Academic dishonesty is generally defined as any act of dishonesty in academic work. This includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, the changing or falsifying of any academic documents or materials, cheating, and giving or receiving of unauthorized aid in tests, examinations, or other assigned work. Students guilty of academic misconduct, either directly or indirectly through participation or assistance, are immediately responsible to the instructor of the class. Penalties for academic misconduct will vary with the seriousness of the offense and may include, but are not limited to, a grade of "F" on the work in question, a grade of "F" in the course, probation, reprimand, suspension, and expulsion. A common form of academic dishonesty is the downloading of a research paper from the Internet, either partially or totally. Austin Peay State University has software that will allow the instructor to research a suspected document and to locate its source from the Internet.

Academic dishonesty or academic misconduct is a form of cheating that occurs in an educational setting, usually committed by students.

Any use of copyrighted material outside the legal limits for teaching, scholarship, and other public interest uses.