the Campus Writing Program is eager to help. Contact us at 812-855-9023 or [email protected] .

Plagiarism Blog Series:

• Collaborate with Librarians to Help Your Students Develop Their Research Workflow
• What is Plagiarism and How Do I Talk with Students about It?
• Truth, Then Consequences: When Plagiarism Is Reported at IU
• Resources to Help Minimize Plagiarism in Your Course

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50 Poems About Honesty

Written by Dan

Last updated February 14, 2024

Honesty is one of the most important values we can teach our students. It builds trust in relationships, helps us face our difficulties more realistically, and leads to a more meaningful life.

Choosing an engaging way to discuss this essential value with your class can be challenging, but poems are an excellent tool for conveying powerful lessons about honesty!

In this post, we’ll explore beautiful and thought-provoking poems that can help you facilitate positive conversations around the power of sincerity with your students.

Related : For more, check out our article on  Poems About Depression  here.

Table of Contents

Five Free Verse Poems About Honesty

Free verse poetry does not follow regular rhyme or meter patterns, but instead flows more naturally, much like everyday speech.

This format allows for great flexibility and creativity in exploring complex themes such as honesty. The following five poems aim to illuminate different facets of this invaluable virtue.

The Beacon of Truth

In the vast ocean of human interaction, A beacon shines bright – Honesty. It guides us through the fog of deception, Through the storms of duplicity.

Its light is pure, unfiltered, A testament to authenticity. In its glow, we find our way, Navigating life with integrity.

The Mirror of Candor

Honesty, a mirror held to our souls, Reflecting our true selves, without pretense. It reveals our flaws, our virtues, Our fears, our hopes, our essence.

In its reflection, we see clearly, The path to self-awareness. In its truth, we find our worth, And embrace our uniqueness.

The River of Sincerity

Like a river, honesty flows, Carrying with it the weight of truth. It cuts through mountains of lies, Valleys of deceit, with uncanny ruth.

In its current, we find clarity, A refreshing sip of reality. In its movements, we learn, The value of impartiality.

The Fortress of Integrity

Honesty stands tall, a fortress, Unyielding in the face of falsehood. Its walls are built of trust, Its foundation, understanding, understood.

Within its confines, we feel safe, Protected by the armor of truth. In its strength, we find courage, To live life with veracity and ruth.

The Garden of Transparency

Honesty grows in the garden of transparency, Blooming flowers of trust and authenticity. It nurtures relationships, strengthens bonds, Promoting openness, reducing duplicity.

In its presence, we flourish, Fueled by the sunlight of truth. In its essence, we understand, The beauty of candid youth.

Related : For more, check out our article on  Poems About Love here.

Five Acrostic Poems About Honesty

1. heart of truth.

Honor in every word spoken

Openness in every action

Never bending the facts

Every moment of sincerity

Speaking the truth, even when it’s tough

Transparency, clear as glass

Yearning for a world of truth

By Dan Higgins, 2024

2. Open Book

Only the truth, nothing less

No room for deceit or lies

Every word holds weight

Still waters run deep with honesty

The truth is always the right choice

Yearn for truthfulness, always

3. No Deception

Never twisting the truth

Open-hearted and transparent

Deception is a stranger here

Every word is a promise

Seeking truth in every corner

Transparency is our mantra

Year after year, honesty prevails

4. Every Word Counts

Even when it’s hard, speak the truth

Very clear, no room for doubt

Every word counts, every action matters

Respect earned through honesty

Yearning for a world where honesty is the norm

5. Trust Earned

Truth is the only language here

Rely on words that hold weight

Understanding that honesty builds trust

Speak your truth, even when it’s tough

Transparency is the way forward

Earn trust through honesty

Always be sincere, always be honest

Remember, honesty is the best policy

Never falter, never lie

Every word, every action, rooted in honesty

Dedicated to a life of truth

Related : For more, check out our article on  Poems About Hope here.

Five Haiku Poems About Honesty

Haikus are a form of Japanese poetry, traditionally consisting of three lines with syllables arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern.

They often focus on nature and feelings. Here are five haikus about honesty, a virtue that, much like the beauty in nature, can inspire profound reflection and respect.

The Light of Truth

Truth’s radiant light, Cuts through the darkest deceit, Honesty shines bright.

The Seed of Trust

Trust, a seed well sown, Sprouts in the garden of truth, Honesty has grown.

The Echo of Candor

Echoes of candor, In the quiet valley of trust, Honesty’s splendor.

River flows with truth, Through the landscape of the heart, Honesty, our youth.

The Mountain of Integrity

Stand tall, mountain high, In the face of deceit’s storm, Honesty’s clear sky.

Related : For more, check out our article on  Poems About Kindness here.

Five Limerick Poems About Honesty

Limericks are a form of poetry characterized by their distinctive rhythm and often humorous nature. They consist of five lines with a specific rhyme pattern (AABBA).

Let’s explore the virtue of honesty through the engaging and accessible medium of limericks.

The Honest Abe

There once was a man named Abe, Whose honesty was sharp as a stave. Never told a lie, Always looked you in the eye, His integrity, no one could waive.

The Truthful Tale

In a town where truth seemed to fail, Lived a woman who’d spin a truthful tale. With her words so sincere, She would make things clear, Her honesty always would prevail.

The Candid Kid

A kid with candor, oh so rare, Spoke truths that made people stare. With each honest word, Respect was conferred, For he showed how much he cared.

The Frank Friend

A friend who was frank and true, Showed me a perspective new. With honesty keen, She wiped the slate clean, Her words like refreshing dew.

The Genuine Gem

There once was a gem so fine, Whose honesty would brightly shine. In a world full of pretense, His transparency immense, Was a treasure truly divine.

Related : For more, check out our article on  Poems About Diversity here.

Five Tanka Poems About Honesty

A tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry, similar to the haiku but with two additional lines (5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure). It provides a broader canvas for expressing thoughts and emotions.

Here, we’ve crafted five tanka poems exploring the theme of honesty, an essential virtue that enriches our lives and relationships.

The Sunbeam of Truth

A sunbeam of truth, Piercing through the cloud of lies, Honesty prevails. In its light, we find our path, Guided by its warm embrace.

The Blossom of Trust

Trust, a rare blossom, Blooms in the garden of truth. Honesty, its root, Feeds its growth, vibrant and strong, A symbol of integrity.

Candor’s echo rings, In the silence of the heart. Honesty, its voice, Speaks volumes in quiet tones, Resonating with pure truth.

The Stream of Sincerity

A stream of clear truth, Flows from the mountain of trust. Honesty, its spring, Quenches thirsts with its pure flow, Refreshing the soul with truth.

The Peak of Integrity

Integrity’s peak, Standing tall amidst deceit, Honesty, its core. Unyielding, it holds its ground, A monument to true worth.

Five Sonnet Poems About Honesty

Sonnet poems, originating from Italy, consist of 14 lines and have a specific rhyme scheme .

They are known for their expressive capacity and formal elegance. Here, we delve into the theme of honesty through the refined lens of sonnets.

In the vast expanse of human discourse, A beacon shines with unwavering force. It’s honesty, the light that does not wane, Guiding us through fog of falsehood’s reign.

The beacon’s glow, a testament to truth, Its radiance a guide for aging youth. In its sincere and unfiltered light, We find our path, steering clear of the night.

Honesty, a virtue pure and bright, Cuts through deceit, bringing truth to light. Its illumination, constant and sure, Reveals the path that’s righteous and pure.

So let honesty be your guiding star, Its truthful light will show you who you are.

The Garden of Trust

In the fertile soil of human hearts, A garden grows, truth its vital parts. Trust, its blooms, spring forth from honesty, A blossoming testament to constancy.

Each petal, a promise kept and true, Rooted in sincerity, through and through. In this garden, deception finds no place, Only the thriving growth of trust’s embrace.

Honesty, the gardener tending care, Cultivates an atmosphere most fair. With truthful words as seeds sown deep, Harvests of trust are ours to reap.

So let honesty cultivate your land, And watch trust blossom in your hand.

In the mirror of candor, clear and bright, Our true selves are reflected in the light. Honesty, the glass through which we see, Unveils our essence, sets our spirits free.

This mirror, unclouded by deceit, Reflects a truth that’s seldom neat. Yet in its candor, pure and raw, We see ourselves, devoid of flaw.

Honesty, the mirror’s silver sheen, Reflects a world that’s true and clean. With candid words, we make our mark, Illuminating truth from the dark.

So let honesty be your mirror’s face, And reflect a world of truthful grace.

A river flows with sincerity’s might, Its current strong, honesty its light. In its waters, clear and undefiled, Truth swims freely, unreconciled.

This river, untamed by falsehood’s chain, Courses true, its path preordained. In its flow, deceit finds no room, Only the refreshing splash of truth’s bloom.

Honesty, the river’s guiding source, Keeps its course steady, without remorse. With truthful words as its bubbling spring, It sings a song that makes authenticity ring.

So let honesty be your river’s flow, And bathe in the truth it ceaselessly shows.

A mountain stands with integrity’s might, Its peak piercing the veil of night. Honesty, its bedrock, solid and true, Forms a landscape of trust, a panoramic view.

This mountain, unswayed by deceit’s breeze, Stands tall, its summit touching the freeze. In its ruggedness, lies find no hold, Only the stalwart truth, bold and old.

Honesty, the mountain’s sturdy core, Defines its contours, its legendary lore. With truthful words as its granite base, It upholds an edifice of trust’s embrace.

So let honesty be your mountain’s stone, And stand firm in the truth you’ve known.

Five Villanelle Poems About Honesty

A villanelle is a structured form of poetry consisting of five tercets (ABA) and a quatrain (ABAA). The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines.

Here, we delve into the theme of honesty through the rhythm and repetition of the villanelle.

The Unwavering Truth

To speak the truth, a noble act indeed, In every word and deed, let honesty lead. Though falsehood may tempt with its fleeting ease,

The path of truth offers a greater peace. To speak the truth, a noble act indeed, For in its light, our true selves are freed.

Deception may offer a temporary guise, But honesty’s value will always rise. To speak the truth, a noble act indeed,

In the mirror of truth, we can truly read. No pretense or lie can ever disguise, To speak the truth, a noble act indeed,

Honesty, a virtue that we all need, Its absence, a fact we cannot deny. To speak the truth, a noble act indeed, In every word and deed, let honesty lead.

The Light of Sincerity

In the light of sincerity, we find our way, Honesty, the dawn that brings a new day. Though shadows of deceit may cloud our sight,

The sun of truth will always shine bright. In the light of sincerity, we find our way, Guided by honesty, we won’t stray.

Falsehood may lure with its beguiling charm, But truth’s steadfast glow will disarm. In the light of sincerity, we find our way,

Through honesty’s lens, life’s true colors play. No illusion can match its vibrant array, In the light of sincerity, we find our way,

Honesty, a beacon that will not sway, Its radiance, a guide we must obey. In the light of sincerity, we find our way, Honesty, the dawn that brings a new day.

Candor’s echo rings in the silent night, Honesty, the voice that sets things right. Though lies may sing a captivating tune,

The melody of truth will always swoon. Candor’s echo rings in the silent night, With honesty’s words, we take flight.

Deceit may weave an intricate plot, But truth’s simple narrative is never forgot. Candor’s echo rings in the silent night,

In honesty’s clarity, we find insight. No falsehood can claim such a lot, Candor’s echo rings in the silent night,

Honesty, a virtue ever so bright, Its resonance, a sound we’ve sought. Candor’s echo rings in the silent night, Honesty, the voice that sets things right.

The River of Transparency

Transparency flows like a river so clear, Honesty, the current we hold dear. Though deceit may muddy the waters wide,

The stream of truth can never be denied. Transparency flows like a river so clear, With honesty’s guidance, we have nothing to fear.

Lies may ripple across the surface, But truth’s depth will always resurface. Transparency flows like a river so clear,

In the reflection of honesty, we draw near. No pretense can disturb its tranquil pace, Transparency flows like a river so clear,

Honesty, a virtue we embrace, Its purity, a grace we chase. Transparency flows like a river so clear, Honesty, the current we hold dear.

Integrity stands like a mountain high, Honesty, the peak that touches the sky. Though deceit may attempt to scale its heights,

The summit of truth remains in sight. Integrity stands like a mountain high, With honesty’s strength, we aim to comply.

Falsehood may carve a treacherous path, But truth’s solid ground will outlast. Integrity stands like a mountain high,

In the shadow of honesty, lies cannot lie. No illusion can match its vast girth, Integrity stands like a mountain high,

Honesty, a virtue of immeasurable worth, Its prominence, a testament to its birth. Integrity stands like a mountain high, Honesty, the peak that touches the sky.

Five Ode Poems About Honesty

An ode is a form of lyrical poetry dedicated to a particular subject, giving praise or offering reflection.

It is characterized by its severe tone and formal structure. Using our brand voice, which is informative, instructional, professional, and approachable, we present five ode poems on honesty.

An Ode to the Unwavering Truth

Oh, unwavering truth, so steadfast and bold, You shine through the fog of deceit we’re often told. Unyielding, you stand in the face of lies, A beacon of integrity that never dies.

Your light illuminates the path we tread, Guiding us where honesty has led. In your presence, falsehoods crumble and fall, Under your scrutiny, truth answers the call.

Can there be a virtue more grand than thee? Your power lies in your simplicity. Unwavering truth, to you we owe, The clarity and peace of mind we know.

An Ode to the Light of Sincerity

Light of sincerity, so pure and bright, You cut through the darkness of deceit’s night. With your radiance, falsehood cannot compete, In your glow, honesty finds its seat.

Your illumination guides our way, Leading us where truth holds sway. With you, sincerity shines clear, And in its light, we have nothing to fear.

Could there be a light more radiant than yours? Your beam, a guide on life’s winding courses. Light of sincerity, in you we trust, For you turn deception to dust.

An Ode to the Echo of Candor

Echo of candor, resounding and clear, Your voice carries the truth far and near. Against the clamor of deceit’s song, Your melody of honesty is strong.

Your resonance fills the silent air, Spreading the message of truth’s fair. With you, candor finds its voice, And in its echo, we rejoice.

Is there a sound more resonant than thine? Your echo, a testament to truth’s divine. Echo of candor, in your ring we find, The harmony of an honest mind.

An Ode to the River of Transparency

River of transparency, flowing free, Your current carries honesty to the sea. Against the tide of falsehood’s claim, Your stream of truth remains the same.

Your waters cleanse the stains of deceit, In your flow, honesty is complete. With you, transparency finds its course, And in your river, truth finds its source.

Can there be a flow more pure than yours? Your river, a symbol of honesty that endures. River of transparency, in your wave we see, The clear reflection of sincerity.

An Ode to the Mountain of Integrity

Mountain of integrity, standing tall, Your peak towers above deceit’s fall. Against the winds of falsehood’s test, Your summit of honesty is the best.

Your height offers a vantage point clear, From where truth’s landscape appears. With you, integrity finds its height, And on your peak, honesty is in sight.

Is there a pinnacle higher than thee? Your mountain, a monument to honesty’s decree. Mountain of integrity, on your slope we climb, To reach the heights of truth sublime.

Five Elegy Poems About Honesty

1. the silent truth.

In the realm of silence, where words lose their might,

Lies a beacon of honesty, shining so bright.

In its light, falsehoods crumble, deceit takes flight,

Yet, its absence leaves us in perpetual night.

Honesty, oh honesty, why do you hide?

In the hearts of many, you rarely reside.

Yet, when you are present, you guide,

Like a star to a sailor, lost in the tide.

By Dan Higgins 2024

2. The Last Honest Man

He stood tall, his heart an open book,

Honesty his shield, upon which no lie could hook.

In his eyes, truth shone clear as a brook,

His words, unadorned, needed no second look.

But alas, the world loved its lies too well,

And in its deceitful shadows, honesty fell.

The last honest man, to darkness he fell,

Leaving behind a world where only falsehoods dwell.

3. The Death of Sincerity

In the garden of virtues, honesty once bloomed,

Its fragrance pure, by no deceit consumed.

But the world grew cold, and honesty was doomed,

In its place, a forest of lies loomed.

Honesty, oh honesty, you were our breath,

Your death has left us in the throes of a slow death.

Without you, we wander, lost in a maze of untruth,

Longing for your clarity, your irrefutable proof.

4. The Forgotten Virtue

Once, honesty walked among us, free and unbound,

Its voice clear and resonant, a melodious sound.

But now, it is but a ghost, rarely found,

Its echoes drowned in the clamor all around.

We mourn for honesty, for its untimely demise,

In a world where truth is often a disguise.

Yet in our hearts, a hope does rise,

That one day, honesty will again arise.

5. Elegy to Honesty

Here lies honesty, noble and true,

A virtue that in our hearts once grew.

Its death leaves us feeling blue,

In a world where lies are often construed as true.

Honesty, oh honesty, we bid you adieu,

In your absence, we are left askew.

May we remember your value, your due,

And strive to keep your spirit alive, in all that we do.

Five Rhyming Poems About Honesty

1. the light of truth.

In the realm where shadows rule the night,

Honesty shines as a celestial light.

It guides us through wrong and right,

A true beacon burning bright.

2. The Honest Heart

An honest heart, a rare delight,

Stands tall in the darkest night.

Its words of truth, pure and bright,

Scatter lies, taking flight.

3. The Echoes of Sincerity

In the silence, echoes of sincerity ring,

A testament to the peace honesty can bring.

In a world where deceit is king,

Honesty is a precious thing.

4. The Song of Integrity

Honesty sings a song so sweet,

A melody that lies cannot beat.

In its presence, deceit faces defeat,

Its rhythm, a pulse, an honest heartbeat.

5. The Dance of Truth

Honesty dances with grace and poise,

In a world filled with empty noise.

Its steps are sure, its movement precise,

A dance of truth, a beautiful choice.

Honesty is not only a virtue, but it’s also a foundation for building character, fostering trust, and promoting transparency. By using poetry as an educational tool, we can effectively communicate these complex concepts in a way that resonates with students.

The 35 poems about honesty shared in this post offer a window into the profound importance of truthfulness, integrity, and authenticity.

These poems serve as conversation starters, sparking thoughtful discussions about the role of honesty in our lives.

They provide valuable insights into how honesty influences relationships, shapes reality, and contributes to a fulfilling life. Using these poems, educators can encourage students to reflect on the significance of honesty and inspire them to uphold this important value in their daily interactions.

Whether you’re an educator seeking to instill essential values in your students or simply someone interested in exploring the poetic world of honesty, we hope these poems have offered you meaningful perspectives and sparked deeper reflections on the power of sincerity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. how can i use these poems about honesty in my classroom.

These poems can be used in a variety of ways. You could incorporate them into a lesson plan about honesty, use them as prompts for a writing assignment, or start a class discussion about the themes presented in the poems.

2. Are these poems suitable for all ages?

While these poems are generally suitable for a wide range of ages, it’s always best to review each poem before presenting it to your students to ensure it aligns with their comprehension level and sensitivities.

3. Can these poems help students understand the importance of honesty?

Absolutely. Poetry has a unique way of conveying complex ideas and emotions. These poems about honesty can help students grasp the importance of being honest in a more nuanced and emotional way than straightforward lessons might.

4. Can I share these poems outside of the classroom?

Yes, feel free to share these poems with anyone who might appreciate or benefit from them. They can be a great way to start conversations about honesty with friends, family, or colleagues.

5. Are there more resources for teaching honesty?

Yes, there are many resources available for teaching honesty. This can range from books and online articles to videos and interactive activities. It’s always a good idea to use a mix of resources to keep the lessons engaging and cater to different learning styles.

Related Posts

About The Author

I'm Dan Higgins, one of the faces behind The Teaching Couple. With 15 years in the education sector and a decade as a teacher, I've witnessed the highs and lows of school life. Over the years, my passion for supporting fellow teachers and making school more bearable has grown. The Teaching Couple is my platform to share strategies, tips, and insights from my journey. Together, we can shape a better school experience for all.

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Teaching Guide: TRUSTWORTHINESS

• For grades 7-12

This material is from the teaching guide for the video  “ Trustworthiness “ in the 10-part DVD series In Search of Character

Are You a Trustworthy Person? (Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

(If you wish to copy or use any material from this website, please click here for Terms of Use.)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

If you are using the video, ask question 1 before viewing.

1.    How do you know when you can trust someone?

2.    Some adults say that your generation cannot be trusted, that you’ve lost the values from past generations. Do you agree, or disagree?

3.    Is it a good idea to risk losing your parents’ trust for temporary pleasure? In the video Clarence said “So what if you’re in trouble for a little while?” Do you agree or disagree with Clarence’s position?

4.    How important is trust in your relationships with friends and family? How would these relationships be affected if you found out someone was lying to you?

5.    Once trust has been broken, what can you do to get it back? Have you ever lost someone’s trust? Has someone lost your trust? Explain.

6.    If your friends were here right now, would they say you were trustworthy? What would your parents say? Are you more trustworthy with your friends or with your parents? Do you think your parents should trust you automatically? Why or why not?

7.    The kids in the video identified several aspects of trustworthiness. What were they? Do you agree with them? Can you add any? What does trustworthiness mean to you?

8.    If you want someone to trust you, who has most of the responsibility— you or the other person? Why?

9.    Dr. Mike said that your trustworthiness may be questioned but your choices will never lie. What does that mean? Do you agree?

10.    As a general policy, should we start off trusting people and only stop trusting if they prove that they’re not worthy? Or should we be cautious and not trust them until they prove themselves worthy? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each position?

11.    How did Rosa’s story (the peer counselor) make you feel? What did you learn from it?

12.    Rosa said, “Trust is the basis for every relationship.” Do you think that’s true? Explain.

13.    Rosa said that your willingness to trust another person is important if you want that person to trust you. Do you agree? Explain.

14.    Why did the Peer Resource Program at Rosa’s school use a ropes course to train peer counselors?

15.    What does being trustworthy have to do with the quality of your character?

16.    What are the benefits of being a trustworthy person? How do you benefit from the trustworthiness of others?

17.    Did the video present any ideas you disagree with?

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. Are you a trustworthy person? In what ways are you trustworthy? In what ways are you, perhaps, not so trustworthy? What could you do to improve?

2. Write an essay describing what this society might be like if nobody were trustworthy, if suspicion, dishonesty, and betrayal were the norm, if nobody could be counted on to keep commitments.

3. Write about someone you trust. Why do you trust that person? How important is that trust to you? How do you reciprocate?

4. If your school doesn’t have a peer counseling program, find out what peer counselors do, and then write an essay or an editorial for your school newspaper advocating that your school start such a program. If your school does have a peer counseling program, write a short article describing the program and its benefits to the school community.

5. Keep a journal for a month that focuses on your relationships with your friends and family in the area of trustworthiness. If there are things that displease you, develop some ideas for improving the situation.

6. Write about a time you lost somebody’s trust or somebody lost your trust. Was this trust ever regained? How? What did you learn from the experience?

Other teaching guides in this series:

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

1. Many people complain that political leaders cannot be trusted. Develop a checklist for evaluating the trustworthiness of political leaders. Test out your checklist by listening to a politician speaking on TV. You can see entire speeches on C-SPAN.

2. Divide the class into small groups. Have each group develop a list of do’s and don’ts for being a trustworthy person. (See our list at the top of this column, or look on page 5 of the video discussion guide.) Have them make oral reports to the class addressing the following questions: What happens when people live in accordance with these guidelines? What happens when they don’t? In what ways does trustworthy and untrustworthy behavior affect our community and society? In what ways can/do young people demonstrate trustworthiness?

3. Have the students watch a movie, TV drama or sitcom, paying particular attention to the behavior of the main characters with regard to trustworthiness. How much trustworthy behavior did they find? How much untrustworthy behavior? Have a class discussion about these issues. (A great many TV plots are based on a deceit.)

4. Most people consider loyalty to be an important part of trustworthiness. What, exactly, is loyalty? Who should be loyal to whom or what, and under what circumstances? When is loyalty appropriate, and when might it be a bad thing? Give some specific examples. Break the class into small groups to ponder these issues and have each group give an oral report to the class.

Trust is the basis of all good relationships and a cornerstone of good character. This program shows what it means to be a person others can trust. Learn more . . .

Click play for a sampling of “In Search of Character”

This award winning video series spotlights ten core virtues that help teens develop into caring, respectful, responsible people who make choices based on what’s right, rather than what they can get away with. Learn more . . .

For more information about individual videos in this series, click on the title below.

If your school or organization does not have these videos, you can purchase them from Live Wire Media , or request them from your local library.

Subscribe to our almost Monthly Newsletter

Get breaking news and developments in character education and helpful tips and ideas that you can use with your own character education program. View this month’s newsletter.

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Promoting Academic Integrity 

While it is each student’s responsibility to understand and abide by university standards towards individual work and academic integrity, instructors can help students understand their responsibilities through frank classroom conversations that go beyond policy language to shared values. By creating a learning environment that stimulates engagement and designing assessments that are authentic, instructors can minimize the incidence of academic dishonesty.

Academic dishonesty often takes place because students are overwhelmed with the assignments and they don’t have enough time to complete them. So, in addition to being clear about expectations and responsibilities related to academic integrity, instructors should also invite students to  plan accordingly and communicate with them in the event of an emergency. Instructors can arrange extensions and offer solutions in case that students have an emergency. Communication between instructors and students is vital to avoid bad practices and contribute to hold on to the academic integrity values. 

The guidance and strategies included in this resource are applicable to courses in any modality (in-person, online, and hybrid) and includes a discussion of addressing generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT with students. 

On this page:

What is academic integrity, why does academic dishonesty occur, strategies for promoting academic integrity, academic integrity in the age of artificial intelligence, columbia university resources.

• References and Additional Resources
• Acknowledgment

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2020). Promoting Academic Integrity. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/academic-integrity/

According to the  International Center for Academic Integrity , academic integrity is “a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage.” We commit to these values to honor the intellectual efforts of the global academic community, of which Columbia University is an integral part.

Academic dishonesty in the classroom occurs when one or more values of academic integrity are violated. While some cases of academic dishonesty are committed intentionally, other cases may be a reflection of something deeper that a student is experiencing, such as language or cultural misunderstandings, insufficient or misguided preparation for exams or papers, a lack of confidence in their ability to learn the subject, or perception that course policies are unfair (Bernard and Keith-Spiegel, 2002).

Some other reasons why students may commit academic dishonesty include:

• Cultural or regional differences in what comprises academic dishonesty
• Lack or poor understanding on how to cite sources correctly
• Misunderstanding directions and/or expectations
• Poor time management, procrastination, or disorganization
• Feeling disconnected from the course, subject, instructor, or material
• Fear of failure or lack of confidence in one’s ability
• Anxiety, depression, other mental health problems
• Peer/family pressure to meet unrealistic expectations

Understanding some of these common reasons can help instructors intentionally design their courses and assessments to pre-empt, and hopefully avoid, instances of academic dishonesty. As Thomas Keith states in “Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 1 – Understanding the Problem.” faculty and administrators should direct their steps towards a “thoughtful, compassionate pedagogy.”

The CTL is here to help!

The CTL can help you think through your course policies and ways to create community, design course assessments, and set up CourseWorks to promote academic integrity. Email [email protected] to schedule your 1-1 consultation .

In his research on cheating in the college classroom, James Lang argues that “the amount of cheating that takes place on our campuses may well depend on the structures of the learning environment” (Lang, 2013a; Lang, 2013b). Instructors have agency in shaping the classroom learning experience; thus, instances of academic dishonesty can be mitigated by efforts to design a supportive, learning-oriented environment (Bertam, 2017 and 2008).

Understanding Student’s Perceptions about Cheating 

It is important to know how students understand critical concepts related to academic integrity such as: cheating, transparency, attribution, intellectual property, etc. As much as they know and understand these concepts, they will be able to show good academic integrity practices.

1. Acknowledge the importance of the research process, not only the outcome, during student learning.

Although the research process is slow and arduous, students should understand the value of the different processes involved during academic writing: investigation, reading, drafting, revising, editing and proof-reading. For Natalie Wexler, using generative Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT as a substitute of writing itself is beyond cheating, an act of self cheating: “The process of writing itself can and should deepen that knowledge and possibly spark new insights” (“‘ Bots’ Can Write Good Essays, But That Doesn’t Make Writing Obsolete” ).

Ways to understand the value of writing their own work without external help, either from external sources, peers or AI, hinge on prioritizing the process over the product:

• Asking students to present drafts of their work and receive feedback can help students to gain confidence to continue researching and writing.
• Allowing students the freedom to choose or change their research topic can increase their investment in an assignment, which can motivate them to conduct their own writing and research rather than relying on AI tools. 

2. Create a supportive learning environment

When students feel supported in a course and connected to instructors and/or TAs and their peers, they may be more comfortable asking for help when they don’t understand course material or if they have fallen behind with an assignment.

Ways to support student learning include:

• Convey confidence  in your students’ ability to succeed in your course from day one of the course (this may ease student anxiety or  imposter syndrome ) and through timely and regular feedback on what they are doing well and areas they can improve on. 
• Explain the relevance  of the course to students; tell them why it is important that they actually learn the material and develop the skills for themselves. Invite students to connect the course to their goals, studies, or intended career trajectories. Research shows that students’ motivation to learn can help deter instances of academic dishonesty (Lang, 2013a). 
• Teach important skills  such as taking notes, summarizing arguments, and citing sources. Students may not have developed these skills, or they may bring bad habits from previous learning experiences. Have students practice these skills through exercises (Gonzalez, 2017). 
• Provide students multiple opportunities to practice challenging skills  and receive immediate feedback in class (e.g., polls, writing activities, “boardwork”). These frequent low-stakes assessments across the semester can “[improve] students’ metacognitive awareness of their learning in the course” (Lang, 2013a, pp. 145). 
• Help students manage their time  on course tasks by scheduling regular check-ins to reduce students’ last minute efforts or frantic emails about assignment requirements. Establish weekly online office hours and/or be open to appointments outside of standard working hours. This is especially important if students are learning in different time zones. Normalize the use of campus resources and academic support resources that can help address issues or anxieties they may be facing.  (See the Columbia University Resources section below for a list of support resources.)
• Provide lists of approved websites and resources  that can be used for additional help or research. This is especially important if on-campus materials are not available to online learners. Articulate permitted online “study” resources to be used as learning tools (and not cheating aids – see McKenzie, 2018) and how to cite those in homework, writing assignments or problem sets. 
• Encourage TAs (if applicable) to establish good relationships  with students and to check-in with you about concerns they may have about students in the course. (Explore the  Working with TAs Online  resource to learn more about partnering with TAs.)

3. Clarify expectations and establish shared values

In addition to including Columbia’s  academic integrity policy  on syllabi, go a step further by creating space in the classroom to discuss your expectations regarding academic integrity and what that looks like in your course context. After all, “what reduces cheating on an honor code campus is not the code itself, but  the dialogue about academic honesty that the code inspires. ” (Lang, 2013a, pp. 172)

Ways to cultivate a shared sense of responsibility for upholding academic integrity include: 

• Ask students to identify goals and expectations  around academic integrity in relation to course learning objectives. 
• Communicate your expectations  and explain your rationale for course policies on artificial intelligence tools, collaborative assignments, late work, proctored exams, missed tests, attendance, extra credit, the use of plagiarism detection software or proctoring software, etc. It will make a difference to take the time at the beginning of the course to explain differences between quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing. Providing examples of good and bad quotation/paraphrasing will help students to know what constitutes good academic writing. 
• Define and provide examples  for what constitutes plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty in your course.
• Invite students to generate ideas  for responding to scenarios where they may be pressured to violate the values of academic integrity (e.g.: a friend asks to see their homework, or a friend suggests using chat apps during exams), so students are prepared to react with integrity when suddenly faced with these situations. 
• State clearly when collaboration and group learning is permitted  and when independent work is expected. Collaboration and group work provide great opportunities to build student-student rapport and classroom community, but at the same time, it can lead students to fall into academic misconduct due to unintended collaboration/failure to safeguard their work.
• Discuss the ethical, academic, and legal repercussions  of posting class recordings, notes and/or class materials online (e.g., to sites such as Chegg, GitHub, CourseHero – see Lederman, 2020).
• Partner with TAs  (if applicable) and clarify your expectations of them, how they can help promote shared values around academic integrity, and what they should do in cases of suspected cheating or classroom difficulties

4. Design assessments to maximize learning and minimize pressure

High stakes course assessments can be a source of student anxiety. Creating multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning, and spreading assessments  throughout  the semester can lessen student stress and keep the focus on student learning (see  Darby, 2020  for strategies on assessing students online). As Lang explains, “The more assessments you provide, the less pressure you put on students to do well on any single assignment or exam. If you maintain a clear and consistent academic integrity policy, and ensure that all students caught cheating receive an immediate and substantive penalty, the benefit of cheating on any one assessment will be small, while the potential consequences will be high” (Lang, 2013a and Lang, 2013c). For support with creating online exams, please please refer to our  Creating Online Exams resource .

Ways to enhance one’s assessment approach:

• Design assignments  based on authentic problems in your discipline. Ask students to  apply  course concepts and materials to a problem or concept. 
• Structure assignments into smaller parts  (“scaffolding”) that will be submitted and checked throughout the semester. This scaffolding can also help students learn how to tackle large projects by breaking down the tasks. 
• Break up a single high-stakes exam  into smaller, weekly tests. This can help distribute the weight of grades, and will lessen the pressure students feel when an exam accounts for a large portion of their grade. 
• Give students options  in how their learning is assessed and/or invite students to present their learning in creative ways (e.g., as a poster, video, story, art project, presentation, or oral exam).
• Provide feedback prior to grading  student work. Give students the opportunity to implement the feedback. The revision process encourages student learning, while also lowering the anxiety around any one assignment. 
• Utilize multiple low-stakes assignments  that prepare students for high-stakes assignments or exams to reduce anxiety (e.g., in-class activities, in-class or online discussions)
• Create grading rubrics and share them  with your students and TAs (if applicable) so that expectations are clear, to guide student work, and aid with the feedback process.  
• Use individual student portfolio folders  and provide tailored feedback to students throughout the semester. This can help foster positive relationships, as well as allow you to watch students’ progress on drafts and outlines. You can also ask students to describe how their drafts have changed and offer rationales for those decisions.
• For exams , consider refreshing tests every term, both in terms of organization and content. Additionally, ground your assignments by having students draw connections between course content and the unique experience of your course in terms of time (unique to the semester), place (unique to campus, local community, etc. ), personal (specific student experiences), and interdisciplinary opportunities (other courses students have taken, co-curricular activities, campus events, etc.). (Lang, 2013a, pp. 77).

Since its release, ChatGPT has raised concern in universities across the country about the opportunity it presents for students to cheat and appropriate AI ideas, texts, and even code as their own work. However, there are also potential positive uses of this tool in the learning process–including as a tool for teachers to rely on when creating assessments or working with repetitive and time-consuming tasks.

Possible Advantages of ChatGPT

Due to the novelty of this tool, the possible advantages that might present in the teaching-learning process should be under the control of each instructor since they know exactly what they expect from students’ work. 

Prof. Ethan Mollick teaches innovation and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and has been openly sharing on his Twitter account his journey incorporating ChatGPT into his classes. Prof. Mollick advises his students to experiment with this tool, trying and retrying prompts. He recognizes the importance of acknowledging its limits and the risks of violating academic honesty guidelines if the use of this tool is not stated at the end of the assignment.

Prof. Mollick uncovers four possible uses of this AI tool, ranging from using ChatGPT as an all-knowing intern, as a game designer, as an assistant to launch a business, or even to “hallucinate” together ( “Four Paths to the Revelation” ). For Prof. Mollick, ChatGPT is a useful technology to craft initial ideas, as long as the prompts are given within a specific field, include proper context, step-by-step directions and have the proper changes and edits.

Resources for faculty: 

• Academic Integrity Best Practices for Faculty (Columbia College & School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
• Faculty Statement on Academic Integrity (Columbia College)
• FAQs: Academic Integrity from Columbia Student Conduct and Community Standards 
• Ombuds Office for assistance with academic dishonesty issues. 
• Columbia Center of Artificial Intelligence Technology

Resources for students: 

• Policies from Columbia Student Conduct and Community Standards
• Understanding the Academic Integrity Policy (Columbia College & School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

Student support resources:

• Maximizing Student Learning Online (Columbia Online)
• Center for Student Advising Tutoring Service (Berick Center for Student Advising)
• Help Rooms and Private Tutors by Department (Berick Center for Student Advising
• Peer Academic Skills Consultants (Berick Center for Student Advising)
• Academic Resource Center (ARC) for School of General Studies
• Center for Engaged Pedagogy (Barnard College)
• Writing Center (for Columbia undergraduate and graduate students)
• Counseling and Psychological Services
• Disability Services

For graduate students: 

• Writing Studio (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
• Student Center (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
• Teachers College

Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) CUIT’s Academic Services provides services that can be used by instructors in their courses such as Turnitin , a plagiarism detection service and online proctoring services such as Proctorio , a remote proctoring service that monitors students taking virtual exams through CourseWorks. 

Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) The CTL can help you think through your course policies, ways to create community, design course assessments, and setting up CourseWorks to promote integrity, among other teaching and learning facets. To schedule a one-on-one consultation, please contact the CTL at [email protected] . 

References 

Bernard, W. Jr. and Keith-Spiegel, P. (2002).  Academic Dishonesty: An Educator’s Guide . Mahwah, NJ: Psychology Press.

Bertram Gallant, T. (2017).  Academic Integrity as a Teaching and Learning Issue: From Theory to Practice .  Theory Into Practice,  56(2), 88-94.

Bertram Gallant, T. (Ed.). (2008).  Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century: A Teaching and Learning Imperative .  ASHE Higher Education Report . 33(5), 1-143. 

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2020).  Creating Online Exams . 

Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2020).  Working with TAs online . 

Darby, F. (2020).  7 Ways to Assess Students Online and Minimize Cheating .  The Chronicle of Higher Education.  

Gonzalez, J. (2017, February).  Teaching Students to Avoid Plagiarism . Cult of Pedagogy, 26.

International Center for Academic Integrity (2023).  Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity .

International Center on Academic Integrity (2023).  https://academicintegrity.org/

Keith, T. Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 1 – Understanding the Problem. The University of Chicago. (2022, Feb 16).

Lang, J.M. (2013a).  Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty . Harvard University Press.

Lang, J. M. (2013b).  Cheating Lessons, Part 1 .  The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Lang, J. M. (2013c).  Cheating Lessons, Part 2 .  The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Lederman, D. (2020, February 19).  Course Hero Woos Professors . Inside Higher Ed. 

McKenzie, L. (2018, May 8).  Learning Tool or Cheating Aid?   Inside Higher Ed.

Marche, S. (2022, Dec 6). The College Essay is Dead. The Atlantic.

Mollick, E. (2023, Jan 17). All my Classes Suddenly Became AI Classes. One Useful Thing.

Mollick, Ethan. (2022, Dic 8). Four Paths to the Revelation. One Useful Thing.

Wexler, N. Bots’ Can Write Good Essays, But That Doesn’t Make Writing Obsolete. Minding the Gap.

Additional Resources

Bretag, T. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of Academic Integrity. Singapore: Springer Publishing.

Ormand, C. (2017 March 6).  SAGE Musings: Minimizing and Dealing with Academic Dishonesty . SAGE 2YC: 2YC Faculty as Agents of Change.

WCET (2009).  Best Practice Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in Online Education .

Thomas, K.  (2022 February 16). Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 1 – Understanding the Problem. The University of Chicago. Academic Technology Solutions.

______. (2022 February 25). Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 2: Small Steps to Discourage Academic Dishonesty. The University of Chicago. Academic Technology Solutions.

______.  (2022 April 28). Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 3: Towards a Pedagogy of Academic Integrity. The University of Chicago. Academic Technology Solutions.

______.  (2022 June 7). Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 4: Library Services to Support Academic Honesty. The University of Chicago. Academic Technology Solutions.

Acknowledgement

This resource was adapted from the faculty booklet  Promoting Academic Integrity & Preventing Academic Dishonesty: Best Practices at Columbia University  developed by Victoria Malaney Brown, Director of Academic Integrity at Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, Abigail MacBain and Ramón Flores Pinedo, PhD students in GSAS. We would like to thank them for their extensive support in creating this academic integrity resource.

Want to communicate your expectations around AI tools?

See the CTL’s resource “Considerations for AI Tools in the Classroom.”

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A Guide To...Academic Honesty and Academic Integrity

Academic integrity.

• Find your department's statement on Academic Integrity
• Take the quiz
• The Writer's Workshop at Holy Cross
• Schedule an appointment with a Librarian
• The Purdue OWL

Notable cases of plagiarism

Rand Paul (R)

Kentucky Senator 2011 -

Blake, A. (2013, November 4). Rand Paul's plagiarism allegations, and why they matter . The Washington Post.

Stephen Ambrose, 1936-2002

American historian and author

Kirkpatrick, D. D. (2002, January 5). 2 say Stephen Ambrose, popular historian, copied passages . The New York Times.

Alex Haley, 1921-1992

Fulwood, S. I. (2003). Plagiarism playing by the rules: in the academic world, in music and even in church, what constitutes plagiarism is under new scrutiny after journalism's wake-up call . Black Issues Book Review, (5). 24.

Academic Honesty  means being honest and ethical about the way that you do academic work. This includes citing and acknowledging when you borrow from the work of others. As Holy Cross students, you are required to follow the College's Academic Honesty policy. 

Excerpt from the College policy: 

All education is a cooperative enterprise between faculty and students. This cooperation requires trust and mutual respect, which are only possible in an environment governed by the principles of academic honesty. As an institution devoted to teaching, learning, and intellectual inquiry, Holy Cross expects all members of the College community to abide by the highest standards of academic integrity. Any violation of academic honesty undermines the student-faculty relationship, thereby wounding the whole community. The principal violations of academic honesty are plagiarism, cheating, and collusion.

It is the responsibility of students, independent of the faculty’s responsibility, t o understand the proper methods of using and quoting from source materials (as explained in standard handbooks such as The Little Brown Handbook and the Harbrace College Handbook), and t o take credit only for work they have completed through their own individual efforts within the guidelines established by the faculty.

The Scholarly Conversation

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

• What needs to be cited?
• Tips for the research process

What needs to be cited? In addition to citing exact quotations from your sources, you need to cite any ideas or words that you did not think up yourself. You should always cite:

• Anything you summarize from another source
• Websites (even if there is no author listed)
• Information you received from other people, such as information learned during interviews
• Graphs, illustrations, and any other visual items you use in your work. (This includes images from websites.)
• Video and audio recordings that you sample in your work.

Some things that you don't need to cite:

• Your own life experiences or ideas
• Your own results from lab or field experiments
• Any artwork or media you have created yourself
• “Common knowledge” (This is information that can be found undocumented in many places and is likely to be known by many people.)

Good practices for taking notes:

Before writing a note, read the original text over until you understand the meaning.

Use quotation marks around any exact phrasing you use from the original source.

While you are taking your notes, record the source for each piece of information (including page numbers) in you notes so that you’ll be able to cite the source in your paper.

Use a variety of sources in your research.   If you use only one source, you may end up using too many of that author’s ideas and words.

Plan ahead and leave yourself enough time to do your research and writing. If you are rushing to finish your paper, you’ll be more likely to improperly cite things or to accidentally plagiarize.

College policy and definitions

Academic Honesty Policy

-accessed 4/1/2019 from https://www.holycross.edu/sites/default/files/Registrar/academic_integrity_policy.pdf

Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrative material, or statements of someone else, without full and proper acknowledgment, and presenting them as one’s own.

Cheating is the use of improper means or subterfuge to gain credit or advantage. Forms of cheating include the use, attempted use, or improper possession of unauthorized aids in any examination or other academic exercise submitted for evaluation; the fabrication or falsification of data; misrepresentation of academic or extracurricular credentials; and deceitful performance on placement examinations. It is also cheating to submit the same work for credit in more than one course, except as authorized in advance by the course instructors. Collusion is assisting or attempting to assist another student in an act of academic dishonesty.

At the beginning of each course, the faculty should address the students on academic integrity and how it applies to the assignments for the course. The faculty should also make every effort, through vigilance and through the nature of the assignments, to discourage and prevent dishonesty in any form. It is the responsibility of students, independent of the faculty’s responsibility, to understand the proper methods of using and quoting from source materials (as explained in standard handbooks such as The Little Brown Handbook and the Harbrace College Handbook), and to take credit only for work they have completed through their own individual efforts within the guidelines established by the faculty.

The faculty member who observes or suspects academic dishonesty should first discuss the incident with the student. The very nature of the faculty-student relationship requires both that the faculty member treat the student fairly and that the student responds honestly to the faculty’s questions concerning the integrity of his or her work. If the faculty is convinced that the student is guilty of academic dishonesty, he or she shall impose an appropriate sanction in the form of a grade reduction or failing grade on the assignment in question and/or shall assign compensatory course work. The sanction may reflect the seriousness of the dishonesty and the faculty’s assessment of the student’s intent. In all instances where a faculty member does impose a grade penalty because of academic dishonesty, he or she must submit a written report to the Chair or Director of the department and the Class Dean. This written report must be submitted within a week of the faculty member’s determination that the policy on academic honesty has been violated. This report shall include a description of the assignment (and any related materials, such as guidelines, syllabus entries, written instructions, and the like that are relevant to the assignment), the evidence used to support the complaint, and a summary of the conversation between the student and the faculty member regarding the complaint. The Class Dean will then inform the student in writing that a charge of dishonesty has been made and of his or her right to have the charge reviewed. A copy of this letter will be sent to the student’s parents or guardians. The student will also receive a copy of the complaint and all supporting materials submitted by the professor. The student’s request for a formal review must be made in writing to the Class Dean within one week of the notification of the charge. The written statement must include a description of the student’s position concerning the charge by the faculty. A review panel consisting of a ClassDean, the Chair or Director of the department of the faculty member involved (or a senior member of the same department if the Chair or Director is the complainant), and an additional faculty member selected by the Chair or Director from the same department, shall convene within two weeks to investigate the charge and review the student’s statement, meeting separately with the student and the faculty member involved. The Chair or Director of the complainant’s department (or the alternate) shall chair the panel and communicate the panel’s decision to the student’s Class Dean. If the panel finds by majority vote that the charge of dishonesty is supported, the faculty member’s initial written report to the Class Dean shall be placed in the student’s file until graduation, at which time it shall be removed and destroyed unless a second offense occurs. If a majority of the panel finds that the charge of dishonesty is not supported, the faculty member’s initial complaint shall be destroyed, and the assignment in question shall be graded on its merits by the faculty member. The Class Dean shall inform the student promptly of the decision made. This information will be sent to the student’s parents or guardians. The Class Dean may extend all notification deadlines above for compelling reasons. He or she will notify all parties in writing of any extensions. Each instance of academic dishonesty reported to the Class Dean (provided that the charge of dishonesty is upheld following a possible review, as described above) shall result in an administrative penalty in addition to the penalty imposed by the faculty member.

For a first instance of academic dishonesty, the penalty shall be academic probation effective immediately and continuing for the next two consecutive semesters. For a second instance, the penalty shall be academic suspension for two consecutive semesters. For a third instance, the penalty shall be dismissal from the College. Dismissal from the College shall also be the penalty for any instance of academic dishonesty that occurs while a student is on probation because of a prior instance of dishonesty. Multiple charges of academic dishonesty filed at or about the same time shall result in a one-year suspension if the student is not and has not been on probation for a prior instance of dishonesty. Multiple charges of academic dishonesty filed at or about the same time shall result in a dismissal if the student has ever been on probation for a prior instance of dishonesty. Suspension and dismissal are effective at the conclusion of the semester in which the violation of the policy occurred. Students may appeal a suspension or dismissal for reasons of academic dishonesty to the Committee on Academic Standing, which may uphold the penalty, overturn it, or substitute a lesser penalty. A penalty of dismissal, if upheld by the Committee, may be appealed to the President of the College.

• Next: Find your department's statement on Academic Integrity >>
• Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 1:59 PM
• URL: https://libguides.holycross.edu/academichonesty

Writing With Integrity: Expectations for Academic Research and Professional Writing

Table of contents, university writing.

Academic research and professional writing are powerful vehicles for communicating your thoughts and ideas in your field of study and in the global workplace. University writing assignments allow you to practice academic and professional writing in a way that supports ethical and honorable writing choices that clearly communicate your ideas and learning. Your classes and programs are designed to guide you step-by-step through the development of your written communication skills. For example, assignments provide the parameters for each writing situation, so following the instructions is important in getting started and successfully completing each piece of university writing.

Characteristics of University Writing

• Considerations of Audience —In the university, you are writing for an audience of peers and members of the academic and professional community. Your audience determines how broadly or narrowly you describe your topic, what examples to use, and which words are most important.
• Critical Thinking –University writing involves critical thinking as you analyze and evaluate research and readings to form new ideas.
• Original Contributions —University writing seeks to contribute an original idea to a larger conversation. Within this conversation, you can analyze, evaluate, argue, create consensus, and solve problems. University writing creates opportunities for learning, discovery, innovation, and making change.
• Scholarly Research —University writing consults and cites scholarly research to create a non-fiction, research-based discussion.
• Formal Style —University writing uses a professional, polite tone and Standard English for word choice, grammar, and punctuation.

Writing with integrity  in the context of academic research and professional writing means being honest with your reader and yourself. Know when and how to use APA or the required documentation style for your class or course of study, and be sure to accurately implement it.

University writing assignments are designed to guide you toward critical thinking, meaningful learning, and the confident demonstration of knowledge. Using research allows you to advance your learning beyond common knowledge and build on the ideas of others.

Reading the works of others helps writers

• discover ideas and topics;
• collect details, data, quotations, and similar evidence;
• narrow your focus;
• craft a thesis;
• support or counter assertions, claims, and facts;
• develop your own perspectives on a topic; and
• select the most effective and relevant evidence from all you have read.

Writers also use research in their writing to communicate professionally within their fields and across the disciplines. Research-based writing does not simply report others’ ideas and words, but instead builds on them to demonstrate a writer’s understanding and credibility as an ethical researcher, effective communicator, and critical thinker.

Writing with integrity  requires creating an original piece of writing while discussing the original ideas of others and properly integrating and documenting these research-based ideas in your writing.

Integrating Research

There are three ways to integrate research within academic and professional writing.

• Quoting : Using a source without altering it in any way—the work is used word for word. It is critical that quotation marks enclose all directly quoted passages.
• Paraphrasing : Using a source by breaking it down and placing it in your own words—the meaning is extracted or restated in new wording and phrasing in just as many words or slightly more words than the original.
• Summarizing : Using a source by synthesizing many points or simplifying a long text into a brief synopsis in your own words.

To write with integrity and avoid plagiarism  when integrating research, document all borrowed information according to the documentation style you are using.

Documentation

Documenting sources means to include select information about the sources–the books, articles, or webpages–you read and used in your paper. Documentation is required when quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing or using the ideas (artwork, photos, videos, etc.) or words of others. There are two main terms associated with documentation: in-text citation and reference list entries.

Documenting sources

• differentiates the writer’s original ideas from what information already existed,
• supports arguments in a field of study,
• enables readers to locate your sources and additional information,
• ensures ethical research and scholarly practice,
• guarantees proper attribution of all ideas and avoids plagiarism.

Why Plagiarism Matters

Plagiarism compromises a writer’s integrity and reputation and usually results in serious consequences, both within the university and in the world of work. Fortunately, guidelines have been established to help you with academic and career-related writing. Your classes are designed to give you practice using one such approach.

APA Style (7th Ed.)

The  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (APA, 2020) establishes a national standard for the layout of an academic paper and gives a method for documenting sources used in these types of papers. APA is one documentation style, and it is the most used style at Purdue University Global. Please check your assignment instructions for your professor’s style expectations. In the professional world other styles may be used.

There are three major elements in an APA-formatted paper:

• manuscript format  (header, margins, font, spacing, etc.);
• in-text citations , formatted as narrative or parenthetical citations; and
• reference list entries  with the bibliographic information needed to retrieve the sources cited in text.

APA In-Text Citations

In-text citations are notations in the narrative of the paper where research is being used. In APA style, these notations provide author-date information and in the instance of quotes, also the page number. In-text citations take two common forms: as a narrative citation before the cited material or as a parenthetical citation at the end of the cited material.

• Narrative citation to cite a paraphrase : Smith (2010) recognized that more online learning opportunities are needed to reach marginalized high school students and decrease the dropout rate.
• Narrative citation to cite a quote  (Note the page number is added at the end of the quote in a second set of parentheses): Smith (2010) stressed, “The importance of dedicated study time for online courses is crucial for student success” (p. 3).
• Parenthetical citation to cite a paraphrase : Online learning opportunities are needed to reach marginalized high school students and decrease the dropout rate (Smith, 2010).
• Parenthetical citation to cite a quote : Many researchers agree: “Online education is a viable way to help working adults earn a college degree, but it is not for everyone” (Smith, 2010, p. 4).

Use the group author or sponsoring organization in the citation if the source does not have an individual author:

• (National Geographic, 2011, p. 78).

If the source does not name a group author or sponsoring organization, use the title of the work instead. There are a few basic rules to follow for the use of a title of a work inside the in-text citation.

• If the title of the work is italicized in the reference entry, italicize it in the in-text citation too: ( Plant-Based Cooking , 2020).
• If the title is not italicized in the reference entry, then place double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation: (“Whales in the Ocean,” 2020).
• If the title is long, you may shorten it for the in-text citation (e.g., the title “Dolphins and Other Warm-Blooded Mammals That Live in the Sea” can be shortened to “Dolphins” for the in-text citation. The reference list entry provides the full title).
• Use only title case for the title of a work inside an in-text citation: ( Plant-Based Cooking , 2020). Use sentence case for the corresponding reference entry:

Plant-based cooking . (2020). https://www.plant-basedcookingebook.com

Whales in the ocean. (2020). Ocean Life Magazine . https://www.oceanlife.com

• Use “Anonymous” as the author only if the work specifically names the author as “Anonymous” (e.g., Anonymous, 2020).

No Year or Page Number?

• No year?  Use n.d., short for “no date,” in the citation: (Sagorski, n.d.).
• No page number?  Use the paragraph number. To determine the paragraph, begin at the title or heading and count the paragraphs to get to the one that contains your quote: (Sagorski, n.d., para. 4).
• If quoting an audio or video work, use the timestamp: (Ray, 2020, 03:15).

APA Reference List Entries

Reference list entries are formatted on a separate page at the end of the paper and provide the full bibliographic information for each source cited in text (Figure 1).

Reference list entries tell

• who the author is,
• when the work was published,
• what the title is, and
• and where the source can be found.

Sample APA Reference List  

Plagiarism FAQ

What is purdue global’s official policy on plagiarism.

• Purdue Global’s policy on plagiarism is available in the University Catalog. See the  Code of Student Conduct  for details. What is the difference between accidental and intentional plagiarism?
• Accidental plagiarism may result from improperly using or inaccurately citing a source in text or referencing it on the reference list, while intentional plagiarism is knowingly using a source without proper citation or referencing or any citation. Both accidental and intentional plagiarism can be prevented with proper documentation of the borrowed information, but both accidental and intentional plagiarism have the same consequences of plagiarism. See the  Code of Student Conduct  for details.

What is self-citation?

• While original work is expected for each course and each assignment, there are instances when it is appropriate for a student to build on ideas from a previous assignment by citing themself. You may therefore cite small selected portions of previous work in a new work using the appropriate citation method. Note: Copying large portions or entire assignments for use in more than one course or academic assignment is considered cheating and is not permitted. See the  Self-Citation Policy  for details.

What is the Coursework Resubmission Policy?

• The Coursework Resubmission Policy allows students who are retaking a Purdue Global course after a failed attempt to resubmit previous coursework with proper citation and advance notice to the instructor. Read the  Coursework Resubmission Policy for more information.  Note: This policy does not apply to Concord Law students .

What about programs that automatically format papers according to APA standards?

• Most automatic formatting programs and citation generators rely heavily on the users’ ability to plug in information correctly; therefore, these types of tools should be used sparingly and cautiously and usually only after the user has a basic understanding of APA style. The Writing Center recommends Academic Writer, which has templates for APA formatting.

What documentation style should I use at work?

• There are many citation styles, and your field of work determines which to use or how you reference other source material. It is important to remember to always give credit to the work and ideas of others.

What about citing images?

• Like other types of research, photographs, tables, or charts borrowed or copied directly from a source have to be cited both in the text and on a reference list. There are two situations when you do not have to credit an image: if you use your own photography in your paper, you will not need to cite it and if you use a photograph from a site that allows for use without attribution, you will not need to cite it. However, if you use an image that does require attribution, you will do that in a note below the image and in a corresponding reference citation. Learn more by reading “ Formatting Graphics and Visuals in APA Style .”

What about common knowledge?

• Common knowledge refers to relevant and objective information that is widely known and accepted as true by a certain group of people. Common knowledge is context specific. If information is determined to be common knowledge for your writing context, it does not need to be cited. Ask your faculty member if you are unsure.
• Criteria for Common Knowledge : -The audience should already know this information (e.g., a red traffic light means “stop” or there are four seasons in a year). -The same information can be found in multiple, general information sources (e.g., a state flower or a state bird will be the same across general information sources). -The information comes from folklore, mythology, or well-known stories that your audience would be familiar with because of a shared culture. -The facts are well known in your field of study and will be well known to your audience.
• Professional Experience and Common Knowledge : You may have a great deal of experience in your field, and something may be common knowledge to you but not to the audience for whom you are writing. Always be sure you adequately cite appropriate information for your academic writing and follow assignment directions. If your assignment allows, you may cite your own experience, but is may be good to cite your experience using phrasing such as the following: In my 20 years as a nurse, I have seen . . .
• Statistics : Statistics are not common knowledge since statistical information is typically not equally represented across general information sources. The source of the statistic, either as a primary or secondary source, needs to be cited.
• Quoting or paraphrasing  another’s statement or interpretation of common knowledge: If you take a well-known fact word for word from a source, a citation and reference list entry is required to attribute the wording to the source and to avoid plagiarism. If you use another writer’s interpretation of common knowledge, that writer needs to be credited in an in-text citation and reference list entry, as the interpretation is not common knowledge or original to your writing.

How can the Writing Center help me with APA and avoiding plagiarism?

To access the Writing Center from the campus homepage, click “My Studies” then “Academic Success Center.”

• Submit a Paper or Question for Feedback in PG411: Submit assignments and questions to the Writing Paper Review Dropbox in PG411. Tutors return written and video feedback within 48 hours. We are closed on University holidays.
• Connect With a Tutor for a One-on-One Session: The ASC uses a platform called Cranium Café. Tutors have Cranium Café Cards, and when online, there is a “Knock on Door” button, and it’s as simple as that! Writing Center Tutoring is open Monday 6-10 pm ET; Tuesday 12-10 pm ET; and Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday 6-10 pm ET. We are closed on University holidays.
• Study Studio : Find Writing Center Resources in the form of articles, videos, and podcasts that offer specific help with writing.
• Webinars : See the Webinar Calendar for the most up to date times of writing workshops and archives on using APA, integrating sources, and avoiding plagiarism.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

© 2024 by Purdue Global Academic Success Center and Writing Center

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Academic integrity statements for your syllabi

January 24, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Please consider including on your syllabus a statement about academic integrity. Students suggest that faculty members who ignore these issues are signaling that they do not care about them. Our students expect such information and they expect members of the faculty to reinforce and model these values in discussion and in practice on assignments and during exams. Sample statements and some further discussion appear below, but first :

Students’ statements written on exams or assignments

Asking students before they take exams to write and sign statements affirming that they will not cheat sharply reduces cheating—see, for example, Dan Ariely, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty (HarperCollins 2012). Ditto for writing assignments and plagiarism on papers.

We suggest that members of the faculty ask students to write and sign such statements. They are most effective when students write the statements themselves (i.e., as opposed to students signing a statement that you circulate). And they should written before the students take the exam. Any such statement should be brief, such as:

“I will neither give nor receive unauthorized assistance on this exam.”  or   “The work in this assignment is my own. Any outside sources have been properly cited.”

Three sample academic integrity statements for your syllabus

Syllabus statements can be as simple or elaborate as you wish, but please include whatever range of academic sanctions you plan to impose for violations. Any of the three sample statements below may be cut and pasted, or revised, or can serve to inspire your own. Also included are working definitions of plagiarism. Providing such definitions (feel free to devise your own) helps to inform students and to protect faculty members. Directing students to the online plagiarism tutorial (cited in the Statement #3 below) or to the Writing Center (see below) also can be helpful. You should also know that Baruch subscribes to Turnitin.com , an online plagiarism-detecting resource (see below for more information on Turnitin.com). The items below include some links to other resources as well.

Statement #1

  I [ or the Department of X ] fully support(s) Baruch College’s policy on Academic Honesty, which states, in part:

“Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism, and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college’s educational mission and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.”

Academic sanctions in this class will range from an F on the assignment to an F in this course.   [ Note to faculty members: academic sanctions are at your discretion. Please note that in light of CUNY policies that permit students to retake and expunge from their GPA several courses they have failed, some members of the faculty prefer to award D’s in place of F’s. ] A report of suspected academic dishonesty will be sent to the Office of the Dean of Students. Additional information and definitions can be found at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html

Statement #2

  Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses.  The following definitions are based on the College’s Academic Honesty website at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html :

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work
• Unauthorized collaborating on a take home assignment or examination
• Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination
• Using unauthorized electronic devices during an examination
• Taking an examination for another student
• Asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you
• Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit
• Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without consulting the second instructor
• Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an examination
• Allowing others to research and write assigned papers including the use of commercial term paper services

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writing as your own, such as:

• Copying another person’s actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes (a functional limit is four or more words taken from the work of another)
• Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging them
• Using information that is not considered common knowledge without acknowledging the source
• Failure to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignment

My policy is to give a failing grade [or insert the academic sanction you prefer; best is to include a range of possible sanctions] to any assignment that has been plagiarized or an exam in which you have cheated. [ Again: academic sanctions are at the discretion of the faculty member, including a D or F for the course. ] In addition, I am required by College policy to submit a report of suspected academic dishonesty to the Office of the Dean of Students. This report becomes part of your permanent file.

Statement #3

  Learning involves the pursuit of truth, which cannot be pursued by presenting someone else’s work as your own. By following the procedure outlined below, you will establish a basis of trust that will remain unless you provide reason to suspect it has been violated:

• Visit the college’s Academic Honesty Policy web site: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html
• Read the material it contains.
• Send me an email (or bring a signed statement to class) truthfully stating that you have read the web page, understood it, agree to act according to the principles it expresses, and that you understand that sanctions for academic dishonesty range from an F for the assignment to an F for the course. [or the range you prefer]

For further discussion of plagiarism and clarification of its parameters, see the online plagiarism tutorial prepared by members of the Newman Library faculty at http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/help/plagiarism/default.htm . If questions remain, ask me. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for unacceptable practices. For the record, if you violate the precepts of academic integrity you will receive a zero for the assignment [or insert the academic sanction you prefer] and your name will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Students, where a notation will become part of your file at Baruch.

Baruch’s Writing Center The Writing Center supports students as they evaluate and cite sources, distinguish their voices from others’, and learn about academic integrity. In  one-to-one consultations , students can share their notes, drafts, and research materials with a professional writing consultant to cite sources strategically, accurately, and ethically. The Center also offers the following  in-class  and  small-group workshops , each of which focuses on a different element of effective source use:

• Understanding Plagiarism and Citation
• Ethical Writing and Source Use
• Summarizing and Responding to Sources
• Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
• Using Sources Strategically

Faculty members can request an in-class workshop  here ;  lesson plans  for all workshops are also available for use in Faculty classrooms. More information is available at  http://baruch.cuny.edu/writingcenter .

  Resource on plagiarism and how to avoid it

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab  (a free, often updated site) may be a helpful resource for both you and your students.

Please report violations of academic integrity to the Office of the Dean of Students

The functions of reporting are: 1) to take advantage of the educational moment to make sure the student understands what is at stake; and 2) to track whether incidents involving the student have been reported before. The reporting form is now available as an online report at https://www.pavesuite.com/Baruch/PublicPortal/HomePage . Academic sanctions for uncontested or resolved cases are at the discretion of the instructor . Students are, of course, entitled to due process; however, contested cases very rarely move as far as a hearing. The process usually unfolds quickly once you have reported the incident to Dr. Annie Virkus-Estrada , Associate Dean of Students (Office of the Dean of Students and Academic Integrity Officer):  646-312-4570  or  [email protected] .

A Definition of Plagiarism

  Plagiarism means presenting the work of others as your own. The “work of others” means other people’s words and/or ideas. “Presenting…as your own” means including that work in your assignment without adequate citation. Therefore, a slightly longer definition would be “Plagiarism means including in your assignment other people’s words and/or ideas without citing them correctly.” Here are some hints about citation: When you include the actual words of others, be they from a printed source, from the web, or from a live presentation, they must appear within quotation marks and you must indicate from where and from whom the words came. Otherwise you are plagiarizing. When you include another person’s ideas, you must indicate where you found those ideas, even when you are paraphrasing them. Following someone else’s sequence of ideas, even if you paraphrase them, also is plagiarism. (An example would be paraphrasing a paragraph from someone else’s work, sentence by sentence, even if you include a citation of that author.) If you have any questions about these definitions, please discuss them with me. You can also refer to Baruch’s online plagiarism tutorial http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/help/plagiarism/default.htm or to Baruch’s Academic Honesty website: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html . In addition, Baruch’s Writing Center offers workshops that focus on effective and ethical use of sources.

Turnitin.com

The college subscribes to the online plagiarism-detecting resource, Turnitin.com through Blackboard. To learn about its use, please contact Kevin Wolff (Instructional Designer, BCTC) at [email protected] or 6646-312-1010.

Other Statements, Sources , Resources

– Several other statements/approaches may be found at…

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/Academic_Integrity_Related/Academic_Integrity_Syllabus.doc

– Students may also be directed to the Student Guide to Academic Integrity at Baruch, available at…

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/documents/StudentGuidePDF.pdf

– Please feel free to peruse our academic integrity summary for faculty…

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/documents/Ac_Integr_Summary.htm

– Baruch College’s Academic Integrity website…

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/AcademicIntegrity.htm

– On Creating and Proctoring Exams…

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/documents/ProctoringBrochure.pdf

Finally, as suggested above, while a syllabus item is helpful, the importance of discussing the meaning and significance of integrity within the academic environment can’t be overstated. That importance, of course, extends beyond student practice to include faculty and administrative practices as well. Devising exams that are at the appropriate level of difficulty, grading them and other assignments fairly and promptly, and turning in final grades on time also are issues of academic integrity.

Suggestions and comments are welcome.

Dennis Slavin, PhD

Associate Provost and Assistant Vice President

Baruch College, CUNY

646-660-6504 (phone); 646-660-6531 (fax)

[email protected]

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/provost/teaching_learning.htm

Writing in the Disciplines (2024)

Laguardia community college.

• Reflections
• Writing Assignments

Matthew Rockwood High Stakes Writing Post WID With Rubric

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