The Honor Code is something that a student, and those around them, must abide by to

maintain success in all areas. An honor code is a set of rules that define what it means to be an

honorable person in a certain community. Different schools have different honor codes and UTA

is no exception.

From an individual’s standpoint, upholding the Honor Code means turning in work that

was created on their own and properly citing outside sources that they used to help formulate

their work. When writing an essay or creating a project, especially ones based on research,

students are not able to come up with information about a topic without doing more research.

Outside sources are needed and encouraged. However, failing to cite those sources is breaking

the Honor Code because it means that the student is taking credit for work that isn’t their own. In

a community setting, the Honor Code can be used to hold each other accountable. If someone

notices that a peer is copying and pasting information from the Internet without properly citing

those sources, it is breaking the Honor Code. Following and enforcing academic integrity applies

to everyone in the UT Arlington community, not just students.

Enforcing the Honor Code comes with its advantages and disadvantages. While doing a

scientific lab, a student is seen taking the answers off of their partner’s paper without

contributing to the lab. This is something that should be reported, but this potentially could give

the “honorable” student, a sense of power over their peer. They might use this as blackmail,

which is an extreme but still a possibility, making this a disadvantage of an honor code. Looking

at it from the other end, trust is a big advantage when it comes to academic integrity. A student

might feel that they are trusted by their professor, meaning that they would do what they can to

remain an honorable student, inside and outside of the classroom.

Diagnostic Essay

RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION I (ENGL 1301)