In the previous topic Understanding What Constitutes an Art of Academic Dishonesty, you saw how cases of bad judgment can lead to serious consequences. In this topic, you will learn of what you can do to avoid doing something that can affect your entire academic career. Here are simple guidelines.

1. When in doubt about what is proper, ask your teacher. It’s best to do this electronically so that you will have an electronic record of the advice you were given.
2. During a test, keep your work covered with you hand. If someone copies from you, both you and the cheater will be treated the same.
3. Never use the work of another without properly citing it.
4. Don’t get yourself in trouble by helping out a fellow student when that help could be interpreted as an out of dishonesty.
5. When you are taking a test, don’t stare off into space. Keep your eyes on your own paper throughout the test.
6. Don’t sign another student’s name to a paper when that student did no work.
7. Keep drafts of all papers you write in order to demonstrate the work is your own should there be a question about who wrote the document.

Unfortunately the burden is often on you to prove you didn’t cheat should you be accused. It’s very hard to prove you didn’t do something especially when it’s your word against a professor. The best strategy for dealing with a cheating accusation is to never put yourself in a position to where you could be accused of cheating..