An Education in the Dangers of Online Research

The honor system on the ship deals only with academic dishonesty, Gies said, so other infractions have initial penalties less drastic than expulsion.

"It was basically five on one . . . and then Mark was not allowed to have any counsel or any time to prepare for the trial even though he was told that he would have that," Magnone wrote in an e-mail.

Routman said the process wasn't fair because it wasn't administered as it would have been at the university, and she didn't have an advocate. Their appeals were denied.

"Everyone we talked to is like, 'We don't understand,' " Routman said. "People would read [my paper] and get so scared. 'This looks just like my paper.' "

Mark's girlfriend, Nicole Scribner, wrote: "My paper was no different than Mark's, and I received nothing but a slap on the wrist. Instead of getting a B, I got a C."

Routman said most students were not familiar with the University of Virginia's honor code. "We're all coming from completely different backgrounds," Routman said, "with completely different attitudes at our schools. To expect us to just pick up the honor code like that is ridiculous."

Gies said it's not unlike any freshmen entering the university. Incoming students agree to abide by the code before registering for the trip, and everything is spelled out in a handbook. A student from the honor committee trains students at a required meeting. A university librarian also gives a presentation about referencing and citing sources, he said.

Routman's parents paid for her trip home; Gruntz had to charge the nearly $1,700 for his last-minute plane ticket from Greece to California to his credit card. Neither knows how this will show up in their academic records when they apply to graduate school, but they know they will have to disclose it if asked whether they were ever found guilty of academic dishonesty.

"I really don't think," Gruntz said, "I did anything wrong."