Every institution has some minor variation of an academic integrity code. Then, there's life. Politics too. Oh, honor...
In my corner of academia, the academic integrity code works primarily in reference to student papers since I don't give a lot of in-class exams. Other disciplines have to deal with other forms of academic integrity issues more frequently, but me? I deal most frequently with plagiarism. (Hi, Neil Gorsuch! Hi, Melania Trump! I see you!) You might think that I just have to deal with downloaded papers, or precisely-quoted material without quote marks around it, uncited. Actually, no! Much of the plagiarism I encounter, and this will vary by institution, is what I call, "I'm not touching you!" plagiarism. That should probably tell you what I mean.
"I'm not touching you!" is a game that obnoxious siblings play in the back seat of a car. Stop touching me! That is immediately followed by the other sibling pointing, and coming as close as possible but not actually touching the aggrieved sibling. The aggrieved sibling whines, and the aggressor then says...
"I'm not touching you!" The word, "touching," is usually said in a singsong voice.
If you do that, you're being a jerk. Kids are jerks. Don't worry, kids! It gets
How does this work with something like plagiarism? I'm-not-touching-you plagiarism is all about trying to hand in someone else's words as your own, without using quote marks, and without crossing the line of plagiarism. Here's the problem. The rules of the academic integrity code are written to make I'm-not-touching-you plagiarism a violation of the rules.
There are two main tricks. Change a word or two, and it's no longer an exact quote. I'm just paraphrasing! That's why I didn't use quote marks! I'm not touching you! That's still plagiarism because the rules of the academic integrity code are written in such a way that this still counts as plagiarism. Trick 2 is what I call the ole' comma switcharoo. This is a fun one. It's when the cheater takes a sentence with multiple clauses, separated by commas, and moves the order of the clauses around, but keeps the wording of the clauses the same within each clause. I'm not touching you! It is no longer an exact quote, so no quote marks necessary, right? Throw in a parenthetical citation, and you're not cheating, right?
Nope. Still cheating. And, the rules are written in such a way that every cheater's favorite excuse (I thought it was OK, I didn't know) doesn't count.
If you are playing the I'm-not-touching-you game, you are guilty. Why? Integrity. You are behaving dishonorably. Honor means not playing the I'm-not-touching-you game. Honor means not trying to figure out how far you can go. Honor means trying to do the right thing without the bullshit games. It means trying to use your own words, not trying to figure out how to get away with using someone else's and claim them as your own.
And when you fail to do the right thing... when at some point in your life, you lie, cheat, steal, stab someone in the back, whatever, honor means 'fessing up, making amends and accepting the consequences like a mensch. Honor means not whining. Honor means not lying to try to get yourself out of the hole you dug for yourself. Honor means not getting pissed off or lashing out at whoever caught you, and instead doing some introspection.
Oh, wait. Now it might sound like this isn't just about simple cases of plagiarism. Maybe it isn't. Maybe there's a world beyond writing papers 'n stuff. Politics 'n life 'n stuff. Is this about current events? Maaaaaybe.
If you look at the top of the blog, there's that word, "misanthropy." I don't see a lot of honor in the world. I'd kind of like to. I'd also like a pony. Or maybe a unicorn. Yeah, that'd be even cooler. I want me a unicorn! Honor... unicorns... same diff.