<p>I don't actually have to decide the penalty; the honor council will. I am just curious, though, how people here think this student should be penalized. If it matters, the student is a senior, and has admitted that the papers were "similar" but claims that it happened because of a credit overload and other stressful stuff. So at least at this point, the student is partially accepting responsibility but also minimizing the offense and making some excuses.</p>
<p>Did the student write the paper him/herself? Did the teachers assign very similar topics where it made sense to submit only a slightly altered version? I do not see the issue here… it does not seem dishonest to me. I did this 20 years ago in two different college English courses at a large research university. They had us read the same book in both classes. I altered the paper slightly for the 2nd class to add some length as required by the assignment (got an A on the first one, B on the second – never been able to explain that… always did like that first prof better!). I do not see this as an ethical issue.</p>
<p>I agree with intparent, I don’t see what the issue is here.</p>
<p>It would depend on what the school honor code says. As far as I know there is no law against plagiarizing your own papers, but obviously you are going to learn less.</p>
<p>i agree with post #2. if the subjects/topics were similar and had significant overlap, i can’t see where there’s a problem.</p>
<p>thank goodness I am not the only one…agree with all above posters…if the topics were that similar, what’s the problem?</p>
<p>I think that there should be a warning, but no penalty. </p>
<p>I stand against my thought if there was a something listed in the student handbook that prevented turning in the same work for two different classes.</p>
<p>The appropriate penalty is for the teachers to be fired for laziness or lack of imagination in assigning papers so similar in nature that the same or similar one could be used for both of them.</p>
<p>I think it’s fine as long as there were similar topics. It’s one thing if one or both of the essays could have been about “whatever you want”, and the student was too lazy to write a new essay so they submitted the same essay for both. But if the topics are very similar, the student could get away with re-working the same essay for two different topics, as long as they are still noticably different (i.e. “Describe the political situation after the French Revolution” and “Describe the new government formed after the French Revolution and how it compared to U.S. democracy”)</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem if there is no rule against it, and the paper(s) are appropriate for the classes.</p>
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<p>Submitting an off-topic essay should not be a cause for disciplinary action.</p>
<p>Hmmm . . . How many students posting on CC are planning on submitting the same (or similar) essays on multiple colleges’ applications? 
The definition of plagiarism is using the language or intellectual product of another person without citation, and this doesn’t constitute plagiarism. As Mathmom says, it would be wise to review the wording of the school’s Honor Code, but I can’t believe that any school would specifically outlaw reusing your own language more than once!</p>
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<p>That’s not was I was implying. If two essay topics are similar, then it only makes practical sense to do the same research and do very similar essays for both. If one or both of the essays didn’t have a topic, then that shows obvious laziness on the student’s part if the student re-submitted an essay rather than writing a new essay.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else. </p>
<p>But, I’m dying to know, how did the student “get caught?” And, were both papers submitted this semester, or in different semesters?</p>
<p>Just wondering aloud now…do performing arts majors ever re-cycle a performance? What about science majors applying a soph physics project to a jr chem assignment? Back in the day I’m sure I recycled my print and broadcast news assignments. </p>
<p>This is interesting. Amesie, please let us know how it turns out.</p>
<p>It’s called double submission and is a form of academic dishonesty. It might also be called self-plagiarism or double dipping. Penalties should be covered under the institution’s plagiarism policy. I’m guessing an F for the assignment would be fairly typical.</p>
<p>Double submission might be allowed if both professors have given the student permission to write just one paper.</p>
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<p>Unless a school explicitly forbids the practice, I don’t think that it’s dishonest.</p>
<p>I’ve got to agree with this consensus here. As long as it’s not expressly forbidden, what’s the issue? If you got the same question on two Chemistry exams would you report it to the instuctor and ask them not to give you credit?</p>
<p>Like profs don’t submit the same or very similar research papers to multiple publications. I see nothing dishonest at all. Do you not get to bring what you know from one class to another? I found knowing some math made other math related econ classes very easy. Others struggled. Same knowledge just applied to new problems.</p>
<p>I actually agree with the majority of posters and think the idea of self plagiarism is ridiculous…</p>
<p>That said most people who have gone to college know that it does exist and you’re not allowed to do it. I think the student should be given a chance to rewrite the paper for a certain amount of reduced credit.</p>
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I went to a college (many, many years of college) and never heard of such a policy. Of course, I didn’t have to write many papers in my major areas.</p>